Australian Tax Treaties

Icelandic Convention  

CONVENTION BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND ICELAND FOR THE ELIMINATION OF DOUBLE TAXATION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME AND THE PREVENTION OF TAX EVASION AND AVOIDANCE  

CHAPTER II - DEFINITIONS  

ARTICLE 5   Permanent Establishment  

1.    
For the purposes of this Convention, the term " permanent establishment " means a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on.

2.    
The term " permanent establishment " includes especially:

(a)    a place of management;

(b)    a branch;

(c)    an office;

(d)    a factory;

(e)    a workshop;

(f)    a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place of extraction of natural resources; and

(g)    an agricultural or forestry property.

3.    
A building site or construction or installation project constitutes a permanent establishment only if it lasts more than six months.

4.    
Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 , 2 and 3 , where an enterprise of a Contracting State:

(a)    carries on supervisory or consultancy activities in the other State for a period or periods exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any 12 month period in connection with a building site or construction or installation project which is being undertaken in that other State;

(b)    carries on activities (including the operation of substantial equipment) in the other State in the exploration for or exploitation of natural resources situated in that other State for a period or periods exceeding in the aggregate 90 days in any 12 month period; or

(c)    operates substantial equipment in the other State (including as provided in subparagraph (b) ) for a period or periods exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any 12 month period,

such activities shall be deemed to be carried on through a permanent establishment of the enterprise situated in that other State, unless the activities are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 6 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph.

5.    
For the sole purpose of determining whether the periods referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 have been exceeded:

(a)    where an enterprise of a Contracting State carries on any of the activities referred to in paragraphs 3 and 4 in the other Contracting State; and

(b)    connected activities are carried on in that other Contracting State during different periods of time, each exceeding 30 days, by one or more enterprises closely related to the first-mentioned enterprise,

these different periods of time shall be added to the period of time during which the first-mentioned enterprise has carried on its activities.

6.    
Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the term " permanent establishment " shall be deemed not to include:

(a)    the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise;

(b)    the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage, display or delivery;

(c)    the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of processing by another enterprise;

(d)    the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise or of collecting information, for the enterprise;

(e)    the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of carrying on, for the enterprise, any other activity;

(f)    the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of activities mentioned in sub-paragraphs (a) to (e) ,

provided that such activity or, in the case of subparagraph (f) , the overall activity of the fixed place of business, is of a preparatory or auxiliary character.

7.    
Paragraph 6 shall not apply to a fixed place of business that is used or maintained by an enterprise if the same enterprise or a closely related enterprise carries on business activities at the same place or at another place in the same Contracting State and:

(a)    that place or other place constitutes a permanent establishment for the enterprise or the closely related enterprise under the provisions of this Article: or

(b)    the overall activity resulting from the combination of the activities carried on by the two enterprises at the same place, or by the same enterprise or closely related enterprises at the two places, is not of a preparatory or auxiliary character,

provided that the business activities carried on by the two enterprises at the same place, or by the same enterprise or closely related enterprises at the two places, constitute complementary functions that are part of a cohesive business operation.

8.    
Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 , but subject to the provisions of paragraph 9 , where a person is acting in a Contracting State on behalf of an enterprise and:

(a)    in doing so, habitually concludes contracts, or habitually plays the principal role leading to the conclusion of contracts that are routinely concluded without material modification by the enterprise, and these contracts are;

(i) in the name of the enterprise; or

(ii) for the transfer of the ownership of, or for the granting of the right to use, property owned by that enterprise or that the enterprise has the right to use; or

(iii) for the provision of services by that enterprise; or

(b)    manufactures or processes in a Contracting State for the enterprise goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise,

that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in that State in respect of any activities which that person undertakes for the enterprise, unless the activities of such person are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 6 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business (other than a fixed place of business to which paragraph 7 would apply), would not make this fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph.

9.    
Paragraph 8 shall not apply where the person acting in a Contracting State on behalf of an enterprise of the other Contracting State carries on business in the first-mentioned State as an independent agent and acts for the enterprise in the ordinary course of that business. Where, however, a person acts exclusively or almost exclusively on behalf of one or more enterprises to which it is closely related, that person shall not be considered to be an independent agent within the meaning of this paragraph with respect to any such enterprise.

10.    
The fact that a company which is a resident of a Contracting State controls or is controlled by a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State, or which carries on business in that other State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise), shall not of itself constitute either company a permanent establishment of the other.

11.    
For the purposes of this Article, a person or enterprise is closely related to an enterprise if, based on all the relevant facts and circumstances, one has control of the other or both are under the control of the same persons or enterprises. In any case, a person or enterprise shall be considered to be closely related to an enterprise if one possesses directly or indirectly more than 50 per cent of the beneficial interest in the other (or, in the case of a company, more than 50 per cent of the aggregate vote and value of the company ' s shares or of the beneficial equity interest in the company) or if another person or enterprise possesses directly or indirectly more than 50 per cent of the beneficial interest (or, in the case of a company, more than 50 per cent of the aggregate vote and value of the company ' s shares or of the beneficial equity interest in the company) in the person and the enterprise or in the two enterprises.

12.    
The principles set forth in the preceding paragraphs of this Article shall be applied in determining for the purposes of paragraph 7 of Article 11 and paragraph 5 of Article 12 whether there is a permanent establishment outside both Contracting States, and whether an enterprise, not being an enterprise of a Contracting State, has a permanent establishment in a Contracting State.