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19 AOUT 2011. - An Act to Accredit the Agreement, made in Brussels on 23 October 2009, between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Principality of Andorra for the exchange of information in tax matters (1) (2) (3)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The Agreement, made in Brussels on 23 October 2009, between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Principality of Andorra for the exchange of tax information, will come out its full and full effect.
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels, August 19, 2011.
ALBERT
By the King:
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs,
S. VANACKERE.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance,
D. REYNDERS
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
S. DE CLERCK
____
Notes
(1) 2010-2011 session.
Senate:
Documents.
Bill tabled on 20 April 2011, No. 5-969/1.
Amendments 5-969/2.
Report made on behalf of the commission, No. 5-969/3.
Text adopted by Commission 5-969/4.
Annales parliamentarians.
Discussion, meeting of 9 June 2011.
Voting, meeting of 9 June 2011.
Chamber:
Documents.
Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 53-1582/1.
Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 53-1582/2.
Annales parliamentarians.
Discussion, meeting of 7 July 2011.
Vote, meeting of 7 July 2011.
(2) See the Decree of the Flemish Community/ Flemish Region of 7 June 2013 (Belgian Monitor of 4 July 2013 - Ed. 1), the Decree of the French Community of 4 December 2014 (Belgian Monitor of 30 December 2014 - Ed. 1), the Decree of the German-speaking Community of 17 September 2013 (Belgian Monitor of 9 October 2013 - Ed. 1), the Decree of the Walloon Region of 26 April 2012
(3) Entry into force: 13 January 2015.

Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Principality of Andorra for the exchange of tax information
The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium
and
The Government of the Principality of Andorra,
wishing to facilitate the exchange of tax information,
agreed on the following provisions:
Article 1
Purpose and scope of the Agreement
Parties, through their competent authorities, shall provide assistance through the exchange of information that is likely to be relevant to the administration or application of the domestic legislation of the Parties relating to the taxes covered by this Agreement, including information likely to be relevant to the determination, establishment, application or collection of the tax with respect to persons subject to these taxes or for tax investigations or prosecutions relating to such persons. The information shall be exchanged in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and shall be treated as confidential in the manner provided for in Article 8.
Article 2
Jurisdiction
A requested Party does not have an obligation to provide information that is not held by its authorities or in the possession of persons under its territorial jurisdiction, or that cannot be obtained by persons under its territorial jurisdiction.
Article 3
Taxes targeted
1. This Agreement applies to the following taxes collected by or on behalf of the Parties:
(a) with respect to Andorra, property transfer tax, tax on surplus-value of real estate transfer and existing direct taxes imposed by laws;
(b) with regard to Belgium,
(i) the tax of natural persons;
(ii) corporate tax;
(iii) corporation tax;
(iv) non-resident tax;
(v) value added tax.
2. This Agreement shall also apply to identical or similar taxes that would be established after the date of signature of this Agreement and that would be in addition to or replace the existing taxes if the Parties, through their competent authorities, agree. The competent authority of each Party shall notify the other of any substantial amendment to its legislation that may affect the obligations of that Party arising from this Agreement.
3. With respect to taxes collected in Belgium by political subdivisions and local authorities or on behalf of these subdivisions or communities, this Agreement will only be applicable from the date on which Belgium will notify Andorra by diplomatic means of its consent to the application of this provision.
Article 4
Definitions
1. In this Agreement:
(a) " Andorra" means the principality of Andorra, employed in a geographical sense, that term refers to the territory of Andorra's principality, including any space on which, in accordance with international law, Andorra's principality exercises sovereign rights or jurisdiction;
(b) "Belgium" means the Kingdom of Belgium; used in a geographical sense, this term refers to the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium, including the territorial sea as well as the maritime areas and the airspace on which, in accordance with international law, the Kingdom of Belgium exercises sovereign rights or jurisdiction;
(c) " collective investment funds or arrangements " means any consolidated investment instrument, irrespective of its legal form;
(d) "public collective investment funds or arrangements" means any collective investment funds or arrangements in which the purchase, sale or redemption of shares or other investments is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
(e) "corporate" means any corporation or entity that is considered to be a corporation for taxation purposes;
(f) "competent authority" means
(i) with respect to Andorra, the Minister for Finance or his authorized representative;
(ii) in respect of Belgium, the Minister of Finance or its authorized representative;
(g) "criminal law" means any criminal provision that is qualified as such in domestic law, as contained in tax legislation, criminal legislation or other laws;
(h) "in criminal tax matters" means any tax case involving an intentional act that is punishable under the criminal law of the requesting Party;
(i) "information" means any fact, statement or document, whatever the form;
(j) "information collection measures" means the legislative and regulatory provisions and administrative or judicial procedures that allow a requested Party to obtain and provide the requested information;
(k) "person" means a natural person, society or any other group or group of persons;
(l) "main class of shares" means the class(s) of shares representing the majority of voting rights and the value of the corporation;
(m) "listed corporation" means any corporation whose principal class of shares is listed on a recognized stock exchange, the shares listed in the corporation to be readily purchased or sold by the public. Shares may 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;
(n) "recognized scholarship" means any exchange agreed by the competent authorities of the Parties;
(o) "Required Party" means the Party to this Agreement to which information is requested or who provided information in response to an application;
(p) "Applicant Party" means the Party to this Agreement that submits a request for information or has received information from the requested Party;
(q) "tax" means any tax referred to in this Agreement.
2. For the purposes of this Agreement at any time by a Party, any term or expression that is not defined therein, unless the context requires a different interpretation, the meaning assigned to it, at that time, the law of that Party, the meaning assigned to that term or expression by the applicable tax law of that Party over the meaning assigned to it by the other branches of the law of that Party.
Article 5
Exchange of information on request
1. The competent authority of the requested Party shall, upon request of the requesting Party, provide the information for the purposes referred to in Article 1. This information is exchanged, whether or not the requested Party needs it for its own tax purposes and whether the act under investigation constitutes a criminal offence under the law of the requested party if it had occurred in the territory of that Party. The competent authority of the requesting Party shall make an application for information under this article only where it is not in a position to obtain information requested by other means, except where the use of such other means would result in disproportionate difficulties.
2. If the information in possession of the competent authority of the requested Party is not sufficient to enable it to respond to the request for information, the requested Party shall take all appropriate information-gathering measures to provide the requested Party with the requested information, even if the requested Party does not require that information for its own tax purposes.
3. Upon specific request by the competent authority of the requesting Party, the competent authority of the requested Party shall provide the information referred to in this article, to the extent that its domestic law allows it, in the form of testimony of witnesses and certified copies in accordance with the original documents.
4. Notwithstanding any provision contrary to its domestic law, each Party has the power, subject to the terms of Articles 1 and 2 of this Agreement, to obtain and provide:
(a) information held by banks, other financial institutions, trusts, foundations and any person acting as an agent or trustee;
(b) information relating to the ownership of companies, partnership, collective investment arrangements, trusts, foundations and other persons, including information on all such persons when they are part of a chain of ownership, and
(i) with respect to collective investment arrangements, information on shares, shares and other participations;
(ii) with respect to trusts, grantor information, trustees, protectors and beneficiaries;
(iii) with respect to foundations, information on founders, board members of the foundation and beneficiaries; and
(iv) in respect of persons who are not collective investment arrangements, trusts or foundations, information equivalent to the information referred to in subparagraphs (i) to (iii).
5. Any request for information is as detailed as possible and in writing:
(a) the identity of the person under review 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 in which the information is requested;
(e) the reasons for believing that the information requested is likely to be relevant to the administration or application of the taxes of the requesting Party referred to in Article 3 with respect to a person identified in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph;
(f) reasons for believing that the information requested is held in the requested Party, or is in the possession of a person within the jurisdiction of that Party, or may be obtained by a person within the jurisdiction of that Party;
(g) to the extent that they are known, the name and address of any person who is deemed to be in possession of the information requested, or is capable of obtaining it;
(h) a statement stating that the application complies with this Agreement;
(i) a statement stating that the requesting Party has used to obtain the information all available means in its own territory, other than those that would cause disproportionate difficulties.
6. The competent authority of the Requested Party shall acknowledge receipt of the application to the competent authority of the Requesting Party, shall notify the requesting Party of any unforeseen delay in the collection of the requested information and shall endeavour to transmit the requested information to the requesting Party as soon as possible.
Article 6
Foreign tax controls
1. The competent authority of the requesting Party may request that the competent authority of the requested Party authorize representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party to enter the territory of the requested Party to interrogate physical persons and to examine documents, with the prior written consent of the natural persons or other persons concerned. The competent authority of the requesting Party shall notify the competent authority of the requested Party of the date and place of the meeting with the natural persons concerned.
2. At the request of the competent authority of the requesting Party, the competent authority of the requested Party may authorize representatives of the competent authority of the requesting Party to attend a tax check in the territory of the requested Party.
3. If the request referred to in paragraph 2 is accepted, the competent authority of the requested Party that conducts the control shall, as soon as possible, notify the competent authority of the requesting Party of the date and place of the control, the authority or person authorized to conduct the control and the procedures and conditions required by the requested Party for the conduct of the control. Any decision on the conduct of tax control shall be taken by the requested Party that conducts control.
4. Guidelines for the presence in the territory of a Party of tax officials of the other Party are included in Appendix I.
Article 7
Possibility to decline a request
1. The competent authority of the requested Party may refuse assistance:
(a) where the application is not submitted in accordance with this Agreement;
(b) where the requesting Party has not exhausted all available means to obtain information on its own territory, except where the use of such means would result in disproportionate difficulties; or
(c) where the disclosure of information is contrary to public order.
2. This Agreement does not require a Party required to provide information that would disclose a commercial, industrial or professional secret or a business process. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the type information referred to in section 5, paragraph 4, will not be treated as such a secret or commercial process because it meets the criteria set out in that paragraph.
3. An application for information may not be rejected on the grounds that the tax claim under the application is contested.
4. The Requested Party may reject a request for information if the information is requested by the requesting Party to apply or enforce a provision of the tax legislation of the requesting Party, or any obligation related to it, which is discriminatory against a citizen of the requested Party in respect of a citizen of the requesting Party in the same circumstances.
Article 8
Confidentiality
Any information received by a Party under this Agreement shall be held in confidence and shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including the courts and administrative bodies) within the jurisdiction of that Party who are concerned by the establishment, collection, collection or enforcement of the taxes referred to in this Agreement, or by the prosecution or appeal decisions relating to such taxes. These individuals or authorities may only use this information for these purposes. These may be reported at public court hearings or in court decisions. The information may not be disclosed to any other person, entity or authority or other foreign authority without the express written authorization of the competent authority of the requested Party.
Article 9
Fees
Unless otherwise agreed by the competent authorities of the Parties, the indirect costs incurred to provide assistance shall be borne by the requested Party, and the direct costs incurred to provide assistance (including costs resulting from the use of external advisers in litigation or for other purposes) shall be borne by the requesting Party. The competent authorities shall consult periodically on this article; in particular, the competent authority of the requested Party shall consult in advance with the competent authority of the requesting Party if it expects that the provision of information with respect to a specific request will result in substantial costs.
Article 10
Friendly procedure
1. In the event of difficulties or doubts between the Parties regarding the application or interpretation of this Agreement, the competent authorities shall endeavour 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 jointly determine the procedures to be followed in accordance with Articles 5, 6 and 9.
3. The competent authorities of the Parties may communicate with each other directly with a view to reaching agreement under this Article.
Article 11
Entry into force
Each Party shall notify the other of the procedures required by its legislation for the entry into force of this Agreement. This Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the second notification, and shall take effect:
(a) in criminal tax matters at that date; and
(b) for all other matters referred to in section 1, in respect of taxable periods beginning on or after 1^er January of the year immediately following that of the entry into force of the Agreement or, if not taxable, with respect to taxes due for taxable events occurring from 1^er January of the year immediately following that of the entry into force of the Agreement.
Article 12
Denunciation
1. Each Party may denounce this Agreement by notifying this denunciation in writing.
2. This denunciation takes effect on the first day of the month following the expiration of a period of three months from the date of receipt by the other Party of the notification of denunciation. All applications received up to the effective date of denunciation will be processed in accordance with this Agreement.
3. The Party denouncing the Agreement shall remain bound by the provisions of Article 8 for any information obtained under this Agreement.
In the belief that the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.
Done in Brussels on 23 October 2009, in duplicate, in French, Dutch and Catalan languages, all texts being equally authentic. The French language text will prevail in the event of a discrepancy between the texts.

Annex I
Guidelines for the presence in the territory of a part of the tax officials of the other party
Subject to the following provisions, officials of the tax administration of a Party may be present in the territory of the other Party in order to collect any information relevant to the determination of income tax and value added tax of a Party or both Parties.
A. General
An application to authorize the presence of tax officials of a Party in an investigation into the territory of the other Party is filed in special cases. These include:
a. cases with significant cross-border irregularities or frauds in either or both Parties;
b. the complexity of which makes the presence of such staff desirable;
c. cases where the statute of limitations is close and for which the presence of these officials may expedite the investigation;
d. joint investigations under bilateral or multilateral controls.
The competent authorities may authorize the presence of tax officials of a Party in the territory of the other Party in other cases than those referred to in point A above.
On the basis of reciprocity, a Party authorizes, in similar cases, the presence in its territory of tax officials of the other Party.
B. Conditions of application
The request for the presence of a Party's tax officials in the territory of the other Party shall be substantiated, made in writing and shall aim at a specified investigation. It refers to the steps taken by the requesting Party to obtain the requested information. The competent authority of the requested Party shall make a decision no later than three months from the date of receipt of the request. In an emergency, duly motivated, the decision is made in the month.
If the application is accepted, the competent authority of the requested Party shall, as soon as possible, inform the competent authority of the requesting Party of the date and place of the investigation and of the identity of the designated tax authority or official to conduct the investigation.
C. Tax Control Procedure
The investigation is conducted by tax officials of the requested Party. Visitors are allowed to be present at the parts of the investigation that may be interesting for the investigation of the requesting Party. Visitors comply with the required Party legislation.
At their request, visitors have access to books, documents, documents and other information materials and materials that may be of interest in the investigation.
Subject to the provisions of the legislation of the Party in the territory of which the investigation takes place, visitors shall obtain, upon request, copies and/or photocopies of the data and information referred to above.
The requesting Party may not use the data and information collected in the course of the investigation in the other Party before it has been communicated through the competent authorities.
D. Identification
The tax officials of a Party whose presence is expected in the territory of the other Party are specifically designated in writing and must be provided with an official authorization which it appears that they act on behalf of the first Party. In all cases, public servants must be able to prove their quality through a commission or other evidence of legitimation provided by the service to which they belong.
PROTOCOLE
Upon signature of the Agreement between the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Principality of Andorra for the exchange of tax information, the Parties agree that the following provisions form an integral part of the Agreement:
"The Kingdom of Belgium and the Principality of Andorra confirm their good predisposition to negotiate a convention to avoid double taxation as soon as the legislative framework for the taxation of the Principality is defined. This agreement will specify the administrative procedure for the exchange of tax information and replace this Agreement. Negotiation will open in the year following the adoption by the Andorran Parliament of a law relating to the introduction in Andorra's Principality of a corporate profit tax. »
In faith, the undersigned, duly authorized by the Parties, have signed this Protocol.
Done in Brussels on 23 October 2009, in duplicate, in French, Dutch and Catalan languages, all texts being equally authentic. The French language text will prevail in the event of a discrepancy between the texts.