Norway - Dividend

Article 10. Dividends

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

2.   However, such dividends may also be taxed in the 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 15 percent of the gross amount of the dividends.

3.   Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, the State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident shall not levy a tax on dividends paid by that company, if the beneficial owner of the dividends is:

a)   a pension fund; or

b)  a company (other than a partnership) which is a resident of the other State and holds directly at least 10 per cent of the capital of the company paying the dividends;

4.   Where dividends are derived and beneficially owned by a State, political subdivision or a local authority, such dividends shall be taxable only in that State. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “State” shall include:

a)   in the case of Norway:

(i)   the Central Bank of Norway;

(ii)  the Government Pension Fund (Global);

(iii) the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund); and

(iv) a statutory body or any institution wholly or mainly owned by the Government of Norway as may be agreed from time to time between the competent authorities of the States;

b)  in the case of the Netherlands:

(i)   the Central Bank of the Netherlands;

(ii)  the Dutch Finance Company for Developing Countries (FMO);

(iii) a statutory body or any institution wholly or mainly owned by the Government of the Netherlands as may be agreed from time to time between the competent authorities of the States.

5.   The provisions of paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 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 shares, “jouissance” shares or “jouissance” rights, mining shares, founders' shares or other rights participating in profits, as well as income from other corporate rights which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the State of which the company making the distribution is a resident. In the case of the Netherlands the term includes also income from profit sharing bonds.

7.   The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends, being a resident of one of the States, carries on business in the other State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, through a permanent establishment situated therein, and the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. 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 one of the States derives profits or income from the other 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:

VI. Ad Article 10

Application for the restitution of tax levied not in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 have to be lodged with the competent authority of the State having levied the tax within a period of five years after the expiration of the calendar year in which the tax has been levied.