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Convention Between Canada and the Republic of Singapore

Status of Tax Treaties

This electronic version of the Canada-Singapore Income Tax Convention signed on March 6, 1976 is provided for convenience of reference only and has no official sanction.

The Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Singapore, desiring to conclude a Convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, have agreed as follows:

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

1. This Convention shall apply to taxes on income imposed on behalf of each Contracting State, 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 as well as taxes on capital appreciation.

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

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

1. In this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires:

2. As regards the application of the Convention by a Contracting State any term not otherwise defined shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning which it has under the laws of the Contracting State relating to the taxes which are the subject of the Convention.

1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "resident of a Contracting State" means any person who, under the law of that State, is liable to taxation therein by reason of his residence, place of management or any other criterion of a similar nature. It also includes a partnership, an estate or a trust but only to the extent that the income derived by such person is subject to tax in a Contracting State as the income of a person resident in that State.

2. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, his status shall be determined in accordance with the following rules:

3. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 a person other than an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement endeavour to settle the question and to determine the mode of application of the Convention to such person.

1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "permanent establishment" means a fixed place of business in which the business of the enterprise is wholly or partly carried on.

2. The term "permanent establishment" shall include especially:
3. The term "permanent establishment" shall not be deemed to include:

4. An enterprise of a Contracting State shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in the other Contracting State if it carries on supervisory activities in that other Contracting State for more than six months in connection with a building site, construction, installation or assembly project which is being undertaken in that other Contracting State.

5. A person -- other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 6 applies -- acting in a Contracting State on behalf of an enterprise of the other Contracting State shall be deemed to be a permanent establishment in the first-mentioned Contracting State if;

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

1. Income from immovable property including income from agriculture or forestry may be taxed in the Contracting State in which such property is situated.

2. The term "immovable property" shall be defined in accordance with 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 shall not be regarded as immovable property.

3. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall also apply to income derived from the direct use, letting, or use in any other form of immovable property and to profits from the alienation of such 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 professional services.

1. The profits of an enterprise of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State unless the enterprise carries on or has carried on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein. If the enterprise carries on or has carried 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 enterprise of a Contracting State carries on or has carried on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, there shall be attributed to that permanent establishment 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 the determination of the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be allowed those deductible expenses, including executive and general administrative expenses, which are incurred for the purposes of the permanent establishment in so far as they are reasonably allocable to the permanent establishment, whether incurred in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated or elsewhere.

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

5. 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.

1. Profits derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall be taxable only in that State.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article VII or of paragraph 1 of this Article, profits derived from the operation of ships or aircraft used principally to transport goods or passengers exclusively between places in a Contracting State may be taxed in that State.

3. The provisions of this Article shall also apply to profits referred to in this Article derived by an enterprise of a Contracting State from its participation in a pool, a joint business or in an international operating agency.

Where

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 an taxed accordingly.

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 be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, and according to the law of that State; but where the resident of the other Contracting State is the beneficial owner of the dividends, then, subject to the provisions of Article XXI of this Convention, the tax so charged shall not exceed 15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends. The provisions of this paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company on the profits out of the dividends are paid.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, as long as Singapore does not impose a tax on dividends in addition to the tax chargeable on the profits or income of a company, dividends paid by a company which is a resident of Singapore to a resident of Canada shall be exempt from any tax in Singapore which may be chargeable on dividends in addition to the tax chargeable on the profits or income of the company. Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall affect the provisions of Singapore law under which the tax in respect of a dividend paid by a company which is a resident of Singapore from which Singapore tax has been, or has been deemed to be, deducted may be adjusted by reference to the rate of tax appropriate to the Singapore year of assessment immediately following that in which the dividend was paid.

4. The term "dividends" as used in this Article means income from shares, mining shares, founders' shares or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits, as well as income assimilated to income from shares by the taxation law of the State of which the company making the distribution is a resident.

5. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 shall not apply if the recipient of the dividends, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on in the other Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, a trade or business through a permanent establishment situated therein, and the holding by virtue of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such a case, the provisions of Article 7 shall apply.

6. Where a company is a resident of only one Contracting State, the other Contracting State may not impose any tax on the dividends paid by the company to persons who are not residents of that other State, or subject the company to a tax on undistributed profits, even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in such other State. The provisions of this paragraph shall not prevent that other State from taxing dividends relating to a holding which is effectively connected with a permanent establishment operated in that other State by a person who is not a resident of that other State.

7. Nothing in this Convention shall be construed as preventing Canada from imposing on the earnings of a company attributable to a permanent establishment in Canada, tax in addition to the tax which would be chargeable on the earnings of a company which is incorporated in Canada, provided that any additional tax so imposed shall not exceed 15 per cent of the amount of such earnings which have not been subjected to such additional tax in previous taxation years. For the purpose of this provision, the term "earnings" means the profits attributable to a permanent establishment in Canada in a year and previous years after deducting therefrom all taxes, other than the additional tax referred to herein, imposed on such profits in Canada.

8. For the purposes of this Convention dividends paid by a Malaysian company out of profits derived from sources in Singapore and deemed to be dividends from sources in Singapore in accordance with the Agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with respect to taxes on income between the Government of the Republic of Singapore and the Government of Malaysia signed on the 26th day of December, 1968 shall be treated as dividends paid by a company which is a resident in Singapore.

1. Interest arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. However, such interest may be taxed in the Contracting State in which it arises, and according to the law of that State; but the tax so charged shall, provided that the interest is taxable in the other Contracting State, not exceed 15 per cent of the gross amount of the interest.

3. The term "interest" as used in this Article means income from debt-claims of every kind, whether or not secured by mortgage, and whether or 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, as well as income assimilated to income from money lent by the taxation law of the State in which the income arises. However, the term "interest" does not include income dealt with in Article 10.

4. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not apply if the recipient of the interest, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on in the other Contracting State in which the interest arises a trade or business through a permanent establishment situated therein and the debt-claim in respect of which the interest is paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such a case, the provisions of Article 7 shall apply.

5. Interest shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is that State itself, a political subdivision, a local authority or 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 in connection with which the indebtedness on which the interest is paid was incurred, and such interest is borne by that permanent establishment, then such interest shall be deemed to arise in the Contracting State in which the permanent establishment is situated.

6. Where, owing to a special relationship between the payer and the recipient or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the interest paid, 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 recipient in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In that case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the law of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.

7. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, interest arising in Singapore and paid to the Export Development Corporation of Canada shall be exempt from tax in Singapore.

1. Royalties arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. However, such royalties may be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise, and according to the law of that State; but the tax so charged shall, provided that the royalties are taxable in the other Contracting State, not exceed 15 per cent of the gross amount of the royalties.

3. 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, industrial, commercial, or scientific equipment, or for information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience.

4. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not apply if the recipient of the royalties, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on in the other Contracting State in which the royalties arise a trade or business through a permanent establishment situated therein and the right or property in respect of which the royalties are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such a case, the provisions of Article VII shall apply.

5. Royalties shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is that State itself, a political subdivision, a local authority or 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 in connection with which the obligation to pay the royalties was incurred, and those royalties are borne by that permanent establishment, then such royalties shall be deemed to arise in the Contracting State in which the permanent establishment is situated.

6. Where, owing to a special relationship between the payer and the recipient or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the royalties paid, 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 recipient in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In that case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the law of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.

1. Gains from the alienation of immovable property, as defined in paragraph 2 of Article VI, may be taxed in the Contracting State in which such property is situated.

2. Gain 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 resident of a Contracting State in the other Contracting State for the purpose of performing professional services, including such gains from the alienation of such a permanent establishment (alone or together with the whole enterprise) may be taxed in the other State. However, gains from the alienation of ships and aircraft operated in international traffic and movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships or aircraft by an enterprise of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State.

3. Gains from the alienation of shares of a company, or of an interest in a partnership or a trust, the property of which consists principally of immovable property as defined in paragraph 2 of Article VI, may be taxed in the Contracting State in which such immovable property is situated.

4. Gains from the alienation of any property, other than those mentioned 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 either of the Contracting States to levy, according to its domestic law, a tax on gains from the alienation of any property derived by an individual who is a resident of the other Contracting State and has been a resident of the first-mentioned State at any time during the six years immediately preceding the alienation of the property.

1. Subject to the provisions of Article XV, XVII and XVIII, salaries, wages and other similar remuneration or income for personal (including professional) services derived by a resident of a Contracting State, shall be taxable only in that Contracting State, unless the services are performed in the other Contracting State. If the services are so performed, such remuneration or income as is derived there from may be taxed in that other Contracting State.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, remuneration or income derived by a resident of a Contracting State for personal (including professional) services performed in the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned Contracting State if -

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 in international traffic shall be exempt from tax in the other Contracting State.

Directors' fees and similar payments derived by a resident of a Contracting State in his capacity as a member of the Board of directors or a similar organ of a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.

1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article XIV, income derived by entertainers, such as theatre, motion picture, radio or television artistes, and musicians, and by athletes, from their personal activities as such may be taxed in the Contracting State in which these activities are performed.

2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to remuneration or profits, salaries, wages and similar income derived from activities performed in a Contracting State by entertainers and athletes if the visit to that Contracting State is substantially supported by public funds of the other Contracting State, including any political subdivision, local authority or statutory body thereof, nor to remuneration or profits, salaries, wages and similar income derived by entertainers and athletes in respect of services provided to a non-profit organization no part of the income of which was payable to, or was otherwise available for the personal benefit of, any proprietor, member or shareholder thereof.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article VII, where the activities mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article are provided in a Contracting State by an enterprise of the other Contracting State the profits derived from providing these activities by such an enterprise may be taxed in the first-mentioned Contracting State unless the enterprise is substantially supported from the public funds of the other Contracting State, including any political subdivision, local authority or statutory body thereof, in connection with the provision of such activities, or unless the enterprise is a non-profit organization referred to in paragraph 2.

Pensions and annuities arising in a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State.

1. a) Remuneration, other than a pension, paid by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or local authority thereof to any individual in respect of services rendered to that State or political subdivision or local authority thereof in the discharge of functions of a governmental nature shall be taxable only in that State.

2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to remuneration in respect of services rendered in connection with any trade or business carried on by one of the Contracting States or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof.

Payments which a student, apprentice or business trainee who is, or was immediately before visiting one of the Contracting States, a resident of the other Contracting State and who is present in the first-mentioned Contracting 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 first-mentioned State, provided that such payments are made to him from sources outside that State.

1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article, items of income of a resident of a Contracting State which are not expressly mentioned in the foregoing Articles of this Convention shall be taxable only in that Contracting State.

2. However, if such income is derived by a resident of a Contracting State from sources in the other Contracting State, such income may also be taxed in the State in which it arises, and according to the law of that State.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, in the case of alimony or maintenance payments and in the case of income of or from an estate or trust derived from sources in Canada by a resident of Singapore who is subject to tax in respect thereof, the tax charged in Canada shall not exceed 15 per cent of the gross amount of the payments or the income, as the case may be.

Where this Convention provides (with or without other conditions) that income from sources in a Contracting State shall be exempt from tax, or taxed at a reduced rate in that Contracting State and under the laws in force in the other Contracting State the said income is subject to tax by reference to the amount there of which is remitted to or received in that other Contracting State and not by reference to the full amount thereof, then the exemption or reduction of tax to be allowed under this Convention in the first-mentioned Contracting State shall apply to so much of the income as is remitted to or received in that other Contracting State.

1. The laws in force in either of the Contracting States shall continue to govern the taxation of income in the respective Contracting States except where express provisions to the contrary is made in this Convention. Where income is subject to tax in both Contracting States, relief from double taxation shall be given in accordance with the following paragraphs of this Article.

2. In the case of Canada, double taxation shall be avoided as follows:

3. In the case of Singapore, subject to the existing provisions of the law of Singapore regarding the allowance as a credit against Singapore tax of tax payable in any country other than Singapore and to any subsequent modifications of those provisions -- which shall not affect the general principle hereof -- tax payable in Canada on profits, income or gains arising in Canada shall be allowed as a credit against Singapore tax payable in respect of such profits, income or gains.

4. For the purposes of paragraph 2 of this Article, tax payable in Singapore shall be deemed to include Singapore tax which would have been paid if the Singapore tax had not been exempted in accordance with the provisions of Part 6 of the Economic Expansion Incentives (Relief from Income Tax) Act (1970 Edition) of Singapore, so far as they were in force on, and have not been modified since, the date of the signature of this Convention, or have been modified only in minor respects so as not to affect their general character.

1. The citizens of a Contracting State shall not be subjected in the other Contracting State to any taxation or any requirements connected therewith which are other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which citizens of that other State in the same circumstances are or may be subjected.

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.

3. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as obliging:

4. In this Article, the term "taxation" means taxes which are the subject of this Convention.

1. Where a resident of a Contracting State considers that the actions of one or both of the Contracting States result or will result for him in taxation not in accordance with this Convention, he may, without prejudice to the remedies provided by the national laws of those States, address to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which he is a resident an application in writing stating the grounds for claiming the revision of such taxation. To be admissible, the said application must be submitted within two years from the first notification of the action which gives rise to taxation not in accordance with the Convention.

2. The competent authority referred to in paragraph 1 shall endeavour, if the objection appears to it to be justified and if it is not itself able to arrive at an appropriate 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 not in accordance with the Convention.

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.

4. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may communicate with each other directly for the purpose of applying this Convention.

1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange such information as is necessary for the carrying out of this Convention and of the domestic laws of the Contracting States concerning taxes covered by this Convention insofar as the taxation thereunder is in accordance with this Convention. Any information so exchanged shall be treated as secret and shall not be disclosed to any persons or authorities other than those concerned with the assessment or collection of the taxes which are the subject of this Convention.

2. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 1 be construed so as to impose on one of the Contracting States the obligation:

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

2. Notwithstanding Article IV of this Convention, an individual who is a member of a diplomatic, consular or permanent mission of a Contracting State which is situated in the other Contracting State or in a third State shall be deemed for the purposes of this Convention to be a resident of the sending State if he is taxed in that State as a resident in respect of taxes on income.

3. This Convention shall not apply to International Organizations, to organs or officials thereof and to persons who are members of a diplomatic, consular or permanent mission of a third State, being present in a Contracting State and not being taxed in either Contracting State as a resident in respect of taxes on income.

Each of the Contracting State shall take all measures necessary to give this Convention the force of law within its jurisdiction and each shall notify the other of the completion of such measures. This Convention shall enter into force on the date on which the later notification is made and shall thereupon have effect:
This Convention shall continue in effect indefinitely but either Contracting State may, on or before June 30 in any calendar year after the year 1975, give notice of termination to the other Contracting State and in such event the Convention shall cease to have effect:

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

DONE in Singapore, this 6th day of March of the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy-six in duplicate in the English and French languages, each version being equally authentic.

Don Jamieson

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

Hon Sui San

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE

At the signing of the Convention between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Singapore for the Avoidance of Double Taxation with respect to Taxes on Income, the undersigned have agreed on the following provisions which shall be an integral part of the Convention.

1. With reference to paragraph 1 of Article VIII and paragraph 3 of Article XIV, the term "international traffic" shall not include voyages between places in a Contracting State and one or more movable bases situated in waters other than the territorial waters of either Contracting State;

2. With reference to the said Convention, nothing therein stated shall be construed as preventing Canada from imposing its tax on amounts included in the income of a resident in Canada according to Section 91 of the Canadian Income Tax Act.

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

DONE in Singapore, this 6th day of March of the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy-six in duplicate in the English and French languages, each version being equally authentic.

Don Jamieson

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

Hon Sui San

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE

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