International Co-Operation (Tax Information) INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION (TAX INFORMATION) ACT
2009 (BELGIUM) NOTICE 2010
© Government of Gibraltar (www.gibraltarlaws.gov.gi)
2009-50 Subsidiary 2010/022
Subsidiary Legislation made under s. 3(6).

INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION (TAX INFORMATION) ACT 2009 (BELGIUM) NOTICE 2010
(LN. 2010/022)
Commencement 28.1.2010

Amending enactments
Relevant current provisions
Commencement date
None
EU Legislation/International Agreements involved:
______________________
In accordance with the provisions of section 3(6) of the International Co- operation (Tax Information) Act 2009 I have issued the following Notice.
Title.
1. This Notice may be cited as the International Co-operation (Tax Information) Act 2009 (Belgium) Notice 2010.
Text of Agreement.
2. Pursuant to section 3(6) of the International Co-operation (Tax Information) Act 2009 the text of an agreement entered into between Belgium and Gibraltar is hereby reproduced−
AGREEMENT BETWEEN BELGIUM AND GIBRALTAR
FOR THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO TAX
MATTERS WHEREAS Belgium and Gibraltar (“the Parties”) recognise that present legislation already provides for cooperation and the exchange of information in criminal tax matters;
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WHEREAS the Parties have long been active in international efforts in the fight against financial and other crimes, including the targeting of terrorist financing; WHEREAS it is acknowledged that Gibraltar under the terms of its Entrustment from the UK has the right to negotiate, conclude, perform and subject to the terms of this agreement terminate a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Belgium; WHEREAS Gibraltar on 27 February 2002 entered into a political commitment to the OECD’s principles of effective exchange of information; WHEREAS the Parties wish to enhance and facilitate the terms and conditions governing the exchange of information relating to taxes; NOW, THEREFORE, the Parties have agreed to conclude the following Agreement which contains obligations on the part of Belgium and Gibraltar only:
Article 1 Scope of the Agreement
The competent authorities of the Parties shall provide assistance through exchange of information that is foreseeably relevant to the administration and enforcement of the domestic laws of the Parties concerning the taxes covered by this Agreement, including information that is foreseeably relevant to the determination, assessment, enforcement or collection of tax with respect to persons subject to such taxes, or to the investigation or prosecution of tax matters in relation to such persons. The rights and safeguards secured to persons by the laws or administrative practice of the requested Party remain applicable to the extent that they do not unduly prevent or delay effective exchange of information.

Article 2 Jurisdiction
A requested Party is not obliged to provide information which is neither held by its authorities nor in the possession of or obtainable by persons who are within its territorial jurisdiction.
Article 3 Taxes Covered
1. This Agreement shall apply to the following taxes imposed by the Parties:

International Co-Operation (Tax Information) INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION (TAX INFORMATION) ACT
2009 (BELGIUM) NOTICE 2010
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2009-50 Subsidiary 2010/022
(a) in the case of Belgium: (i) the individual income tax; (ii) the corporate income tax; (iii) the income tax on legal entities; (iv) income tax on non-residents; and (v) the value added tax,
(b) in the case of Gibraltar:
Gibraltar income taxes.
2. This Agreement shall apply also to any identical taxes imposed after the date of signature of the 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 the Agreement in addition to or in place of the existing taxes if the Parties so agree. The competent authority of each Party shall notify the other of substantial changes in laws which may affect the obligations of that Party pursuant to this Agreement. Furthermore, the taxes covered may be expanded or modified by mutual agreement of the competent authorities in the form of an exchange of letters.
Article 4
Definitions
1. In this Agreement: a) “Belgium” means the Kingdom of Belgium; used in a
geographical sense, it means the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium, including the territorial sea and any other area in the sea and in the air within which the Kingdom of Belgium, in accordance with international law, exercises sovereign rights or its jurisdiction;
b) “Gibraltar” means the territory of Gibraltar; c) “collective investment scheme or fund” means any pooled
investment vehicle, irrespective of legal form; d) “company” means any body corporate or any entity that is
treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;
International Co-Operation (Tax Information) INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION (TAX INFORMATION) ACT
2009 (BELGIUM) NOTICE 2010
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e) “competent authority” means, i) in the case of Belgium: the Minister of Finance or his
authorised representative; ii) in the case of Gibraltar: the Chief Secretary or such
other person as the Minister of Finance may appoint; f) “criminal laws” means all criminal laws designated as such
under domestic law, irrespective of whether such are contained in the tax laws, the criminal code or other statutes;
g) “criminal tax matters” means tax matters involving intentional
conduct, whether before or after the entry into force of this Agreement, which is liable to prosecution under the criminal laws of the requesting Party;
h) “information gathering measures” means laws and
administrative or judicial procedures enabling a requested Party to obtain and provide the information requested;
i) “information” means any fact, statement, document or record in
whatever form; j) “person” means an individual, a company or any other body or
group of persons; k) “principal class of shares” means the class or classes of shares
representing a majority of the voting power and value of the company;
l) “publicly traded company” means any company whose
principal class of shares is listed on a recognised stock exchange provided its listed shares can be readily purchased or sold by the public. Shares can be purchased or sold “by the public” if the purchase or sale of shares is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
m) “public collective investment scheme or fund” means any
scheme or fund, in which the purchase, sale or redemption of shares or other interests is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
n) “recognised stock exchange” means any stock exchange agreed
upon by the competent authorities of the Parties;
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o) “requested Party” means the Party to this Agreement which is requested to provide or has provided information in response to a request;
p) “requesting Party” means the Party to this Agreement
submitting a request for or having received information from the requested Party;
q) “tax” means any tax covered by this Agreement.
2. As regards the application of this Agreement at any time by a Party, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the laws of that Party, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that Party prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that Party.
Article 5
Exchange of Information Upon Request 1. The competent authority of the requested Party shall provide upon request by the requesting Party information for the purposes referred to in Article 1. Such information shall be exchanged without regard to whether the requested Party needs such information for its own tax purposes or the conduct being investigated would constitute a crime under the laws of the requested Party if it had occurred in the territory of the requested Party. The competent authority of the requesting Party shall only make a request for information pursuant to this Article when it is unable to obtain the requested information by other means, except where recourse to such means would give rise to disproportionate difficulty.
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, the requested Party shall use all applicable information gathering measures necessary to provide the requesting Party with the information requested, notwithstanding that the requested Party may not, at that time, 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 its domestic laws, in the form of depositions of witnesses and authenticated copies of original records.
4. Each Party shall ensure that it has the authority, subject to the terms of Article 1 and 2 of this Agreement, to obtain and provide, through its competent authority and upon request:
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(a) information held by banks, other financial institutions, and any
person, including nominees and trustees, acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity;
(b) information regarding the ownership of companies,
partnerships, collective investment schemes, trusts, foundations and other persons, including information on all persons in an ownership chain, and
(i) in the case of collective investment schemes, information
on shares, units and other interests; (ii) in the case of trusts, information on settlors, trustees,
protectors and beneficiaries (iii) in the case of foundations, information on founders,
members of the foundation council and beneficiaries; and (iv) in the case of persons that are neither collective
investment schemes, trusts or foundations, equivalent information to the information in subparagraphs (i) to (iii).
Further, this Agreement does not create an obligation for a
Party to obtain or provide ownership information with respect to publicly traded companies or public collective investment schemes, unless such information can be obtained without giving rise to disproportionate difficulties.
5. Any request for information shall be formulated with the greatest detail possible and shall specify in writing:
(a) the identity of the person under examination or investigation; (b) the period for which the information is requested; (c) the nature of the information requested and the form in which
the requesting Party would prefer to receive it; (d) the tax purpose for which the information is sought; (e) the reasons for believing that the information requested is
foreseeable relevant to the administration or enforcement of the taxes of the requesting Party covered under Article 3, with
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respect to the person identified in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph;
(f) grounds for believing that the information requested is held in
the requested Party or is in the possession of or obtainable by a person within the jurisdiction of the requested Party;
(g) to the extent known, the name and address of any person
believed to be in possession or control of the information requested;
(h) a statement that the request is in conformity with this
Agreement; (i) a statement that the requesting Party has pursued all means
available in its own territory to obtain the information, except where that would give rise to disproportionate difficulty.
6. The competent authority of the requested Party shall acknowledge receipt of the request to the competent authority of the requesting Party and shall use its best endeavours to forward the requested information to the requesting Party as soon as possible.
Article 6
Tax Investigations Abroad 1. With reasonable notice, the competent authority of the requesting Party may request that the competent authority of the requested Party allows representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party to enter the territory of the requested Party to interview individuals and examine records with the prior written consent of the individuals or other persons concerned. The competent authority of the requesting Party shall notify the competent authority of the requested Party of the time and place of the intended meeting with the individuals concerned.
2. At the request of the competent authority of the requesting Party, the competent authority of the requested Party may permit representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party to attend a tax examination in the territory of the requested Party.
3. If the request referred to in paragraph 2 is granted, the competent authority of the requested Party conducting the examination shall, as soon as possible, notify the competent authority of the requesting Party of the time and place of the examination, the authority or person authorised to carry out the examination and the procedures and conditions required by the requested Party for the conduct of the examination. All decisions regarding the
International Co-Operation (Tax Information) INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION (TAX INFORMATION) ACT
2009 (BELGIUM) NOTICE 2010
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conduct of the examination shall be made by the requested Party conducting the examination.
Article 7
Possibility of Declining a Request
1. The competent authority of the requested Party may decline to assist: (a) where the request is not made in conformity with this
Agreement; (b) where the requesting Party has not pursued all means available
in its own territory to obtain the information, except where recourse to such means would give rise to disproportionate difficulty; or
(c) where the disclosure of the information requested would be
contrary to public policy (“ordre public”).

2. This Agreement shall not impose upon a requested Party any obligation to provide items subject to legal privilege, or 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. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground that the tax claim giving rise to the request is disputed.
4. 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 law of the requesting Party, or any requirement connected therewith, which discriminates against a national or citizen of the requested Party as compared with a national or citizen of the requesting Party in the same circumstances.
Article 8
Confidentiality
1. All information provided and received by the competent authorities of the Parties shall be kept confidential.
2. Such information shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the purposes specified in Article 1, and used by such persons or authorities only for such purposes, including the determination of any appeal. For these purposes,
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information may be disclosed in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.
3. Such information may not be used for any purpose other than for the purposes stated in Article 1 without the expressed written consent of the competent authority of the requested Party.
4. Information provided to a requesting Party under this Agreement may not be disclosed to any other jurisdiction without the expressed written consent of the competent authority of the requested Party.
Article 9
Costs Unless the competent authorities of the Parties otherwise agree, indirect costs incurred in providing assistance shall be borne by the requested Party, and direct costs incurred in providing assistance (including costs of engaging external advisors in connection with litigation or otherwise necessary to comply with the request) shall be borne by the requesting Party. The respective competent authorities shall consult from time to time with regard to this Article, and in particular the competent authority of the requested Party shall consult with the competent authority of the requesting Party in advance if the costs of providing information with respect to a specific request are expected to be significant.
Article 10
Mutual Agreement Procedure
1. Where difficulties or doubts arise between the Parties regarding the implementation or interpretation of this Agreement, the respective competent authorities shall use their best efforts to resolve the matter by mutual agreement.
2. In addition to the agreements referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authorities of the Parties may mutually agree on the procedures to be used under this Agreement.
3. The competent authorities of the Parties may communicate with each other directly for purposes of reaching agreement under this Article. 4. The Parties may also agree on other forms of dispute resolution.
Article 11
Implementation of Legislation
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The Parties shall enact any legislation necessary to comply with and give effect to the terms of this Agreement.

Article 12 Entry into Force
This Agreement shall enter into force when each Party has notified the other in writing of the completion of its necessary internal procedures for entry into force. Upon entry into force, it shall have effect:
(a) for criminal tax matters, on that date; and (b) for all other matters covered in Article 1, in respect of taxable
periods beginning on or after January 1 of the year next following the year in which the Agreement entered into force or, where there is no taxable period, in respect of taxes due in respect of taxable events taking place on or after January 1 of the year next following the year in which the Agreement entered into force.
Article 13
Termination 1. This Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by either Party.
2. Either Party may terminate this Agreement by giving notice of termination in writing. Such termination shall become effective on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months after the date of receipt of notice of termination by the other Party.
3. If the Agreement is terminated the Parties shall remain bound by the provisions of Article 8 with respect to any information obtained under this Agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned being duly authorised in that behalf by the respective Parties, have signed the Agreement.
DONE at Paris in duplicate, this 16th day of December 2009, in the English language.
FOR BELGIUM: Baudouin de la Kethhulle de Ryhove Ambassador
FOR GIBRALTAR: James Tipping Finance Centre Director