Artykuł 33

Wypowiedzenie [Wypowiedzenie]

Niniejsza konwencja pozostanie w mocy do wypowiedzenia jej przez Umawiające się Państwo. Każde Umawiające się Państwo może wypowiedzieć konwencję w drodze dyplomatycznej, przekazując notę o wypowiedzeniu co najmniej sześć miesięcy przed końcem roku kalendarzowego po okresie pięciu lat od dnia wejścia konwencji w życie. W takim wypadku konwencja przestanie obowiązywać:

a) w odniesieniu do podatków pobieranych u źródła – do kwot dochodu osiągniętego w dniu 1 stycznia lub po tym dniu w roku kalendarzowym następującym po roku, w którym taka nota została przekazana;

b) w odniesieniu do innych podatków od dochodu – do takich podatków nakładanych za każdy rok podatkowy rozpoczynający się w dniu 1 stycznia lub po tym dniu w roku kalendarzowym następującym po roku, w którym taka nota została przekazana.

NA DOWÓD CZEGO niżej podpisani, należycie do tego upoważnieni, podpisali niniejszą konwencję.

Sporządzono w Warszawie dnia 13 lutego 2002 r. w dwóch egzemplarzach, w językach polskim, niderlandzkim i angielskim, przy czym trzy teksty są jednakowo autentyczne. W przypadku rozbieżności przy interpretacji między tekstem polskim i niderlandzkim tekst angielski będzie rozstrzygający.

PROTOKÓŁ [28]

W odniesieniu do Konwencji między Rzecząpospolitą Polską a Królestwem Niderlandów w sprawie eliminowania podwójnego opodatkowania w zakresie podatków od dochodu oraz zapobiegania uchylaniu się i unikaniu opodatkowania, niżej podpisani uzgodnili, że następujące postanowienia będą stanowiły integralną część konwencji.

I. Do artykułu 3 ustęp 2 i artykułu 26

Ustala się, że jeżeli właściwe organy Umawiających się Państw w drodze wzajemnego porozumienia osiągnęły rozwiązanie w ramach konwencji w odniesieniu do przypadków, w których mogłoby zaistnieć podwójne opodatkowanie lub podwójne zwolnienie od opodatkowania:

a) w wyniku stosowania artykułu 3 ustęp 2 w zakresie interpretacji określeń niezdefiniowanych w konwencji, lub

b) w wyniku rozbieżności przy kwalifikacji (na przykład w odniesieniu do części dochodu lub osoby),

to takie rozwiązanie – po jego opublikowaniu przez obydwa właściwe organy – będzie wiążące przy stosowaniu konwencji również w innych podobnych przypadkach.

II. Do artykułu 4

Osoba fizyczna mieszkająca na pokładzie statku morskiego bez rzeczywistego miejsca zamieszkania w żadnym z Umawiających się Państw będzie traktowana jako posiadająca miejsce zamieszkania w Umawiającym się Państwie, w którym znajduje się port macierzysty statku morskiego.

III. Do artykułów 5, 6, 7, 13 i 24

Ustala się, że prawa do poszukiwania, badania i eksploatacji zasobów naturalnych są traktowane jako mienie nieruchome położone w Umawiającym się Państwie, do którego należy dno morskie i podglebie, z którymi są one związane, i uważa się, że te prawa należą do mienia zakładu położonego w tym Państwie. Ponadto ustala się, że wspomniane wyżej prawa obejmują prawa do udziałów w zyskach lub aktywach wytwarzanych w wyniku takich poszukiwań, badań lub eksploatacji.

IV. Do artykułów 7 i 14

Płatności uzyskiwane jako wynagrodzenie za usługi techniczne, w tym studia lub pomiary o charakterze naukowym, geologicznym i technicznym lub za usługi konsultingowe albo nadzorcze, będą traktowane jako płatności, do których mają zastosowanie postanowienia artykułu 7 i artykułu 14.

V. Do artykułu 10

1. Przepisy artykułu 10 ustępu 2 litery b) nie mają zastosowania w odniesieniu do dywidend wypłacanych przez lub na rzecz osoby, która jest odpowiednio, fiskalną instytucją inwestycyjną (Fiscale Beleggingsinstelling) dla celów holenderskiego podatku od spółek albo przez lub na rzecz osoby, która jest otwartym funduszem inwestycyjnym zwolnionym z podatku dochodowego od osób prawnych w Polsce.

2. Ustala się, że dochód uzyskiwany w związku z (częściową) likwidacją spółki lub nabyciem własnych akcji (udziałów) przez spółkę jest traktowany jako dochód z akcji (udziałów).

3. Ustala się, że dochód uzyskiwany w związku z wypłatami z tytułu certyfikatów lub jednostek uczestnictwa w funduszu inwestycyjnym stanowi dochód z akcji (udziałów).

VI. Do artykułu 11

Ustala się, że określenie „jakakolwiek pożyczka” użyte w artykule 11 ustęp 3 litera c) obejmuje także obligacje zamienne i, w konsekwencji, określenie „odsetki” użyte w artykule 11 ustęp 5 obejmuje także dochód z obligacji niezamiennych jak również dochód z obligacji zamiennych do momentu, w którym te drugie obligacje zostają faktycznie zamienione na akcje (udziały). Ustala się także, że w każdym wypadku określenie „odsetki” nie obejmuje rodzajów dochodu, do których ma zastosowanie artykuł 10.

2. Artykuł 11 ustęp 3 będzie miał także zastosowanie w odniesieniu do odsetek wypłacanych na rzecz i których rzeczywistym beneficjentem jest:

a) the Netherlands Development Finance Company (de Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V.) lub jakikolwiek następca prawny tego podmiotu;

b) Atradius State Business N. V. w odniesieniu do pożyczek udzielonych, gwarantowanych lub ubezpieczonych przez rząd holenderski;

c) Korporacja Ubezpieczeń Kredytów Eksportowych S.A. (KUKE S.A.), Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego S.A.

VII. Do artykułu 11

Bez względu na postanowienia artykułu 11 ustęp 2 odsetki uzyskane przez osoba mającą miejsce zamieszkania lub siedzibę w Umawiającym się Państwie w związku zawartą przed podpisaniem niniejszej konwencji będą ulegały opodatkowaniu tylko w tym Państwie podczas pierwszych 12 miesięcy po dniu, w którym postanowienia niniejszej konwencji będą miały zastosowanie

VIII. Do artykułu 16

1. Ustala się że określenie „członek rady dyrektorów” oznacza:

a) w przypadku Niderlandów – „bestuurder” lub „commissaris”;

b) w przypadku Polski – „członka zarządu” , „rady nadzorczej” i „komisji rewizyjnej”.

2. Ustala się również, że „bestuurder” lub „commissaris” spółki holenderskiej oznacza osoby, które są mianowane w tym charakterze przez zgromadzenie ogólne akcjonariuszy lub udziałowców lub przez inny właściwy organ takiej spółki i mają powierzone obowiązki dotyczące zarządzania i nadzorowania spółki.

IX. Do artykułu 26

Właściwe organy Państw mogą również ustalić w odniesieniu do każdego porozumienia osiągniętego w ramach procedury wzajemnego porozumiewania się w rozumieniu artykułu 26, jeżeli zajdzie potrzeba wbrew ich ustawodawstwom wewnętrznym, że Państwo, w którym istnieje dodatkowe obciążenie podatkowe w wyniku takiego porozumienia nie będzie nakładać żadnych podwyżek, dopłat, odsetek i kosztów w zakresie tego podatkowego obciążenia podatkowego, jeżeli drugie Państwo, w którym istnieje odpowiednia obniżka podatku w wyniku porozumienia, powstrzymuje się od płacenia jakichkolwiek odsetek w odniesieniu do takiej obniżki podatku.

X. Do artykułu 27

Ustala się, że artykuł 27 ustęp 2 stosuje się także do osób lub organów, zajmujących się oceną spraw przedstawionych do arbitrażu na podstawie artykułu 26 ustęp 5.

XI. Do artykułów 27 i 28

1. Przepisy artykułu 27 będą stosowane odpowiednio do informacji, które odnoszą się do stosowania przepisów odnoszących się do dochodów zgodnie z prawem wewnętrznym Umawiających się Państw, przez organy podatkowe Umawiających się Państw, które zajmują się implementacją, stosowaniem lub wykonaniem takich przepisów. Postanowienia artykułu 28 będą stosowane odpowiednio do pomocy w egzekucji kwot zapłaconych na podstawie przepisów odnoszących się do dochodu, w zakresie w jakim takie kwoty są traktowane jak wierzytelności podatkowe w odniesieniu do podatków przez Umawiające się Państwo, w którym te kwoty powstają.

2. Jakakolwiek informacja otrzymana zgodnie z ustępem 1 niniejszego postanowienia w związku z artykułem 27 będzie wykorzystywana wyłącznie na potrzeby określenia i nałożenia składek oraz określenia i przyznania korzyści zgodnie z przepisami dotyczącymi dochodu, w rozumieniu, o którym mowa w ustępie 1 niniejszego postanowienia.

3. Na regulacje dotyczące dochodu, o których mowa w ustępie 1, składają się przepisy przewidujące przyznanie wsparcia finansowego przez Umawiające się Państwo na rzecz osób fizycznych, przykładowo w związku z wydatkami na najem, wydatkami na opiekę nad dziećmi i opiekę zdrowotną, dokonywane na podstawie możliwości finansowych tych osób fizycznych.

NA DOWÓD CZEGO niżej podpisani, należycie do tego upoważnieni, podpisali niniejszy protokół.

Sporządzono w Warszawie dnia 13 lutego 2002 r. w dwóch egzemplarzach, w językach polskim, niderlandzkim i angielskim, przy czym trzy teksty są jednakowo autentyczne. W przypadku rozbieżności przy interpretacji między tekstem polskim i niderlandzkim tekst angielski będzie rozstrzygający.

CONVENTION

between the Republic of Poland and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income

The Republic of Poland and the Kingdom of the Netherlands,

Desiring to conclude a new convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income by both States,

Have agreed as follows:

CHAPTER I

Scope of the Convention

Article 1

Persons Covered

This Convention shall apply to persons who are residents of one or both of the Contracting States.

Article 2

Taxes Covered

1. This Convention shall apply to taxes on income imposed on behalf of a Contracting State or of its political subdivisions or local authorities, irrespective of the manner in which they are levied.

2. There shall be regarded as taxes on income all taxes imposed on total income, or on elements of income, including taxes on gains from the alienation of movable or immovable property, taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by enterprises, as well as taxes on capital appreciation.

3. The existing taxes to wchich the Convention shall apply are in particular:

a) in the Netherlands:

– de inkomstenbelasting (income tax),

– de loonbelasting (wages tax),

– de vennootschapsbelasting (company tax) including the Government share in the net profits of the exploitation of natural resources levied pursuant to the Mijnwet 1810 (the Mining Act of 1810) with respect to concessions issued from 1967, or pursuant to the Mijnwet Continentaal Plat 1965 (the Netherlands Continental Shelf Mining Act of 1965),

– de dividendbelasting (dividend tax),

(hereinafter referred to as "Netherlands tax”);

b) in the Republic of Poland:

(i) personal income tax, and

(ii) corporate income tax,

(hereinafter referred to as "Polish tax”).

4. The Convention shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes which are imposed after the date of signature of the Convention in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall notify each other of any significant changes which have been made in their respective taxation laws.

CHAPTER II

Definitions

Article 3

General definitions

1. For the purposes of this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires:

a) the term "a Contracting State” means the Kingdom of the Netherlands (the Netherlands) or the Republic of Poland (Poland), as the context requires; the term "Contracting States” means the Kingdom of the Netherlands (the Netherlands) and the Republic of Poland (Poland);

b) the term "the Netherlands” means the part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that is situated in Europe, including its territorial sea, and any area beyond the territorial sea within which the Netherlands, in accordance with international law, exercises jurisdiction or sovereign rights with respect to the sea bed, its sub-soil and its superjacent waters, and their natural resources;

c) the term "Poland” when used in a geographical sense means the territory of the Republic of Poland, including any area beyond its territorial waters, within which under the laws of the Republic of Poland and in accordance with international law, the Republic of Poland exercises its sovereign rights over the sea-bed, its subsoil and its superjacent waters and their natural resources;

d) the term "person” includes an individual, a company and any other body of persons;

e) the term "company” means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;

f) the terms "enterprise of a Contracting State” and "enterprise of other Contracting State” mean respectively an enterprise carried on by a resident of a Conctracting State and an enterprise carried on by a resident of the other Contracting State;

g) the term "international traffic” means any transport by a ship or aircraft or boat engaged in inland waterways transport operated by an enterprise that has its place of effective management in a Contracting State, except when the ship, aircraft or boat is operated solely between places in the other Contracting State;

h) the term "national” means:

(i) any individual possessing the nationality of a Contracting State;

(ii) any legal person, partnership or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State;

i) the term "competent authority” means:

(i) in the Netherlands the Minister of Finance or his authorized representative;

(ii) in Poland the Minister of Finance or his authorized representative.

2. As regards the application of the Convention at any time by a Contracting State any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning which it has at that time under the law of that State for the purposes of the taxes to which the Convention applies, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that State prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that State.

Article 4

Resident

1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "resident of a Contracting State” means any person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place of management or any other criterion of a similar nature, and also includes that State and any political subdivision or local authority thereof. This term, however, does not include any person who is liable to tax in that State in respect only of income from sources in that State.

2. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then his status shall be determined as follows:

a) he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home available to him in both States, he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests);

b) if the State in which he has his centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he has not a permanent home available to him in either State, he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which he has an habitual abode;

c) if he has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State of which he is a national;

d) if he is a national of both States or of neither of them, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement.

3. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 a person other than an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then it shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which its place of effective management is situated.

4. A pension fund that is recognized and controlled according to the statutory provisions of a Contracting State, and the income of which is generally exempt from tax in that State shall be deemed to be a resident of that State.

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, and

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

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

4. 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 of a preparatory or auxiliary character;

f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of activities mentioned in sub-paragraphs a) to e), provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory or auxiliary character.

5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person - other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 6 applies - is acting on behalf of an enterprise and has, and habilitually exercises, in a Contracting State an authority to conclude contracts in the name of 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 4 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph.

6. An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that State through a broker, general commission agent or any other agent of an independent status, provided that such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business.

7. 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.

CHAPTER III

Taxation of income

Article 6

Income from immovable property

1. Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State from immovable property (including income from agriculture or forestry) situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. The term "immovable property" shall have the meaning which it has under the law of the Contracting State in which the property in question is situated. The term shall in any case include property accessory to immovable property, livestock and equipment used in agriculture and forestry, rights to which the provisions of general law respecting landed property apply, usufruct of immovable property and rights to variable or fixed payments as consideration for the working of, or the right to work, mineral deposits, sources and other natural resources. Ships and aircraft and boats engaged in inland waterways transport shall not be regarded as immovable property.

3. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply to income derived from the direct use, letting, or use in any other form of immovable property.

4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 3 shall also apply to the income from immovable property of an enterprise and to income from immovable property used for the performance of independent personal services.

Article 7

Business profits

1. The profits of an enterprise of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State unless the enterprise carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein. If the enterprise carries on business as aforesaid, the profits of the enterprise may be taxed in the other State but only so much of them as is attributable to that permanent establishment.

2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3, where an eneterprise of a Contracting State carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, there shall in each Contracting State be attributed to that permanent establishment the profits which it might be expected to make if it were a distinct and separate enterprise engaged in the same or similar activities under the same or similar conditions and dealing wholly independently with the enterprise of which it is a permanent establishment.

3. In determining the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be allowed as deductions expenses which are incurred for the purposes of the permanent establishment, including executive and general administrative expenses so incurred, whether in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated or elsewhere.

4. Insofar as it has been customary in a Contracting State to determine the profits to be attributed to a permanent establishment on the basis of an apportionment of the total profits of the enterprise to its various parts, nothing in paragraph 2 shall preclude that Contracting State from determining the profits to be taxed by such an apportionment as may be customary; the method of apportionment adopted shall, however, be such that result shall be in accordance with the principles contained in this Article.

5. No profits shall be attributed to a permanent establishment by reason of the mere purchase by that permanent establishment of goods or merchandise for the enterprise.

6. For the purposes of the preceding paragraphs, the profits to be attributed to the permanent establishment shall be determined by the same method year by year unless there is good and sufficient reason to the contrary.

7. Where profits include items of income which are dealt with separately in other Articles of this Convention, then the provisions of those Articles shall not be affected by the provisions of this Article.

Article 8

Shipping, inland waterways transport and air transport

1. Profits from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the place of effective management of the enterprise is situated.

2. Profits from the operation of boats engaged in inland waterways transport shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the place of effective management of the enterprise is situated.

3. If the place of effective management of a shipping enterprise or of an inland waterways transport enterprise is aboard a ship or a boat, then it shall be deemed to be situated in the Contracting State in which the home harbour of the ship or boat is situated, or, if there is no such home harbour, in the Contracting State of which the operator of the ship or boat is a resident.

4. For the purposes of this Article, profits derived from the operation in international traffic of ships and aircraft include profits derived from the rental on a bareboat basis of ships and aircraft if operated in international traffic if such rental profits are incidental to the profits described in paragraphs 1 and 2.

5. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall also apply to profits from the participation in a pool, a joint business or an international operating agency.

Article 9

Associated enterprises

1. Where

a) an enterprise of a Contracting State participates directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of the other Contracting State, or

b) the same persons participate directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of a Contracting State and an enterpise of the other Contracting State.

and in either case conditions are made or imposed between the two enterprises in their commercial or financial relations which differ from those which would be made between independent enterprises, then any profits which would, but for those conditions, have accrued to one of the enterprises, but, by reason of those conditions, have not so accrued, may be included in the profits of that enterprise and taxed accordingly. It is understood, however, that the fact that associated enterprises have concluded arrangements, such as costsharing arrangements or general services agreements, for or based on the allocation of executive, general administrative, technical and commercial expenses, research and development expenses and other similar expenses, is not in itself a condition as meant in the preceding sentence, provided that such arrangements are based on a arm's length principle.

2. Where a Contracting State includes in the profits of an enterprise of that State – and taxes accordingly – profits on which an enterprise of the other Contracting State has been charged to tax in that other State and the profits so included are profits which would have accrued to the enterprise of the first-mentioned State if the conditions made between the two enterprises had been those which would have been made between independent enterprises, then that other State shall make an appropriate adjustment to the amount of the tax charged therein on those profits. In determining such adjustment, due regard shall be had to the other provisions of this Convention and the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall if necessary consult each other.

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 beneficial owner of the dividends is a resident of the other Contracting State, 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 10 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. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement settle the mode of application of paragraph 2.

4. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid.

5. 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 debt-claims participating in profits and income from other corporate rights which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the State which the company making the distribution is a resident.

6. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 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.

7. 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.

Article 11

Interest

1. Interest arising in a Contracting State and beneficially owned by a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. However, such interest may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which it arises and according to the laws of that State, but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the interest is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 5 per cent of the gross amount of the interest.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, any such interest referred to in paragraph 1 shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the recipient is a resident, if such recipient is the beneficial owner of the interest and if such interest is paid:

a) on a loan of whatever kind granted, insured or guaranteed by an institution for purposes of promoting export owned or controlled by a Contracting State;

b) in connection with the sale on credit of any industrial, commercial or scientific equipment;

c) on a loan of whatever kind granted by a bank;

d) in respect of a bond, debenture or other similar obligation of the Government of a Contracting State, or of a political subdivision or local authority thereof;

e) to the other Contracting State, or to a political subdivision or local authority thereof.

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

5. The term "interest” as used in this Article means income from debt-claims of every kind, whether or not secured by mortgage, but not carrying a right to participate in the debtor's profits, and in particular income from government securities and income from bonds or debentures, including premiums and prizes attaching to such securities, bonds or debentures. Penalty charges for late payment shall not be regarded as interest for the purpose of this Article.

6. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the interest, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the interest arises, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein and the debt-claim in respect of which the interest is 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.

7. Interest shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the interest, whether he is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment or a fixed base in connection with which the indebtedness on which the interest is paid was incurred, and such interest is borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then such interest shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment or fixed base is situated.

8. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the interest, having regard to the debt-claim for which it is paid, exceeds the amount which would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.

Article 12

Royalties

1. Royalties arising in a Contracting State and beneficially owned by a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. However, the royalties referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise and according to the laws of that State, but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the royalties the tax so charged shall not exceed 5 percent of the gross amount of the royalties.

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

4. The term "royalties" as used in this Article means payments of any kind received as a consideration for the use of, or the right to use, any copyright of literary, artistic or scientific work including cinematograph films, any patent, trade mark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process, or for the use of, or the right to use any industrial, commercial or scientific equipment, or for information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience.

5. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the royalties, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the royalties arise, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the right or property in respect of which the royalties 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.

6. Royalties shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the royalties, whether he is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment or a fixed base in connection with which the liability to pay the royalties was incurred, and such royalties are borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then such royalties shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment or fixed base is situated.

7. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the royalties, having regard to the use, right or information for which they are paid, exceeds the amount which would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.

Article 13

Capital gains

1. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation of immovable property referred to in Article 6 and situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. Gains from the alienation of movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State or of movable property pertaining to a fixed base available to a resident of a Contracting State in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing independent personal services, including such gains from the alienation of such a permanent establishment (alone or with the whole enterpise) or of such fixed base, may be taxed in that other State.

3. Gains from the alienation of ships, aircraft or boats engaged in inland waterways transport operated in international traffic, or movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships, aircraft or boats, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the place of effective management of the enterprise is situated. For the purposes of this paragraph the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 8 shall apply.

4. Gains from the alienation of any property other than that referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the alienator is a resident.

5. The provisions of paragraph 4 shall not affect the right of each of the Contracting States to levy according to its own law a tax in gains from the alienation of shares or "jouissance" rights in a company, the capital of which is wholly or partly divided into shares and which under the laws of that State is a resident of that State, derived by an individual who is a resident of the other Contracting State and has been a resident of the first-mentioned State in the course of the last ten years preceding the alienation of the shares or "jouissance" rights. In case where, under the domestic laws of the first-mentioned Contracting State, an assessment has been issued to the individual in respect of the alienation of the aforesaid shares deemed to have taken place at the time of his emigration from the first-mentioned Contracting State, the above shall apply only in so far as part of the assessment is still outstanding.

Article 14

Independent personal services

1. Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of professional services or other activities of an independent character shall be taxable only in that State unless he has a fixed base regularly available to him in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing his activities. If he has such a fixed base, the income may be taxed in the other State but only so much of it as is attributable to that fixed base.

2. The term "professional services" includes especially independent scientific, literary, artistic, educational or teaching activities as well as the independent activities of physicians, lawyers, engineers, architects, dentists and accountants.

Article 15

Dependent personal services

1. Subject to the provisions of Articles 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21, salaries, wages and other similar remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment shall be taxable only in that State unless the employment is exercised in the other Contracting State. If the employment is so exercised, such remuneration as is derived therefrom may be taxed in that other State.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment exercised in the other Contracting State shall be taxable only the first-mentioned State if:

a) the recipient is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, and

b) the remuneration is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer who is not a resident of the other State, and

c) the remuneration is not borne by a permanent establishment or a fixed base which the employer has in the other State.

3. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment exercised aboard a ship or aircraft or a boat engaged in inland waterways transport operated in international traffic, shall be taxable only in that State.

Article 16

Directors' fees

Directors' fees or other remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in his capacity as a member of the board of directors of a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

Article 17

Artistes and sportsmen

1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 14 and 15, income derived by a resident of a Contracting State as an entertainer, such as a theatre, motion picture, radio or television artists, or a musician, or a sportsman, from his personal activities as such exercised in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.

2. Where income in respect of personal activities exercised by an entertainer or a sportsman in his capacity as such accrues not to the entertainer or sportsman himself but to another person, that income may, notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7, 14 and 15, be taxed in the Contracting State in which the activities of the entertainer or sportsman are exercised.

3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not apply to income accruing from the exercise of activities by artists or sportsmen in a Contracting State where the visit to that State is financed entirely or mainly from public funds of one or both Contracting States, a political subdivision, a local authority or a Government institution thereof.

Article 18

Pensions, annuities and social security

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 19, pensions and other similar remuneration paid to a resident of a Contracting State in consideration of past employment, as well as annuities paid to a resident of a Contracting State, shall be taxable only in that State.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, a pension or other similar remuneration or annuity may also be taxed in the Contracting State from which it is derived, in accordance with the laws of that State,

a) if and in so far as the entitlement to this pension or other similar remuneration or annuity in the Contracting State from which it is derived is exempt from tax, or the contributions associated with the pension or other similar remuneration or annuity made to the pension scheme or insurance company were deducted in the past when calculating taxable income in that State or qualified for other tax concessions in that State; and

b) if and in so far as this pension or other similar remuneration or annuity is in the Contracting State of which the recipient thereof is a resident not taxed at the generally applicable rate for income derived from dependent personal services, or less than 90 per cent of the gross amount of the pension or other similar remuneration or annuity is taxed; and

c) if the total gross amount of the pensions and other similar remuneration and annuities and any pension and other payment paid out under the provisions of a social security system of a State in any calendar year exceeds the sum of 20.000 Euro.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, if this pension or other similar remuneration is not periodic in nature, is paid in respect of past employment in the other Contracting State and is paid out before the date on which the pension commences, or if a lump-sum payment is made in lieu of the right to an annuity before the date on which the annuity commences, the payment or this lump-sum may also be taxed in the Contracting State from which it is derived.

4. A pension or other similar remuneration or annuity is deemed to be derived from a Contracting State if and insofar as the contributions or payments associated with the pension or other similar remuneration or annuity, or the entitlements received from it qualified for tax relief in that State. The transfer of a pension from a pension fund or an insurance company in a Contracting State to a pension fund or an insurance company in another State will not restrict in any way the taxing rights of the first-mentioned State under this Article.

5. Any pension and other payment paid out under the provisions of a social security system of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in the first-mentioned Contracting State.

6. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement settle the mode of application of paragraph 2. They shall also decide what details the resident of a Contracting State must submit for the purpose of the proper application of the Convention in the other Contracting State, in particular so that it can be established whether the conditions referred in paragraph 2 (a), (b) and (c) have been met.

7. The term "annuity" means a stated sum payable periodically at stated times during life or during a specified or ascertainable period of time under an obligation to make the payments in return for adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth.

8. Whether and to what extent a pension or similar remuneration falls under this Article or under Article 19, is determined by the nature of the past employment, as private or governmental, during which the entitlement to that part of the pension or similar remuneration was built up.

Article 19

Government service

1.

a) Salaries, wages and other similar remuneration, other than a pension, paid by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof to an individual in respect of services rendered to that State or subdivision or authority may be taxed in that State.

b) However, such salaries, wages and other similar remuneration shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the services are rendered in that State and the individual is a resident of that State who:

(i) is a national of that State; or

ii) did not become a resident of that State solely for the purpose of rendering the services.

2.

a) Any pension paid by, or out of funds created by, a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof to an individual in respect of services rendered to that State or subdivision or authority may be taxed in that State.

b) However, such pension shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the individual is a resident of, and a national of, that State.

3. The provisions of Articles 15, 16, 17 and 18 shall apply to salaries, wages and other similar remuneration and to pensions in respect of services rendered in connection with a business carried on by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof.

Article 20

Professors and teachers

1. Payments which a professor or teacher who is a resident of a Contracting State and who is present in the other Contracting State for the purpose of teaching or scientific research in a university, college or other establishment for teaching or scientific research in that other State for a maximum of two years from the date of his first visit for that purpose, receives for such teaching or research, shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State.

2. This Article shall not apply to income from research if such research is undertaken not in the public interest but primarily for the private benefit of a specific person or persons.

Article 21

Students

Payments which a student or business apprentice who is or was immediately before visiting a Contracting State a resident of the other Contracting State and who is present in the first-mentioned State solely for the purpose of his education or training receives for the purpose of his maintenance, education or training shall not be taxed in that State, provided that such payments arise from sources outside that State.

Article 22

Other income

1. Items of income of a resident of a Contracting State, wherever arising, not dealt with in the foregoing Articles of this Convention shall be taxable only in that State.

2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to income, other than income from immovable property as defined in paragraph 2 of Article 6, if the recipient of such income, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the right or property in respect of which the income is 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.

CHAPTER IV

Elimination of double taxation

Article 23

Elimination of double taxation

1. The Netherlands, when imposing tax on its residents, may include in the basis upon which such taxes are imposed the items of income which, according to the provisions of this Convention, may be taxed in Poland.

2. However, where a resident of the Netherlands derives items of income which according to Article 6, Article 7, paragraph 6 of Article 10, paragraph 6 of Article 11, paragraph 5 of Article 12, paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 13, Article 14, paragraph 1 of Article 15, paragraphs 2 and 5 of Article 18, paragraphs 1 (subparagraph a) and 2 (subparagraph a) of Article 19 and paragraph 2 of Article 22 of this Convention may be taxed in Poland and are included in the basis referred to in paragraph 1, the Netherlands shall exempt such items of income by allowing a reduction of its tax. This reduction shall be computed in conformity with the provisions of Netherlands law for the avoidance of double taxation. For that purpose the said items of income shall be deemed to be included in the total amount of the items of income which are exempt from Netherlands tax under those provisions.

3. Further, the Netherlands shall allow a deduction from the Netherlands tax so computed for the items of income which according to paragraph 2 of Article 10, paragraph 2 of Article 11, paragraph 2 of Article 12, paragraph 5 of Article 13, Article 16, Article 17 and paragraph 3 of Article 18 of this Convention may be taxed in Poland to the extent that these items are included in the basis referred to in paragraph 1. The amount of this deduction shall be equal to the tax paid in Poland on these items of income, but shall not exceed the amount of the reduction which would be allowed if the items of income so included were the sole items of income which are exempt from Netherlands tax under the provisions of Netherlands law for the avoidance of double taxation.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, the Netherlands shall allow a deduction from the Netherlands tax for the tax paid in Poland on items of income which according to Article 7, paragraph 6 of Article 10, paragraph 6 of Article 11, paragraph 5 of Article 12, Article 14 and paragraph 2 of Article 22 of this Convention may be taxed in Poland to the extent that these items are included in the basis referred to in paragraph 1, if and insofar as the Netherlands under the provisions of Netherlands law for the avoidance of double taxation allows a deduction from the Netherlands tax of the tax levied in another country on such items of income. For the computation of this deduction the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Article shall apply accordingly.

5. In the case of a resident of the Republic of Poland, double taxation shall be avoided as follows:

a) Where a resident of the Republic of Poland derives income which, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, may be taxed in the Netherlands, the Republic of Poland shall allow as a deduction from the tax on the income of that resident, an amount equal to the income tax paid in the Netherlands. Such deduction shall not, however, exceed that part of the income tax, as computed before the deduction is given, which is attributable to the income which may be taxed in the Netherlands.

b) Where in accordance with any provision of this Convention income derived by a resident of Poland is exempt from tax in Poland, Poland may nevertheless, in calculating the amount of tax on the remaining income of such resident, take into account the exempted income.

CHAPTER V

Special provisions

Article 24

Offshore activities

1. The provisions of this Article shall apply notwithstanding any other provisions of this Convention. However, this Article shall not apply where offshore activities of a person constitute for that person a permanent establishment under the provisions of Article 5 or a fixed base under the provisions of Article 14.

2. In this Article the term "offshore activities" means activities which are carried on offshore in connection with the exploration or exploitation of the sea bed and its sub-soil and their natural resources, situated in a Contracting State.

3. An enterprise of a Contracting State which carries on offshore activities in the other Contracting State shall, subject to paragraph 4 of this Article, be deemed to be carrying on, in respect of those activities, business in that other State through a permanent establishment situated therein, unless the offshore activities in question are carried on in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 30 days in any period of 12 months.

For the purposes of this paragraph:

a) where an enterprise carrying on offshore activities in the other Contracting State is associated with another enterprise and that other enterprise continues, as part of the same project, the same offshore activities that are or were being carried on by the first-mentioned enterprise, and the afore-mentioned activities carried on by both enterprises - when added together - exceed a period of 30 days, then each enterprise shall be deemed to be carrying on its activities for a period exceeding 30 days in a 12 month-period;

b) an enterprise shall be regarded as associated with another enterprise if one holds directly or indirectly at least one third of the capital of the other enterprise or if a person holds directly or indirectly at least one third of the capital of both enterprises.

4. However, for the purposes of paragraph 3 of this Article the term "offshore activities" shall be deemed not to include:

a) one or any combination of the activities mentioned in paragraph 4 of Article 5;

b) towing or anchor handling by ships primarily designed for that purpose and any other activities performed by such ships;

c) the transport of supplies or personnel by ships or aircraft in international traffic.

5. A resident of a Contracting State who carries on offshore activities in the other Contracting State, which consist of professional services or other activities of an independent character, shall be deemed to be performing those activities from a fixed base in the other Contracting State if the offshore activities in question last for a continuous period of 30 days or more in any twelve month period.

6. Salaries, wages and other similar remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment connected with offshore activities carried on through a permanent establishment in the other Contracting State may, to the extent that the employment is exercised offshore in that other State, be taxed in that other State.

7. Where documentary evidence is produced that tax has been paid in Poland on the items of income which may be taxed in Poland according to Article 7 and Article 14 in connection with respectively paragraph 3 and paragraph 5 of this Article, and to paragraph 6 of this Article, the Netherlands shall allow a reduction of its tax which shall be computed in conformity with the rules laid down in paragraph 2 of Article 23.

Article 25

Non-discrimination

1. Nationals of a Contracting State shall not be subjected in the other Contracting State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith, which is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which nationals of that other State in the same circumstances, in particular with respect to residence, are or may be subjected. This provision shall, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 1, also apply to persons who are not residents of one or both of the Contracting States.

2. The taxation on a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State shall not be less favourably levied in that other State than the taxation levied on enterprises of that other State carrying on the same activities. This provision shall not be construed as obliging a Contracting State to grant to residents of the other Contracting State any personal allowances, reliefs and reductions for taxation purposes on account of civil status or family responsibilities which it grants to its own residents.

3. Except where the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 9, paragraph 8 of Article 11, or paragraph 7 of Article 12, apply, interest, royalties and other disbursements paid by an enterprise of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State shall, for the purpose of determining the taxable profits of such enterprise, be deductible under the same conditions as if they had been paid to a resident of the first-mentioned State. Similarly, any debts of an enterprise of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State shall, for the purpose of determining the taxable capital of such enterprise, be deductible under the same conditions as if they had been contracted to a resident of the first-mentioned State.

4. Enterprises of a Contracting State, the capital of which is wholly or partly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more residents of the other Contracting State, shall not be subjected in the first-mentioned State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith which is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which other similar enterprises of the first-mentioned State are or may be subjected.

5. Contributions paid by, or on behalf of, an individual who is a resident of a Contracting State to a pension plan that is recognized for tax purposes in the other Contracting State will be treated in the same way for tax purposes in the first-mentioned State as a contribution paid to a pension plan that is recognized for tax purposes in that first-mentioned State, provided that

a) such individual was contributing to such pension plan before he became a resident of the first-mentioned State; and

b) the competent authority of the first-mentioned State agrees that the pension plan corresponds to a pension plan recognized for tax purposes by that State.

For the purpose of this paragraph, "pension plan" includes a pension plan created under a public social security system.

6. The provisions of this Article shall, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 2, apply to taxes of every kind and description.

Article 26

Mutual agreement procedure

1. Where a person considers that the actions of one or both of the Contracting States result or will result for him in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, he may, irrespective of the remedies provided by the domestic law of those States, present his case to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which he is a resident or, if his case comes under paragraph 1 of Article 25, to that of the Contracting State of which he is a national. The case must be presented within three years from the first notification of the action resulting in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.

2. The competent authority shall endeavour, if the objection appears to it to be justified and if it is not itself able to arrive at a satisfactory solution, to resolve the case by mutual agreement with the competent authority of the other Contracting State, with a view to the avoidance of taxation which is not in accordance with the Convention. Any agreement reached shall be implemented notwithstanding any time limits in the domestic law of the Contracting States.

3. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour to resolve by mutual agreement any difficulties or doubts arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention. They may also consult together for the elimination of double taxation in cases not provided for in the Convention.

4. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may communicate with each other directly for the purpose of reaching an agreement in the sense of the preceding paragraphs.

5. If any difficulty or doubt arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention cannot be resolved by the competent authorities of the Contracting States in a mutual agreement procedure pursuant to the previous paragraphs of this Article within a period of two years after the question was raised, the case may, at the request of either Contracting State, be submitted for arbitration, but only after fully exhausting the procedures available under paragraphs 1 to 4 of this Article and provided the taxpayer or taxpayers involved agree in writing to be bound by the decision of the arbitration board.

The decision of the arbitration board in a particular case shall be binding on both Contracting States and the taxpayer or taxpayers involved with respect to that case.

Article 27

Exchange of information

1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange such information as is necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Convention or of the domestic laws of the Contracting States concerning taxes covered by the Convention insofar as the taxation thereunder is not contrary to the Convention. The exchange of information is not restricted by Article 1. Any information received by a Contracting State shall be treated as secret in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of that State and shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the determination of appeals in relation to, the taxes covered by the Convention. Such persons or authorities shall use the information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.

2. The Contracting States may release to the arbitration board, established under the provisions of paragraph 5 of Article 26, such information as is necessary for carrying out the arbitration procedure. Such release of information shall be subject to the provisions of Article 29. The members of the arbitration board shall be subject to the limitations on disclosure described in paragraph 1 of this Article with respect to any information so released.

Article 28

Assistance in recovery

1. The States agree to lend each other assistance and support with a view to the collection, in accordance with their respective laws or administrative practice, of the taxes to which this Convention shall apply and of any increases, surcharges, overdue payments, interests and costs pertaining to the said taxes.

2. At the request of the applicant State the requested State shall recover tax claims of the first-mentioned State in accordance with the law and administrative practice for the recovery of its own tax claims. However, such claims do not enjoy any priority in the requested State and cannot be recovered by imprisonment for debt of the debtor. The requested State is not obliged to take any executory measures which are not provided for in the laws of the applicant State.

3. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall apply only to tax claims which form the subject of an instrument permitting their enforcement in the applicant State and, unless otherwise agreed between the competent authorities, which are not contested.

However, where the claim relates to a liability to tax of a person as a non resident of the applicant State, paragraph 2 shall only apply, unless otherwise agreed between the competent authorities, where the claim may no longer be contested.

4. The obligation to provide assistance in the recovery of tax claims concerning a deceased person or his estate is limited to the value of the estate or the property acquired by each beneficiary of the estate, according to whether the claim is to be recovered from the estate or from the beneficiaries thereof.

5. The requested State shall not be obliged to accede to the request:

a) if the applicant State has not pursued all means available in its own territory, except where recourse to such means would give rise to disproportionate difficulty;

b) if and insofar as it considers the tax claim to be contrary to the provisions of this Convention or of any other convention to which both of the States are parties.

6. The request for administrative assistance in the recovery of a tax claim shall be accompanied by:

a) a declaration that the tax claim concerns a tax covered by the Convention and that the conditions of paragraph 3 are met;

b) an official copy of the instrument permitting enforcement in the applicant State;

c) any other document required for recovery;

d) where appropriate, a certified copy confirming any related decision emanating from an administrative body or a public court.

7. The applicant State shall indicate the amounts of the tax claim to be recovered in both the currency of the applicant State and the currency of the requested State. The rate of exchange to be used for the purpose of the preceding sentence is the last selling price settled on the most representative exchange market or markets of the applicant State. Each amount recovered by the requested State shall be transferred to the applicant State in the currency of the requested State. The transfer shall be carried out within a period of a month from the date of the recovery.

8. At the request of the applicant State, the requested State shall, with a view to the recovery of an amount of tax, take measures of conservancy even if the claim is contested or is not yet the subject of an instrument permitting enforcement, in so far as such is permitted by the laws and administrative practice of the requested State.

9. The instrument permitting enforcement in the applicant State shall, where appropriate and in accordance with the provisions in force in the requested State, be accepted, recognised, supplemented or replaced as soon as possible after the date of the receipt of the request for assistance by an instrument permitting enforcement in the requested State.

10. Questions concerning any period beyond which a tax claim cannot be enforced shall be governed by the law of the applicant State. The request for assistance in the recovery shall give particulars concerning that period.

11. Acts of recovery carried out by the requested State in pursuance of a request for assistance, which, according to the laws of that State, would have the effect of suspending or interrupting the period mentioned in paragraph 10, shall also have this effect under the laws of the applicant State. The requested State shall inform the applicant State about such acts.

12. The requested State may allow deferral of payment or payment by instalments, if its laws or administrative practice permit it to do so in similar circumstances; but it shall first inform the applicant State.

13. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by common agreement prescribe rules concerning minimum amounts of tax claims subject to a request for assistance.

14. The States shall reciprocally waive any restitution of costs resulting from the respective assistance and support which they lend each other in applying this Convention. The applicant State shall in any event remain responsible towards the requested State for the pecuniary consequences of acts of recovery which have been found unjustified in respect of the reality of the tax claim concerned or of the validity of the instrument permitting enforcement in the applicant State.

Article 29

Limitation of Articles 27 and 28

In no case shall the provisions of Articles 27 and 28 be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation:

a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws and administrative practice of that or of the other Contracting State;

b) to supply information which is not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of the administration of that or of the other Contracting State;

c) to supply information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial, or professional secret or trade process, or information, the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).

Article 30

Members of diplomatic missions and consular posts

1. Nothing in this Convention shall affect the fiscal privileges of members of diplomatic missions or consular posts under the general rules of international law or under the provisions of special agreements.

2. For the purposes of the Convention an individual, who is a member of a diplomatic mission or consular post of a Contracting State in the other Contracting State or in a third State and who is a national of the sending State, shall be deemed to be a resident of the sending State if he is submitted therein to the same obligations in respect of taxes on income as are residents of that State.

3. The Convention shall not apply to international organisations, organs and officials thereof and members of a diplomatic mission or consular post of a third State, being present in a Contracting State, if they are not subjected therein to the same obligations in respect of taxes on income as are residents of that State.

Article 31

Territorial extension

1. This Convention may be extended, either in its entirety or with any necessary modifications, to either or both of the countries of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, if the country concerned imposes taxes substantially similar in character to those to which the Convention applies. Any such extension shall take effect from such date and subject to such modifications and conditions, including conditions as to termination, as may be specified and agreed in notes to be exchanged through diplomatic channels.

2. Unless otherwise agreed the termination of the Convention shall not also terminate any extension of the Convention to any country to which it has been extended under this Article.

CHAPTER VI

Final provisions

Article 32

Entry into force

1. The Contracting States shall notify each other that the constitutional requirements for entry into force of this Convention have been complied with.

2. This Convention shall enter into force one month after the date of the latter of the notifications referred to in paragraph 1 and its provisions shall apply:

a) in respect of taxes withheld at source to amounts of income derived on or after 1^st January in the calendar year next following the year in which the Convention enters into force;

b) in respect of other taxes on income to such taxes chargeable for any taxable year beginning on or after 1^st January in the calendar year next following the year in which the Convention enters into force.

3. The provisions of the Convention between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital signed in Warsaw, on September 20, 1979, and the Protocol to it shall cease to be effective on the date preceding the day on which the present Convention shall become applicable.

Article 33

Termination

This Convention shall remain in force until terminated by a Contracting State. Either Contracting State may terminate the Convention, through diplomatic channels, by giving notice of termination at least six months before the end of any calendar year after a period of five years from the date on which the Convention enters into force. In such event the Convention shall cease to have effect:

a) in respect of taxes withheld at source to amounts of income derived on or after 1^st January in the calendar year next following the year in which such notice has been given;

b) in respect of other taxes on income to such taxes chargeable for any taxable year beginning on or after 1^st January in the calendar year next following the year in which such notice has been given.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorized thereto, have signed this Convention.

Done at Warsaw this February 13^th day of 2002, in duplicate, in the Polish, Netherlands and English languages, the three texts being equally authentic. In case there is any divergence of interpretation between the Polish and Netherlands texts, the English text shall prevail.

PROTOCOL

At the moment of signing the Convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, this day concluded between the Republic of Poland and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the undersigned have agreed that the following provisions shall form an integral part of the Convention.

I. Ad subparagraph e of paragraph 1 of Article 3

In case an entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes is liable as such to tax in a Contracting State, but the income of that entity is taxed in the other Contracting State as income of the participants in that entity, the competent authorities shall take such measures that on the one hand no double taxation remains, but on the other hand it is prevented that merely as a result of application of the Convention income is (partly) not subject to tax.

II. Ad paragraph 2 of Article 3 and Article 26

It is understood that if the competent authorities of the Contracting States, in mutual agreement have reached a solution, within the context of the Convention, for cases in which double taxation or double exemption would occur:

a) as a result of the application of paragraph 2 of Article 3 with respect to the interpretation of a term not defined in the Convention; or

b) as a result of differences in qualification (for example of an element of income or of a person),

this solution – after publication thereof by both competent authorities – shall for the application of the Convention also be binding in other similar cases.

III. Ad Article 4

An individual living aboard a ship without any real domicile in either of the Contracting States shall be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting State in which the ship has its home harbour.

IV. Ad Articles 5, 6, 7, 13 and 24

It is understood that exploration and exploitation rights of natural resources shall be regarded as immovable property situated in the Contracting State the sea bed and sub-soil of which they are related to, and that these rights shall be deemed to pertain to the property of a permanent establishment in that State. Furthermore, it is understood that the aforementioned rights include rights to interests in, or to the benefits of, assets to be produced by such exploration or exploitation.

V. Ad Articles 7 and 14

Payments received as a consideration for technical services, including studies or surveys of a scientific, geological or technical nature, or for consultancy or supervisory services shall be deemed to be payments to which the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14 apply.

VI. 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.

VII. Ad Articles 10 and 33

Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, subparagraph a, of Article 10 until both Contracting States do apply in full the Directive of 23 July 1990 on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different Member States (90/435/EEC), the provisions of Article 10, paragraph 3, of the Convention between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital, with protocol, signed in Warsaw on 20 September 1979, remain applicable. ;

VIII. Ad Article 11

Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 11, interest received by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of a contract concluded before the date of signature of this Convention, shall be taxable only in that State during the first 12 months after the provisions of this Convention become effective.

IX. Ad Article 16

1. It is understood that the term "member of the board of directors” means:

a. in the case of the Netherlands a "bestuurder” or a "commissaris”;

b. in the case of Poland a member of a "zarzad”, "rada nadzorcza” and "komisja rewizyjna”.

2. It is further understood that "bestuurder or commissaris” of a Netherlands company means persons who are nominated as such by the general meeting of shareholders or by any other competent body of such company and are charged with the general management of the company and the supervision thereof, respectively.

X. Ad subparagraph c of paragraph 2 of Article 18

After a period of 10 years following the entry into force of the Convention the competent authorities shall consult each other in order to determine whether it is opportune to adjust, by exchange of letters, the amount mentioned in subparagraph c of paragraph 2 of Article 18.

XI. Ad Article 26

The competent authorities of the States may also agree, with respect to any agreement reached as a result of a mutual agreement procedure as meant in Article 26, if necessary contrary to their respective national legislation, that the State, in which there is an additional tax charge as a result of the afore-mentioned agreement, will not impose any increases, surcharges, interest and costs with respect to this additional tax charge, if the other State in which there is a corresponding reduction of tax as a result of the agreement, refrains from the payment of any interest due with respect to such a reduction of tax.

XII. Ad Article 28

The provisions on the assistance in recovery in Article 28 of this Convention will only be effective when the competent authorities have so agreed by exchange of letters after mutual consultations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorized thereto, have signed this Protocol.

Done at Warsaw this February 13^th day of 2002, in duplicate, in the Polish, Netherlands and English languages, the three texts being equally authentic. In case there is any divergence of interpretation between the Polish and Netherlands texts the English text shall prevail.

Treść zmiany do wersji angielskiej – niezaktualizowana

Po zaznajomieniu się z powyższą konwencją, w imieniu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej oświadczam, że:

– została ona uznana za słuszną zarówno w całości, jak i każde z postanowień w niej zawartych,

– jest przyjęta, ratyfikowana i potwierdzona,

– będzie niezmiennie zachowywana.

Na dowód czego wydany został akt niniejszy, opatrzony pieczęcią Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej.

Dano w Warszawie dnia 20 stycznia 2003 r.

Artykuł 33

Wypowiedzenie [Wypowiedzenie]

Niniejsza konwencja pozostanie w mocy do wypowiedzenia jej przez Umawiające się Państwo. Każde Umawiające się Państwo może wypowiedzieć konwencję w drodze dyplomatycznej, przekazując notę o wypowiedzeniu co najmniej sześć miesięcy przed końcem roku kalendarzowego po okresie pięciu lat od dnia wejścia konwencji w życie. W takim wypadku konwencja przestanie obowiązywać:

a) w odniesieniu do podatków pobieranych u źródła – do kwot dochodu osiągniętego w dniu 1 stycznia lub po tym dniu w roku kalendarzowym następującym po roku, w którym taka nota została przekazana;

b) w odniesieniu do innych podatków od dochodu – do takich podatków nakładanych za każdy rok podatkowy rozpoczynający się w dniu 1 stycznia lub po tym dniu w roku kalendarzowym następującym po roku, w którym taka nota została przekazana.

NA DOWÓD CZEGO niżej podpisani, należycie do tego upoważnieni, podpisali niniejszą konwencję.

Sporządzono w Warszawie dnia 13 lutego 2002 r. w dwóch egzemplarzach, w językach polskim, niderlandzkim i angielskim, przy czym trzy teksty są jednakowo autentyczne. W przypadku rozbieżności przy interpretacji między tekstem polskim i niderlandzkim tekst angielski będzie rozstrzygający.

PROTOKÓŁ

Przy podpisaniu Konwencji w sprawie unikania podwójnego opodatkowania i zapobiegania uchylaniu się od opodatkowania w zakresie podatków od dochodu zawartej tego dnia między Rzecząpospolitą Polską a Królestwem Niderlandów, niżej podpisani uzgodnili, że następujące postanowienia będą stanowić integralną część konwencji.

l. Do artykułu 3 ustęp 1 litera e

W przypadku gdy podmiot traktowany dla celów podatkowych jako osoba prawna podlega jako taka opodatkowaniu w Umawiającym się Państwie, lecz dochód tego podmiotu jest opodatkowany w drugim Umawiającym się Państwie jako dochód udziałowców w tym podmiocie, to właściwe organy podejmą takie działania, które z jednej strony zapobiegną podwójnemu opodatkowaniu, lecz z drugiej strony zapobiegną, aby na skutek jedynie stosowania konwencji dochód nie był poddany (częściowo) opodatkowaniu.

II. Do artykułu 3 ustęp 2 i artykułu 26

Ustala się, że jeżeli właściwe organy Umawiających się Państw w drodze wzajemnego porozumienia osiągnęły rozwiązanie w ramach konwencji w odniesieniu do przypadków, w których mogłoby zaistnieć podwójne opodatkowanie lub podwójne zwolnienie od opodatkowania:

a) w wyniku stosowania artykułu 3 ustęp 2 w zakresie interpretacji określeń niezdefiniowanych w konwencji, lub

b) w wyniku rozbieżności przy kwalifikacji (na przykład w odniesieniu do części dochodu lub osoby),

to takie rozwiązanie – po jego opublikowaniu przez obydwa właściwe organy – będzie wiążące przy stosowaniu konwencji również w innych podobnych przypadkach.

III. Do artykułu 4

Osoba fizyczna mieszkająca na pokładzie statku morskiego bez rzeczywistego miejsca zamieszkania w żadnym z Umawiających się Państw będzie traktowana jako posiadająca miejsce zamieszkania w Umawiającym się Państwie, w którym znajduje się port macierzysty statku morskiego.

IV. Do artykułów 5, 6, 7, 13 i 24

Ustala się, że prawa do poszukiwania, badania i eksploatacji zasobów naturalnych są traktowane jako mienie nieruchome położone w Umawiającym się Państwie, do którego należy dno morskie i podglebie, z którymi są one związane, i uważa się, że te prawa należą do mienia zakładu położonego w tym Państwie. Ponadto ustala się, że wspomniane wyżej prawa obejmują prawa do udziałów w zyskach lub aktywach wytwarzanych w wyniku takich poszukiwań, badań lub eksploatacji.

V. Do artykułów 7 i 14

Płatności uzyskiwane jako wynagrodzenie za usługi techniczne, w tym studia lub pomiary o charakterze naukowym, geologicznym i technicznym lub za usługi konsultingowe albo nadzorcze, będą traktowane jako płatności, do których mają zastosowanie postanowienia artykułu 7 i artykułu 14.

VI. Do artykułów 10, 11 i 12

Jeżeli u źródła został pobrany podatek przekraczający kwotę podatku, jaki podlega poborowi na podstawie postanowień artykułów 10 i 11 lub 12, to wnioski o zwrot nadpłaconej kwoty podatku powinny być przedkładane właściwemu organowi Państwa, które pobrało podatek, w ciągu trzech lat po upływie roku kalendarzowego, w którym podatek został pobrany.

VII. Do artykułów 10 i 33

Bez względu na postanowienia artykułu 10 ustęp 2 litera a, do czasu, gdy obydwa Umawiające się Państwa będą stosowały w pełni Dyrektywę z dnia 23 lipca 1990 r. o wspólnym systemie opodatkowania między spółkami matkami i spółkami córkami różnych państw (90/435/EEC), będą miały w dalszym ciągu zastosowanie postanowienia artykułu 10 ust. 3 Konwencji między Rządem Królestwa Holandii a Rządem Polskiej Rzeczypospolitej Ludowej o uniknięciu podwójnego opodatkowania i zapobieżeniu uchylaniu się od opodatkowania w zakresie podatków od dochodu i majątku z protokołem, podpisanej w Warszawie dnia 20 września 1979 r.

VIII. Do artykułu 11

Bez względu na postanowienia artykułu 11 ustęp 2 odsetki uzyskane przez osoba mającą miejsce zamieszkania lub siedzibę w Umawiającym się Państwie w związku zawartą przed podpisaniem niniejszej konwencji będą ulegały opodatkowaniu tylko w tym Państwie podczas pierwszych 12 miesięcy po dniu, w którym postanowienia niniejszej konwencji będą miały zastosowanie

IX. Do artykułu 16

1. Ustala się że określenie „członek rady dyrektorów” oznacza:

a) w przypadku Niderlandów – „bestuurder” lub „commissaris”;

b) w przypadku Polski – „członka zarządu” , „rady nadzorczej” i „komisji rewizyjnej”.

2. Ustala się również, że „bestuurder” lub „commissaris” spółki holenderskiej oznacza osoby, które są mianowane w tym charakterze przez zgromadzenie ogólne akcjonariuszy lub udziałowców lub przez inny właściwy organ takiej spółki i mają powierzone obowiązki dotyczące zarządzania i nadzorowania spółki.

X. Do artykułu 18 ustęp 2 litera c

Po upływie 10 lat po wejściu w życie konwencji właściwe organy odbędą między sobą konsultacje w celu ustalenia, czy jest celowe skorygowanie, w drodze wymiany listów, kwoty, o której mowa w art. 18 ustęp 2 litera c.

XI. Do artykułu 26

Właściwe organy Państw mogą również ustalić w odniesieniu do każdego porozumienia osiągniętego w ramach procedury wzajemnego porozumiewania się w rozumieniu artykułu 26, jeżeli zajdzie potrzeba wbrew ich ustawodawstwom wewnętrznym, że Państwo, w którym istnieje dodatkowe obciążenie podatkowe w wyniku takiego porozumienia nie będzie nakładać żadnych podwyżek, dopłat, odsetek i kosztów w zakresie tego podatkowego obciążenia podatkowego, jeżeli drugie Państwo, w którym istnieje odpowiednia obniżka podatku w wyniku porozumienia, powstrzymuje się od płacenia jakichkolwiek odsetek w odniesieniu do takiej obniżki podatku.

XII. Do artykułu 28

Postanowienia o pomocy w egzekucji zawarte w artykule 28 niniejszej konwencji wejdą w życie tyko wtedy, gdy właściwe organy tak uzgodnią w drodze wymiany listów po wzajemnych konsultacjach.

NA DOWÓD CZEGO niżej podpisani, należycie do tego upoważnieni, podpisali niniejszy protokół.

Sporządzono w Warszawie dnia 13 lutego 2002 r. w dwóch egzemplarzach, w językach polskim, niderlandzkim i angielskim, przy czym trzy teksty są jednakowo autentyczne. W przypadku rozbieżności przy interpretacji między tekstem polskim i niderlandzkim tekst angielski będzie rozstrzygający.

CONVENTION

between the Republic of Poland and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income

The Republic of Poland and the Kingdom of the Netherlands,

Desiring to conclude a new convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income by both States,

Have agreed as follows:

CHAPTER I

Scope of the Convention

Article 1

Persons Covered

This Convention shall apply to persons who are residents of one or both of the Contracting States.

Article 2

Taxes Covered

1. This Convention shall apply to taxes on income imposed on behalf of a Contracting State or of its political subdivisions or local authorities, irrespective of the manner in which they are levied.

2. There shall be regarded as taxes on income all taxes imposed on total income, or on elements of income, including taxes on gains from the alienation of movable or immovable property, taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries paid by enterprises, as well as taxes on capital appreciation.

3. The existing taxes to wchich the Convention shall apply are in particular:

a) in the Netherlands:

– de inkomstenbelasting (income tax),

– de loonbelasting (wages tax),

– de vennootschapsbelasting (company tax) including the Government share in the net profits of the exploitation of natural resources levied pursuant to the Mijnwet 1810 (the Mining Act of 1810) with respect to concessions issued from 1967, or pursuant to the Mijnwet Continentaal Plat 1965 (the Netherlands Continental Shelf Mining Act of 1965),

– de dividendbelasting (dividend tax),

(hereinafter referred to as "Netherlands tax”);

b) in the Republic of Poland:

(i) personal income tax, and

(ii) corporate income tax,

(hereinafter referred to as "Polish tax”).

4. The Convention shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes which are imposed after the date of signature of the Convention in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall notify each other of any significant changes which have been made in their respective taxation laws.

CHAPTER II

Definitions

Article 3

General definitions

1. For the purposes of this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires:

a) the term "a Contracting State” means the Kingdom of the Netherlands (the Netherlands) or the Republic of Poland (Poland), as the context requires; the term "Contracting States” means the Kingdom of the Netherlands (the Netherlands) and the Republic of Poland (Poland);

b) the term "the Netherlands” means the part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that is situated in Europe, including its territorial sea, and any area beyond the territorial sea within which the Netherlands, in accordance with international law, exercises jurisdiction or sovereign rights with respect to the sea bed, its sub-soil and its superjacent waters, and their natural resources;

c) the term "Poland” when used in a geographical sense means the territory of the Republic of Poland, including any area beyond its territorial waters, within which under the laws of the Republic of Poland and in accordance with international law, the Republic of Poland exercises its sovereign rights over the sea-bed, its subsoil and its superjacent waters and their natural resources;

d) the term "person” includes an individual, a company and any other body of persons;

e) the term "company” means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;

f) the terms "enterprise of a Contracting State” and "enterprise of other Contracting State” mean respectively an enterprise carried on by a resident of a Conctracting State and an enterprise carried on by a resident of the other Contracting State;

g) the term "international traffic” means any transport by a ship or aircraft or boat engaged in inland waterways transport operated by an enterprise that has its place of effective management in a Contracting State, except when the ship, aircraft or boat is operated solely between places in the other Contracting State;

h) the term "national” means:

(i) any individual possessing the nationality of a Contracting State;

(ii) any legal person, partnership or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State;

i) the term "competent authority” means:

(i) in the Netherlands the Minister of Finance or his authorized representative;

(ii) in Poland the Minister of Finance or his authorized representative.

2. As regards the application of the Convention at any time by a Contracting State any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning which it has at that time under the law of that State for the purposes of the taxes to which the Convention applies, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that State prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that State.

Article 4

Resident

1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "resident of a Contracting State” means any person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place of management or any other criterion of a similar nature, and also includes that State and any political subdivision or local authority thereof. This term, however, does not include any person who is liable to tax in that State in respect only of income from sources in that State.

2. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then his status shall be determined as follows:

a) he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if he has a permanent home available to him in both States, he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests);

b) if the State in which he has his centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he has not a permanent home available to him in either State, he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which he has an habitual abode;

c) if he has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State of which he is a national;

d) if he is a national of both States or of neither of them, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement.

3. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 a person other than an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then it shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which its place of effective management is situated.

4. A pension fund that is recognized and controlled according to the statutory provisions of a Contracting State, and the income of which is generally exempt from tax in that State shall be deemed to be a resident of that State.

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, and

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

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

4. 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 of a preparatory or auxiliary character;

f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of activities mentioned in sub-paragraphs a) to e), provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory or auxiliary character.

5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person - other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 6 applies - is acting on behalf of an enterprise and has, and habilitually exercises, in a Contracting State an authority to conclude contracts in the name of 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 4 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph.

6. An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that State through a broker, general commission agent or any other agent of an independent status, provided that such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business.

7. 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.

CHAPTER III

Taxation of income

Article 6

Income from immovable property

1. Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State from immovable property (including income from agriculture or forestry) situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. The term "immovable property" shall have the meaning which it has under the law of the Contracting State in which the property in question is situated. The term shall in any case include property accessory to immovable property, livestock and equipment used in agriculture and forestry, rights to which the provisions of general law respecting landed property apply, usufruct of immovable property and rights to variable or fixed payments as consideration for the working of, or the right to work, mineral deposits, sources and other natural resources. Ships and aircraft and boats engaged in inland waterways transport shall not be regarded as immovable property.

3. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply to income derived from the direct use, letting, or use in any other form of immovable property.

4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 3 shall also apply to the income from immovable property of an enterprise and to income from immovable property used for the performance of independent personal services.

Article 7

Business profits

1. The profits of an enterprise of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State unless the enterprise carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein. If the enterprise carries on business as aforesaid, the profits of the enterprise may be taxed in the other State but only so much of them as is attributable to that permanent establishment.

2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3, where an eneterprise of a Contracting State carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, there shall in each Contracting State be attributed to that permanent establishment the profits which it might be expected to make if it were a distinct and separate enterprise engaged in the same or similar activities under the same or similar conditions and dealing wholly independently with the enterprise of which it is a permanent establishment.

3. In determining the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be allowed as deductions expenses which are incurred for the purposes of the permanent establishment, including executive and general administrative expenses so incurred, whether in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated or elsewhere.

4. Insofar as it has been customary in a Contracting State to determine the profits to be attributed to a permanent establishment on the basis of an apportionment of the total profits of the enterprise to its various parts, nothing in paragraph 2 shall preclude that Contracting State from determining the profits to be taxed by such an apportionment as may be customary; the method of apportionment adopted shall, however, be such that result shall be in accordance with the principles contained in this Article.

5. No profits shall be attributed to a permanent establishment by reason of the mere purchase by that permanent establishment of goods or merchandise for the enterprise.

6. For the purposes of the preceding paragraphs, the profits to be attributed to the permanent establishment shall be determined by the same method year by year unless there is good and sufficient reason to the contrary.

7. Where profits include items of income which are dealt with separately in other Articles of this Convention, then the provisions of those Articles shall not be affected by the provisions of this Article.

Article 8

Shipping, inland waterways transport and air transport

1. Profits from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the place of effective management of the enterprise is situated.

2. Profits from the operation of boats engaged in inland waterways transport shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the place of effective management of the enterprise is situated.

3. If the place of effective management of a shipping enterprise or of an inland waterways transport enterprise is aboard a ship or a boat, then it shall be deemed to be situated in the Contracting State in which the home harbour of the ship or boat is situated, or, if there is no such home harbour, in the Contracting State of which the operator of the ship or boat is a resident.

4. For the purposes of this Article, profits derived from the operation in international traffic of ships and aircraft include profits derived from the rental on a bareboat basis of ships and aircraft if operated in international traffic if such rental profits are incidental to the profits described in paragraphs 1 and 2.

5. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall also apply to profits from the participation in a pool, a joint business or an international operating agency.

Article 9

Associated enterprises

1. Where

a) an enterprise of a Contracting State participates directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of the other Contracting State, or

b) the same persons participate directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of a Contracting State and an enterpise of the other Contracting State.

and in either case conditions are made or imposed between the two enterprises in their commercial or financial relations which differ from those which would be made between independent enterprises, then any profits which would, but for those conditions, have accrued to one of the enterprises, but, by reason of those conditions, have not so accrued, may be included in the profits of that enterprise and taxed accordingly. It is understood, however, that the fact that associated enterprises have concluded arrangements, such as costsharing arrangements or general services agreements, for or based on the allocation of executive, general administrative, technical and commercial expenses, research and development expenses and other similar expenses, is not in itself a condition as meant in the preceding sentence, provided that such arrangements are based on a arm's length principle.

2. Where a Contracting State includes in the profits of an enterprise of that State – and taxes accordingly – profits on which an enterprise of the other Contracting State has been charged to tax in that other State and the profits so included are profits which would have accrued to the enterprise of the first-mentioned State if the conditions made between the two enterprises had been those which would have been made between independent enterprises, then that other State shall make an appropriate adjustment to the amount of the tax charged therein on those profits. In determining such adjustment, due regard shall be had to the other provisions of this Convention and the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall if necessary consult each other.

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 beneficial owner of the dividends is a resident of the other Contracting State, 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 10 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. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement settle the mode of application of paragraph 2.

4. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid.

5. 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 debt-claims participating in profits and income from other corporate rights which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the State which the company making the distribution is a resident.

6. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 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.

7. 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.

Article 11

Interest

1. Interest arising in a Contracting State and beneficially owned by a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. However, such interest may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which it arises and according to the laws of that State, but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the interest is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 5 per cent of the gross amount of the interest.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, any such interest referred to in paragraph 1 shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the recipient is a resident, if such recipient is the beneficial owner of the interest and if such interest is paid:

a) on a loan of whatever kind granted, insured or guaranteed by an institution for purposes of promoting export owned or controlled by a Contracting State;

b) in connection with the sale on credit of any industrial, commercial or scientific equipment;

c) on a loan of whatever kind granted by a bank;

d) in respect of a bond, debenture or other similar obligation of the Government of a Contracting State, or of a political subdivision or local authority thereof;

e) to the other Contracting State, or to a political subdivision or local authority thereof.

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

5. The term "interest” as used in this Article means income from debt-claims of every kind, whether or not secured by mortgage, but not carrying a right to participate in the debtor's profits, and in particular income from government securities and income from bonds or debentures, including premiums and prizes attaching to such securities, bonds or debentures. Penalty charges for late payment shall not be regarded as interest for the purpose of this Article.

6. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the interest, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the interest arises, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein and the debt-claim in respect of which the interest is 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.

7. Interest shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the interest, whether he is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment or a fixed base in connection with which the indebtedness on which the interest is paid was incurred, and such interest is borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then such interest shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment or fixed base is situated.

8. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the interest, having regard to the debt-claim for which it is paid, exceeds the amount which would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.

Article 12

Royalties

1. Royalties arising in a Contracting State and beneficially owned by a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. However, the royalties referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise and according to the laws of that State, but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the royalties the tax so charged shall not exceed 5 percent of the gross amount of the royalties.

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

4. The term "royalties" as used in this Article means payments of any kind received as a consideration for the use of, or the right to use, any copyright of literary, artistic or scientific work including cinematograph films, any patent, trade mark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process, or for the use of, or the right to use any industrial, commercial or scientific equipment, or for information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience.

5. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the royalties, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the royalties arise, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the right or property in respect of which the royalties 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.

6. Royalties shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the royalties, whether he is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment or a fixed base in connection with which the liability to pay the royalties was incurred, and such royalties are borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then such royalties shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment or fixed base is situated.

7. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the royalties, having regard to the use, right or information for which they are paid, exceeds the amount which would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.

Article 13

Capital gains

1. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation of immovable property referred to in Article 6 and situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. Gains from the alienation of movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State or of movable property pertaining to a fixed base available to a resident of a Contracting State in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing independent personal services, including such gains from the alienation of such a permanent establishment (alone or with the whole enterpise) or of such fixed base, may be taxed in that other State.

3. Gains from the alienation of ships, aircraft or boats engaged in inland waterways transport operated in international traffic, or movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships, aircraft or boats, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the place of effective management of the enterprise is situated. For the purposes of this paragraph the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 8 shall apply.

4. Gains from the alienation of any property other than that referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the alienator is a resident.

5. The provisions of paragraph 4 shall not affect the right of each of the Contracting States to levy according to its own law a tax in gains from the alienation of shares or "jouissance" rights in a company, the capital of which is wholly or partly divided into shares and which under the laws of that State is a resident of that State, derived by an individual who is a resident of the other Contracting State and has been a resident of the first-mentioned State in the course of the last ten years preceding the alienation of the shares or "jouissance" rights. In case where, under the domestic laws of the first-mentioned Contracting State, an assessment has been issued to the individual in respect of the alienation of the aforesaid shares deemed to have taken place at the time of his emigration from the first-mentioned Contracting State, the above shall apply only in so far as part of the assessment is still outstanding.

Article 14

Independent personal services

1. Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of professional services or other activities of an independent character shall be taxable only in that State unless he has a fixed base regularly available to him in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing his activities. If he has such a fixed base, the income may be taxed in the other State but only so much of it as is attributable to that fixed base.

2. The term "professional services" includes especially independent scientific, literary, artistic, educational or teaching activities as well as the independent activities of physicians, lawyers, engineers, architects, dentists and accountants.

Article 15

Dependent personal services

1. Subject to the provisions of Articles 16, 18, 19, 20 and 21, salaries, wages and other similar remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment shall be taxable only in that State unless the employment is exercised in the other Contracting State. If the employment is so exercised, such remuneration as is derived therefrom may be taxed in that other State.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment exercised in the other Contracting State shall be taxable only the first-mentioned State if:

a) the recipient is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve month period commencing or ending in the fiscal year concerned, and

b) the remuneration is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer who is not a resident of the other State, and

c) the remuneration is not borne by a permanent establishment or a fixed base which the employer has in the other State.

3. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment exercised aboard a ship or aircraft or a boat engaged in inland waterways transport operated in international traffic, shall be taxable only in that State.

Article 16

Directors' fees

Directors' fees or other remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in his capacity as a member of the board of directors of a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

Article 17

Artistes and sportsmen

1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 14 and 15, income derived by a resident of a Contracting State as an entertainer, such as a theatre, motion picture, radio or television artists, or a musician, or a sportsman, from his personal activities as such exercised in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.

2. Where income in respect of personal activities exercised by an entertainer or a sportsman in his capacity as such accrues not to the entertainer or sportsman himself but to another person, that income may, notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7, 14 and 15, be taxed in the Contracting State in which the activities of the entertainer or sportsman are exercised.

3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall not apply to income accruing from the exercise of activities by artists or sportsmen in a Contracting State where the visit to that State is financed entirely or mainly from public funds of one or both Contracting States, a political subdivision, a local authority or a Government institution thereof.

Article 18

Pensions, annuities and social security

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 19, pensions and other similar remuneration paid to a resident of a Contracting State in consideration of past employment, as well as annuities paid to a resident of a Contracting State, shall be taxable only in that State.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, a pension or other similar remuneration or annuity may also be taxed in the Contracting State from which it is derived, in accordance with the laws of that State,

a) if and in so far as the entitlement to this pension or other similar remuneration or annuity in the Contracting State from which it is derived is exempt from tax, or the contributions associated with the pension or other similar remuneration or annuity made to the pension scheme or insurance company were deducted in the past when calculating taxable income in that State or qualified for other tax concessions in that State; and

b) if and in so far as this pension or other similar remuneration or annuity is in the Contracting State of which the recipient thereof is a resident not taxed at the generally applicable rate for income derived from dependent personal services, or less than 90 per cent of the gross amount of the pension or other similar remuneration or annuity is taxed; and

c) if the total gross amount of the pensions and other similar remuneration and annuities and any pension and other payment paid out under the provisions of a social security system of a State in any calendar year exceeds the sum of 20.000 Euro.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, if this pension or other similar remuneration is not periodic in nature, is paid in respect of past employment in the other Contracting State and is paid out before the date on which the pension commences, or if a lump-sum payment is made in lieu of the right to an annuity before the date on which the annuity commences, the payment or this lump-sum may also be taxed in the Contracting State from which it is derived.

4. A pension or other similar remuneration or annuity is deemed to be derived from a Contracting State if and insofar as the contributions or payments associated with the pension or other similar remuneration or annuity, or the entitlements received from it qualified for tax relief in that State. The transfer of a pension from a pension fund or an insurance company in a Contracting State to a pension fund or an insurance company in another State will not restrict in any way the taxing rights of the first-mentioned State under this Article.

5. Any pension and other payment paid out under the provisions of a social security system of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in the first-mentioned Contracting State.

6. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement settle the mode of application of paragraph 2. They shall also decide what details the resident of a Contracting State must submit for the purpose of the proper application of the Convention in the other Contracting State, in particular so that it can be established whether the conditions referred in paragraph 2 (a), (b) and (c) have been met.

7. The term "annuity" means a stated sum payable periodically at stated times during life or during a specified or ascertainable period of time under an obligation to make the payments in return for adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth.

8. Whether and to what extent a pension or similar remuneration falls under this Article or under Article 19, is determined by the nature of the past employment, as private or governmental, during which the entitlement to that part of the pension or similar remuneration was built up.

Article 19

Government service

1.

a) Salaries, wages and other similar remuneration, other than a pension, paid by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof to an individual in respect of services rendered to that State or subdivision or authority may be taxed in that State.

b) However, such salaries, wages and other similar remuneration shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the services are rendered in that State and the individual is a resident of that State who:

(i) is a national of that State; or

ii) did not become a resident of that State solely for the purpose of rendering the services.

2.

a) Any pension paid by, or out of funds created by, a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof to an individual in respect of services rendered to that State or subdivision or authority may be taxed in that State.

b) However, such pension shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the individual is a resident of, and a national of, that State.

3. The provisions of Articles 15, 16, 17 and 18 shall apply to salaries, wages and other similar remuneration and to pensions in respect of services rendered in connection with a business carried on by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof.

Article 20

Professors and teachers

1. Payments which a professor or teacher who is a resident of a Contracting State and who is present in the other Contracting State for the purpose of teaching or scientific research in a university, college or other establishment for teaching or scientific research in that other State for a maximum of two years from the date of his first visit for that purpose, receives for such teaching or research, shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State.

2. This Article shall not apply to income from research if such research is undertaken not in the public interest but primarily for the private benefit of a specific person or persons.

Article 21

Students

Payments which a student or business apprentice who is or was immediately before visiting a Contracting State a resident of the other Contracting State and who is present in the first-mentioned State solely for the purpose of his education or training receives for the purpose of his maintenance, education or training shall not be taxed in that State, provided that such payments arise from sources outside that State.

Article 22

Other income

1. Items of income of a resident of a Contracting State, wherever arising, not dealt with in the foregoing Articles of this Convention shall be taxable only in that State.

2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to income, other than income from immovable property as defined in paragraph 2 of Article 6, if the recipient of such income, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the right or property in respect of which the income is 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.

CHAPTER IV

Elimination of double taxation

Article 23

Elimination of double taxation

1. The Netherlands, when imposing tax on its residents, may include in the basis upon which such taxes are imposed the items of income which, according to the provisions of this Convention, may be taxed in Poland.

2. However, where a resident of the Netherlands derives items of income which according to Article 6, Article 7, paragraph 6 of Article 10, paragraph 6 of Article 11, paragraph 5 of Article 12, paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 13, Article 14, paragraph 1 of Article 15, paragraphs 2 and 5 of Article 18, paragraphs 1 (subparagraph a) and 2 (subparagraph a) of Article 19 and paragraph 2 of Article 22 of this Convention may be taxed in Poland and are included in the basis referred to in paragraph 1, the Netherlands shall exempt such items of income by allowing a reduction of its tax. This reduction shall be computed in conformity with the provisions of Netherlands law for the avoidance of double taxation. For that purpose the said items of income shall be deemed to be included in the total amount of the items of income which are exempt from Netherlands tax under those provisions.

3. Further, the Netherlands shall allow a deduction from the Netherlands tax so computed for the items of income which according to paragraph 2 of Article 10, paragraph 2 of Article 11, paragraph 2 of Article 12, paragraph 5 of Article 13, Article 16, Article 17 and paragraph 3 of Article 18 of this Convention may be taxed in Poland to the extent that these items are included in the basis referred to in paragraph 1. The amount of this deduction shall be equal to the tax paid in Poland on these items of income, but shall not exceed the amount of the reduction which would be allowed if the items of income so included were the sole items of income which are exempt from Netherlands tax under the provisions of Netherlands law for the avoidance of double taxation.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, the Netherlands shall allow a deduction from the Netherlands tax for the tax paid in Poland on items of income which according to Article 7, paragraph 6 of Article 10, paragraph 6 of Article 11, paragraph 5 of Article 12, Article 14 and paragraph 2 of Article 22 of this Convention may be taxed in Poland to the extent that these items are included in the basis referred to in paragraph 1, if and insofar as the Netherlands under the provisions of Netherlands law for the avoidance of double taxation allows a deduction from the Netherlands tax of the tax levied in another country on such items of income. For the computation of this deduction the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Article shall apply accordingly.

5. In the case of a resident of the Republic of Poland, double taxation shall be avoided as follows:

a) Where a resident of the Republic of Poland derives income which, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, may be taxed in the Netherlands, the Republic of Poland shall allow as a deduction from the tax on the income of that resident, an amount equal to the income tax paid in the Netherlands. Such deduction shall not, however, exceed that part of the income tax, as computed before the deduction is given, which is attributable to the income which may be taxed in the Netherlands.

b) Where in accordance with any provision of this Convention income derived by a resident of Poland is exempt from tax in Poland, Poland may nevertheless, in calculating the amount of tax on the remaining income of such resident, take into account the exempted income.

CHAPTER V

Special provisions

Article 24

Offshore activities

1. The provisions of this Article shall apply notwithstanding any other provisions of this Convention. However, this Article shall not apply where offshore activities of a person constitute for that person a permanent establishment under the provisions of Article 5 or a fixed base under the provisions of Article 14.

2. In this Article the term "offshore activities" means activities which are carried on offshore in connection with the exploration or exploitation of the sea bed and its sub-soil and their natural resources, situated in a Contracting State.

3. An enterprise of a Contracting State which carries on offshore activities in the other Contracting State shall, subject to paragraph 4 of this Article, be deemed to be carrying on, in respect of those activities, business in that other State through a permanent establishment situated therein, unless the offshore activities in question are carried on in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 30 days in any period of 12 months.

For the purposes of this paragraph:

a) where an enterprise carrying on offshore activities in the other Contracting State is associated with another enterprise and that other enterprise continues, as part of the same project, the same offshore activities that are or were being carried on by the first-mentioned enterprise, and the afore-mentioned activities carried on by both enterprises - when added together - exceed a period of 30 days, then each enterprise shall be deemed to be carrying on its activities for a period exceeding 30 days in a 12 month-period;

b) an enterprise shall be regarded as associated with another enterprise if one holds directly or indirectly at least one third of the capital of the other enterprise or if a person holds directly or indirectly at least one third of the capital of both enterprises.

4. However, for the purposes of paragraph 3 of this Article the term "offshore activities" shall be deemed not to include:

a) one or any combination of the activities mentioned in paragraph 4 of Article 5;

b) towing or anchor handling by ships primarily designed for that purpose and any other activities performed by such ships;

c) the transport of supplies or personnel by ships or aircraft in international traffic.

5. A resident of a Contracting State who carries on offshore activities in the other Contracting State, which consist of professional services or other activities of an independent character, shall be deemed to be performing those activities from a fixed base in the other Contracting State if the offshore activities in question last for a continuous period of 30 days or more in any twelve month period.

6. Salaries, wages and other similar remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment connected with offshore activities carried on through a permanent establishment in the other Contracting State may, to the extent that the employment is exercised offshore in that other State, be taxed in that other State.

7. Where documentary evidence is produced that tax has been paid in Poland on the items of income which may be taxed in Poland according to Article 7 and Article 14 in connection with respectively paragraph 3 and paragraph 5 of this Article, and to paragraph 6 of this Article, the Netherlands shall allow a reduction of its tax which shall be computed in conformity with the rules laid down in paragraph 2 of Article 23.

Article 25

Non-discrimination

1. Nationals of a Contracting State shall not be subjected in the other Contracting State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith, which is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which nationals of that other State in the same circumstances, in particular with respect to residence, are or may be subjected. This provision shall, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 1, also apply to persons who are not residents of one or both of the Contracting States.

2. The taxation on a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State shall not be less favourably levied in that other State than the taxation levied on enterprises of that other State carrying on the same activities. This provision shall not be construed as obliging a Contracting State to grant to residents of the other Contracting State any personal allowances, reliefs and reductions for taxation purposes on account of civil status or family responsibilities which it grants to its own residents.

3. Except where the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 9, paragraph 8 of Article 11, or paragraph 7 of Article 12, apply, interest, royalties and other disbursements paid by an enterprise of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State shall, for the purpose of determining the taxable profits of such enterprise, be deductible under the same conditions as if they had been paid to a resident of the first-mentioned State. Similarly, any debts of an enterprise of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State shall, for the purpose of determining the taxable capital of such enterprise, be deductible under the same conditions as if they had been contracted to a resident of the first-mentioned State.

4. Enterprises of a Contracting State, the capital of which is wholly or partly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more residents of the other Contracting State, shall not be subjected in the first-mentioned State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith which is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which other similar enterprises of the first-mentioned State are or may be subjected.

5. Contributions paid by, or on behalf of, an individual who is a resident of a Contracting State to a pension plan that is recognized for tax purposes in the other Contracting State will be treated in the same way for tax purposes in the first-mentioned State as a contribution paid to a pension plan that is recognized for tax purposes in that first-mentioned State, provided that

a) such individual was contributing to such pension plan before he became a resident of the first-mentioned State; and

b) the competent authority of the first-mentioned State agrees that the pension plan corresponds to a pension plan recognized for tax purposes by that State.

For the purpose of this paragraph, "pension plan" includes a pension plan created under a public social security system.

6. The provisions of this Article shall, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 2, apply to taxes of every kind and description.

Article 26

Mutual agreement procedure

1. Where a person considers that the actions of one or both of the Contracting States result or will result for him in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, he may, irrespective of the remedies provided by the domestic law of those States, present his case to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which he is a resident or, if his case comes under paragraph 1 of Article 25, to that of the Contracting State of which he is a national. The case must be presented within three years from the first notification of the action resulting in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.

2. The competent authority shall endeavour, if the objection appears to it to be justified and if it is not itself able to arrive at a satisfactory solution, to resolve the case by mutual agreement with the competent authority of the other Contracting State, with a view to the avoidance of taxation which is not in accordance with the Convention. Any agreement reached shall be implemented notwithstanding any time limits in the domestic law of the Contracting States.

3. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour to resolve by mutual agreement any difficulties or doubts arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention. They may also consult together for the elimination of double taxation in cases not provided for in the Convention.

4. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may communicate with each other directly for the purpose of reaching an agreement in the sense of the preceding paragraphs.

5. If any difficulty or doubt arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention cannot be resolved by the competent authorities of the Contracting States in a mutual agreement procedure pursuant to the previous paragraphs of this Article within a period of two years after the question was raised, the case may, at the request of either Contracting State, be submitted for arbitration, but only after fully exhausting the procedures available under paragraphs 1 to 4 of this Article and provided the taxpayer or taxpayers involved agree in writing to be bound by the decision of the arbitration board.

The decision of the arbitration board in a particular case shall be binding on both Contracting States and the taxpayer or taxpayers involved with respect to that case.

Article 27

Exchange of information

1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange such information as is necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Convention or of the domestic laws of the Contracting States concerning taxes covered by the Convention insofar as the taxation thereunder is not contrary to the Convention. The exchange of information is not restricted by Article 1. Any information received by a Contracting State shall be treated as secret in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of that State and shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the determination of appeals in relation to, the taxes covered by the Convention. Such persons or authorities shall use the information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.

2. The Contracting States may release to the arbitration board, established under the provisions of paragraph 5 of Article 26, such information as is necessary for carrying out the arbitration procedure. Such release of information shall be subject to the provisions of Article 29. The members of the arbitration board shall be subject to the limitations on disclosure described in paragraph 1 of this Article with respect to any information so released.

Article 28

Assistance in recovery

1. The States agree to lend each other assistance and support with a view to the collection, in accordance with their respective laws or administrative practice, of the taxes to which this Convention shall apply and of any increases, surcharges, overdue payments, interests and costs pertaining to the said taxes.

2. At the request of the applicant State the requested State shall recover tax claims of the first-mentioned State in accordance with the law and administrative practice for the recovery of its own tax claims. However, such claims do not enjoy any priority in the requested State and cannot be recovered by imprisonment for debt of the debtor. The requested State is not obliged to take any executory measures which are not provided for in the laws of the applicant State.

3. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall apply only to tax claims which form the subject of an instrument permitting their enforcement in the applicant State and, unless otherwise agreed between the competent authorities, which are not contested.

However, where the claim relates to a liability to tax of a person as a non resident of the applicant State, paragraph 2 shall only apply, unless otherwise agreed between the competent authorities, where the claim may no longer be contested.

4. The obligation to provide assistance in the recovery of tax claims concerning a deceased person or his estate is limited to the value of the estate or the property acquired by each beneficiary of the estate, according to whether the claim is to be recovered from the estate or from the beneficiaries thereof.

5. The requested State shall not be obliged to accede to the request:

a) if the applicant State has not pursued all means available in its own territory, except where recourse to such means would give rise to disproportionate difficulty;

b) if and insofar as it considers the tax claim to be contrary to the provisions of this Convention or of any other convention to which both of the States are parties.

6. The request for administrative assistance in the recovery of a tax claim shall be accompanied by:

a) a declaration that the tax claim concerns a tax covered by the Convention and that the conditions of paragraph 3 are met;

b) an official copy of the instrument permitting enforcement in the applicant State;

c) any other document required for recovery;

d) where appropriate, a certified copy confirming any related decision emanating from an administrative body or a public court.

7. The applicant State shall indicate the amounts of the tax claim to be recovered in both the currency of the applicant State and the currency of the requested State. The rate of exchange to be used for the purpose of the preceding sentence is the last selling price settled on the most representative exchange market or markets of the applicant State. Each amount recovered by the requested State shall be transferred to the applicant State in the currency of the requested State. The transfer shall be carried out within a period of a month from the date of the recovery.

8. At the request of the applicant State, the requested State shall, with a view to the recovery of an amount of tax, take measures of conservancy even if the claim is contested or is not yet the subject of an instrument permitting enforcement, in so far as such is permitted by the laws and administrative practice of the requested State.

9. The instrument permitting enforcement in the applicant State shall, where appropriate and in accordance with the provisions in force in the requested State, be accepted, recognised, supplemented or replaced as soon as possible after the date of the receipt of the request for assistance by an instrument permitting enforcement in the requested State.

10. Questions concerning any period beyond which a tax claim cannot be enforced shall be governed by the law of the applicant State. The request for assistance in the recovery shall give particulars concerning that period.

11. Acts of recovery carried out by the requested State in pursuance of a request for assistance, which, according to the laws of that State, would have the effect of suspending or interrupting the period mentioned in paragraph 10, shall also have this effect under the laws of the applicant State. The requested State shall inform the applicant State about such acts.

12. The requested State may allow deferral of payment or payment by instalments, if its laws or administrative practice permit it to do so in similar circumstances; but it shall first inform the applicant State.

13. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by common agreement prescribe rules concerning minimum amounts of tax claims subject to a request for assistance.

14. The States shall reciprocally waive any restitution of costs resulting from the respective assistance and support which they lend each other in applying this Convention. The applicant State shall in any event remain responsible towards the requested State for the pecuniary consequences of acts of recovery which have been found unjustified in respect of the reality of the tax claim concerned or of the validity of the instrument permitting enforcement in the applicant State.

Article 29

Limitation of Articles 27 and 28

In no case shall the provisions of Articles 27 and 28 be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation:

a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws and administrative practice of that or of the other Contracting State;

b) to supply information which is not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of the administration of that or of the other Contracting State;

c) to supply information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial, or professional secret or trade process, or information, the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).

Article 30

Members of diplomatic missions and consular posts

1. Nothing in this Convention shall affect the fiscal privileges of members of diplomatic missions or consular posts under the general rules of international law or under the provisions of special agreements.

2. For the purposes of the Convention an individual, who is a member of a diplomatic mission or consular post of a Contracting State in the other Contracting State or in a third State and who is a national of the sending State, shall be deemed to be a resident of the sending State if he is submitted therein to the same obligations in respect of taxes on income as are residents of that State.

3. The Convention shall not apply to international organisations, organs and officials thereof and members of a diplomatic mission or consular post of a third State, being present in a Contracting State, if they are not subjected therein to the same obligations in respect of taxes on income as are residents of that State.

Article 31

Territorial extension

1. This Convention may be extended, either in its entirety or with any necessary modifications, to either or both of the countries of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, if the country concerned imposes taxes substantially similar in character to those to which the Convention applies. Any such extension shall take effect from such date and subject to such modifications and conditions, including conditions as to termination, as may be specified and agreed in notes to be exchanged through diplomatic channels.

2. Unless otherwise agreed the termination of the Convention shall not also terminate any extension of the Convention to any country to which it has been extended under this Article.

CHAPTER VI

Final provisions

Article 32

Entry into force

1. The Contracting States shall notify each other that the constitutional requirements for entry into force of this Convention have been complied with.

2. This Convention shall enter into force one month after the date of the latter of the notifications referred to in paragraph 1 and its provisions shall apply:

a) in respect of taxes withheld at source to amounts of income derived on or after 1^st January in the calendar year next following the year in which the Convention enters into force;

b) in respect of other taxes on income to such taxes chargeable for any taxable year beginning on or after 1^st January in the calendar year next following the year in which the Convention enters into force.

3. The provisions of the Convention between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital signed in Warsaw, on September 20, 1979, and the Protocol to it shall cease to be effective on the date preceding the day on which the present Convention shall become applicable.

Article 33

Termination

This Convention shall remain in force until terminated by a Contracting State. Either Contracting State may terminate the Convention, through diplomatic channels, by giving notice of termination at least six months before the end of any calendar year after a period of five years from the date on which the Convention enters into force. In such event the Convention shall cease to have effect:

a) in respect of taxes withheld at source to amounts of income derived on or after 1^st January in the calendar year next following the year in which such notice has been given;

b) in respect of other taxes on income to such taxes chargeable for any taxable year beginning on or after 1^st January in the calendar year next following the year in which such notice has been given.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorized thereto, have signed this Convention.

Done at Warsaw this February 13^th day of 2002, in duplicate, in the Polish, Netherlands and English languages, the three texts being equally authentic. In case there is any divergence of interpretation between the Polish and Netherlands texts, the English text shall prevail.

PROTOCOL

At the moment of signing the Convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, this day concluded between the Republic of Poland and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the undersigned have agreed that the following provisions shall form an integral part of the Convention.

I. Ad subparagraph e of paragraph 1 of Article 3

In case an entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes is liable as such to tax in a Contracting State, but the income of that entity is taxed in the other Contracting State as income of the participants in that entity, the competent authorities shall take such measures that on the one hand no double taxation remains, but on the other hand it is prevented that merely as a result of application of the Convention income is (partly) not subject to tax.

II. Ad paragraph 2 of Article 3 and Article 26

It is understood that if the competent authorities of the Contracting States, in mutual agreement have reached a solution, within the context of the Convention, for cases in which double taxation or double exemption would occur:

a) as a result of the application of paragraph 2 of Article 3 with respect to the interpretation of a term not defined in the Convention; or

b) as a result of differences in qualification (for example of an element of income or of a person),

this solution – after publication thereof by both competent authorities – shall for the application of the Convention also be binding in other similar cases.

III. Ad Article 4

An individual living aboard a ship without any real domicile in either of the Contracting States shall be deemed to be a resident of the Contracting State in which the ship has its home harbour.

IV. Ad Articles 5, 6, 7, 13 and 24

It is understood that exploration and exploitation rights of natural resources shall be regarded as immovable property situated in the Contracting State the sea bed and sub-soil of which they are related to, and that these rights shall be deemed to pertain to the property of a permanent establishment in that State. Furthermore, it is understood that the aforementioned rights include rights to interests in, or to the benefits of, assets to be produced by such exploration or exploitation.

V. Ad Articles 7 and 14

Payments received as a consideration for technical services, including studies or surveys of a scientific, geological or technical nature, or for consultancy or supervisory services shall be deemed to be payments to which the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14 apply.

VI. 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.

VII. Ad Articles 10 and 33

Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, subparagraph a, of Article 10 until both Contracting States do apply in full the Directive of 23 July 1990 on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different Member States (90/435/EEC), the provisions of Article 10, paragraph 3, of the Convention between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and capital, with protocol, signed in Warsaw on 20 September 1979, remain applicable. ;

VIII. Ad Article 11

Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 11, interest received by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of a contract concluded before the date of signature of this Convention, shall be taxable only in that State during the first 12 months after the provisions of this Convention become effective.

IX. Ad Article 16

1. It is understood that the term "member of the board of directors” means:

a. in the case of the Netherlands a "bestuurder” or a "commissaris”;

b. in the case of Poland a member of a "zarzad”, "rada nadzorcza” and "komisja rewizyjna”.

2. It is further understood that "bestuurder or commissaris” of a Netherlands company means persons who are nominated as such by the general meeting of shareholders or by any other competent body of such company and are charged with the general management of the company and the supervision thereof, respectively.

X. Ad subparagraph c of paragraph 2 of Article 18

After a period of 10 years following the entry into force of the Convention the competent authorities shall consult each other in order to determine whether it is opportune to adjust, by exchange of letters, the amount mentioned in subparagraph c of paragraph 2 of Article 18.

XI. Ad Article 26

The competent authorities of the States may also agree, with respect to any agreement reached as a result of a mutual agreement procedure as meant in Article 26, if necessary contrary to their respective national legislation, that the State, in which there is an additional tax charge as a result of the afore-mentioned agreement, will not impose any increases, surcharges, interest and costs with respect to this additional tax charge, if the other State in which there is a corresponding reduction of tax as a result of the agreement, refrains from the payment of any interest due with respect to such a reduction of tax.

XII. Ad Article 28

The provisions on the assistance in recovery in Article 28 of this Convention will only be effective when the competent authorities have so agreed by exchange of letters after mutual consultations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorized thereto, have signed this Protocol.

Done at Warsaw this February 13^th day of 2002, in duplicate, in the Polish, Netherlands and English languages, the three texts being equally authentic. In case there is any divergence of interpretation between the Polish and Netherlands texts the English text shall prevail.

Po zaznajomieniu się z powyższą konwencją, w imieniu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej oświadczam, że:

– została ona uznana za słuszną zarówno w całości, jak i każde z postanowień w niej zawartych,

– jest przyjęta, ratyfikowana i potwierdzona,

– będzie niezmiennie zachowywana.

Na dowód czego wydany został akt niniejszy, opatrzony pieczęcią Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej.

Dano w Warszawie dnia 20 stycznia 2003 r.

Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej: A. Kwaśniewski

L.S.

Prezes Rady Ministrów: L. Miller