Belarus - Dividend

Article 10. Dividends

1. Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident and according to the laws of that State, but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the dividends the tax so charged shall not exceed:

a)5 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial owner is a company (other than a partnership) which holds directly at least 25 per cent of the capital of the company paying the dividends;

b)15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends in all other cases.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article, dividends paid by a company which is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State, in the case the recipient, being the beneficial owner of the dividends, is a company (other than a partnership):

(i) which holds directly at least 50 per cent of the capital of the company paying the dividends and provided that an investment of at least ECU 250.000 has been made in the capital of the company paying the dividends, or

(ii) which holds directly at least 25 per cent of the capital of the company paying the dividends and whose investment in the capital of the company paying the dividends is, directly or indirectly, guaranteed or insured by the Government of the other Contracting State.

4. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement settle the mode of application of paragraphs 2 and 3.

5. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid.

6. The term `dividends' as used in this Article means income from any kind of shares and income from rights, including income from debt-claims participating in profits, which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the State of which the company distributing the profits is a resident.

7. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as the case may be, shall apply.

8. Where a company which is a resident of a Contracting State derives profits or income from the other Contracting State, that other State may not impose any tax on the dividends paid by the company, except insofar as such dividends are paid to a resident of that other State or insofar as the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with a permanent establishment or a fixed base situated in that other State, nor subject the company's undistributed profits to a tax on the company's undistributed profits, even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in such other State.

Protocol:

Ad Articles 10, 11 and 12

Where tax has been levied at source in excess of the amount of tax chargeable under the provisions of Articles 10, 11 or 12, applications for the refund of the excess amount of tax have to be lodged with the competent authority of the State having levied the tax, within a period of three years after the expiration of the calendar year in which the tax has been levied. Where a claim is made by a taxpayer for a refund as meant in the foregoing sentence tax withheld at source in a Contracting State at the rate in excess of that provided for under the terms of the Convention will be refunded in a timely manner.