Agreement Between Canada and The Republic Of Panama for Tax Cooperation and the Exchange of Information Relating to Taxes

CANADA AND THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA, desiring to facilitate the exchange of information with respect to taxes, have agreed as follows:

1. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall provide assistance through exchange of information that is foreseeably relevant to the administration and enforcement of the domestic laws of the Contracting Parties concerning taxes covered by this Agreement. Such information shall include information that is foreseeably relevant to the determination, assessment and collection of such taxes, the recovery and enforcement of tax claims, or the investigation or prosecution of tax matters. Information shall be exchanged in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and shall be treated as confidential in the manner provided in Article 7.

2. The Contracting Parties shall ensure that any right or safeguard granted to persons by their respective laws and administrative practices is not applied in a manner which unduly prevents or delays the effective exchange of information.

A requested Party is not obligated to provide information which is neither held by its authorities nor in the possession or control of persons who are within its territorial jurisdiction.

1. The taxes which are the subject of this Agreement are:

2. This Agreement shall also apply to any identical taxes imposed after the date of signature of this Agreement in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. This Agreement shall also apply to any substantially similar taxes imposed after the date of signature of this Agreement in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes, if the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties so agree. Furthermore, the taxes covered may be expanded or modified by mutual agreement of the Contracting Parties, in the form of an exchange of letters. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall notify each other of any substantial changes to the taxation and related information gathering measures covered by this Agreement.

1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise defined:

2. As regards the application of this Agreement at any time by a Contracting Party, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of that Contracting Party, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that Contracting Party prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that Contracting Party.

1. The competent authority of the requested Party shall provide upon request information for the purposes referred to in Article 1. Such information shall be exchanged without regard to whether the conduct being investigated would constitute a crime under the laws of the requested Party if such conduct occurred in the territory of the requested Party.

2. If the information in the possession of the competent authority of the requested Party is not sufficient to enable it to comply with the request for information, that Party shall use all relevant information gathering measures to provide the requesting Party with the information requested, notwithstanding that the requested Party may not need such information for its own tax purposes.

3. If specifically requested by the competent authority of the requesting Party, the competent authority of the requested Party shall provide information under this Article, to the extent allowable under the domestic laws of the requested Party, in the form of depositions of witnesses and authenticated copies of original records.

4. Each Contracting Party shall ensure that its competent authority for the purposes of this Agreement has the authority to obtain and provide upon request:
5. The competent authority of the requesting Party shall provide the following information to the competent authority of the requested Party when making a request for information under this Agreement to demonstrate the foreseeable relevance of the information requested to the administration and enforcement of the tax laws of the requesting Party:
6. The competent authority of the requested Party shall forward the requested information as promptly as possible to the requesting Party. To ensure a prompt response, the competent authority of the requested Party shall confirm receipt of a request in writing to the competent authority of the requesting Party and shall:

1. The requested Party shall not be required to obtain or provide information that the requesting Party would not be able to obtain under its own laws for purposes of the administration or enforcement of its own tax laws. The competent authority of the requested Party may decline to assist where the request is not made in conformity with this Agreement.

2. The provisions of this Agreement shall not impose on a Contracting Party the obligation to supply information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret, or trade process. Notwithstanding the foregoing, information of the type referred to in Article 5, paragraph 4, shall not be treated as such a secret or trade process merely because it meets the criteria in that paragraph.

3. The provisions of this Agreement shall not impose on a Contracting Party the obligation to obtain or provide information, which would reveal confidential communications between a client and an attorney, solicitor or other admitted legal representative where such communications are produced for the purposes of:

4. The requested Party may decline a request for information if the disclosure of the information would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).

5. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground that the tax claim giving rise to the request is disputed.

6. The requested Party may decline a request for information if the information is requested by the requesting Party to administer or enforce a provision of the tax laws of the requesting Party, or any requirement connected therewith, which discriminates against a national of the requested Party as compared with a national of the requesting Party in the same circumstances.

Any information received by a Contracting Party under this Agreement shall be treated as confidential and may be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) in the jurisdiction of the Contracting Party 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 this Agreement. Such persons or authorities shall use such information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions. The information may not be disclosed to any other person or entity or authority or any other jurisdiction.

Ordinary costs incurred in providing assistance shall be borne by the requested Party and extraordinary costs incurred in providing assistance shall be borne by the requesting Party.

1. Where difficulties or doubts arise between the Contracting Parties regarding the implementation or interpretation of this Agreement, the competent authorities shall endeavor to resolve the matter by mutual agreement.

2. In addition to the agreements referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may mutually agree on the procedures to be used under Article 5.

3. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may communicate with each other directly for purposes of reaching agreement under this Article.

4. The Contracting Parties may also agree on other forms of dispute resolution.

The possibilities of assistance provided by this Agreement do not limit, nor are they limited by, those contained in existing international agreements or other arrangements between the Contracting Parties which relate to co-operation in tax matters.

This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the later notice by which each Contracting Party has notified the other of the completion of its necessary internal procedures for entry into force. Upon entry into force, it shall have effect:

1. A Contracting Party may terminate this Agreement by serving a notice of termination through diplomatic channels to the other Contracting Party.

2. This Agreement shall terminate on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of six months after the date of the notice of termination.

3. Where a Contracting Party terminates this Agreement, the Contracting Parties shall remain bound by the provisions of Article 7 of this Agreement with respect to any information obtained under this Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned being duly authorized by their respective governments, have signed this Agreement.

DONE in duplicate at Panama City this 17th day of March 2013 in the English, French and Spanish languages, each version being equally authentic.

Sylvia Cesaratto
FOR CANADA

Fernando Nuñez Fábrega
FOR THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA

CANADA AND THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA (the “Contracting Parties”) have agreed, at the signing of the Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Panama for Tax Cooperation and the Exchange of Information relating to Taxes (the “Agreement”), on the following provisions which shall form an integral part of the Agreement:

1. With respect to Article 3, it is understood that the Agreement shall not apply to taxes imposed by municipalities.

2. With respect to subparagraph (1)(g) of Article 4, it is understood that “shares can be readily purchased or sold by the public” if they can both be purchased and sold by the public.

3. With reference to subparagraph (1)(j) of Article 4, it is understood that “units, shares or other interests in the fund or scheme can be readily purchased, sold or redeemed by the public” if they can both be purchased and sold by the public or both be purchased and redeemed by the public.

4. With respect to Article 8, the following provisions shall apply:

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned being duly authorized by their respective governments, have signed this Protocol.

DONE in duplicate at Panama City this 17th day of March 2013 in the English, French and Spanish languages, each version being equally authentic.

Sylvia Cesaratto
FOR CANADA

Fernando Nuñez Fábrega
FOR THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA

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