Australian Tax Treaties

French Convention  

CONVENTION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME AND THE PREVENTION OF FISCAL EVASION  

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 the enterprise is wholly or partly carried on.

2.    
The term " permanent establishment " shall include especially:

(a) a place of management;

(b) a branch;

(c) an office;

(d) a factory;

(e) a workshop;

(f) a mine, quarry or other place of extraction of natural resources; and

(g) an agricultural, pastoral or forestry property.

3.    
An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment merely by reason of:

(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 for collecting information, for the enterprise;

(e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of activities which have a preparatory or auxiliary character for the enterprise, such as advertising or scientific research.

4.    
An enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State and to carry on business through that permanent establishment if:

(a) it has a building site or construction, installation or assembly project in that State which exists for more than twelve months; or

(b) it carries on supervisory activities in that State for more than six months in connection with a building site, or a construction, installation or assembly project which is being undertaken in that State; or

(c) it maintains substantial equipment for rental or other purposes within that State (excluding equipment let under a hire-purchase agreement) for more than six months.

5.    

(a) The duration of activities under subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 4 will be determined by aggregating the periods during which activities are carried on in a Contracting State by associated enterprises provided that the activities of the enterprise in that State are connected with the activities carried on in that State by its associate.

(b) The period during which two or more associated enterprises are carrying on concurrent activities will be counted only once for the purpose of determining the duration of activities.

(c) For the purposes of this Article, an enterprise shall be deemed to be associated with another enterprise if:

(i) one is controlled directly or indirectly by the other; or

(ii) both are controlled directly or indirectly by the same person or persons.

6.    
A person acting in a Contracting State on behalf of an enterprise of the other Contracting State - other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 7 applies - shall be deemed to be a permanent establishment of that enterprise in the first-mentioned State if:

(a) the person has, and habitually exercises in that State, an authority to conclude contracts on behalf of the enterprise, unless the person ' s activities are limited to the purchase of goods or merchandise for the enterprise; or

(b) in so acting the person manufactures or processes in that State for the enterprise goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise.

7.    
An enterprise of a Contracting State shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in the other Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that other State through a broker, general commission agent or any other agent of an independent status, where that person is acting in the ordinary course of the person ' s business as such a broker or agent.

8.    
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 make either company a permanent establishment of the other.

9.    
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.