Australia - Dividend

Article 10. Dividends

Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of one of the States for the purposes of its tax, being dividends to which a resident of the other State is beneficially entitled, may be taxed in that other State,

1.  Such dividends may be taxed in the State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident for the purposes of its tax, and according to the law of that State, but the tax so charged shall not exceed 15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends. The provisions of this paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid. 

2.  The term “dividends” in this Article means:

a. in the case of Australia, income from shares and other income assimilated to income from shares by the taxation law of Australia; and 

b.  in the case of the Netherlands, income which is subject to dividend tax. 

3.  The provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not apply if the person beneficially entitled to the dividends, being a resident of one of the States, carries on business through a permanent establishment situated in the other State, being the State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, and the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with that permanent establishment. In such a case, the provisions of Article 7 shall apply. 

4.  Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of one of the States, being dividends to which a person who is not a resident of the other State is beneficially entitled, shall be exempt from tax in that other State except insofar as the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with a permanent establishment situated in that other State. Provided that this paragraph shall not apply in relation to dividends paid by any company which is a resident of Australia for the purposes of Australian tax and which is also a resident of the Netherlands for the purposes of Netherlands tax. 

Protocol:

(1)  With reference to Articles 6 to 8 and 10 to 17,

income derived by a resident of the Netherlands which under those Articles may be taxed in Australia, shall for the purposes of the income tax law of Australia be deemed to be income from sources in Australia.

(4)  With reference to Articles 10, 11 and 12,

applications for the restitution of tax levied by the Netherlands contrary to the provisions of those Articles must he lodged with the competent authority of the Netherlands within a period of three years after the expiration of the calendar year in which the tax has been levied.