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1 MARCH 2000. - An Act to assent to the agreement between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of Kazakhstan to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion in respect of income and property taxes, and to the Protocol, signed in Almaty on 16 April 1998 (1) (2) (2)

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 Convention between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of Kazachstan to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion on income and property taxes, and the Protocol, signed in Almaty on 16 April 1998, will come out their full and full effect.
Promulgate this Act, order it to be sealed by the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given to Châteaneuf-de-Grasse, 1^er March 2000.
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
L. MICHEL
Minister of Finance,
D. REYNDERS
Minister for Foreign Trade,
P. CHEVALIER
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
____
Notes
(1) Session 1999-2000.
Senate.
Documents. - Bill, tabled on 18 November 1999, No. 2-167/1. - Report, no. 2-167/2. - Text adopted by the Commission, No. 2-167/3.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion and vote. Session of 7 December 1999.
House of Representatives
Documents. - Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 50-338/1. - Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, No. 50-338/2.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion. Session of 21 December 1999. - Vote. Session of 20 January 2000.
(2) In accordance with article 29 of the Convention, the Convention entered into force on 13 April 2000.

Convention between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of Kazakhstan to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion in respect of income and wealth taxes
The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Desirous of concluding a Convention to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion in respect of income and wealth taxes,
The following provisions were agreed:
Article 1^er
Target persons
This Convention applies to persons who are residents of a Contracting State or both Contracting States.
Article 2
Taxes targeted
1. This Convention applies to taxes on income and on property collected on behalf of a Contracting State, its political subdivisions or local authorities, irrespective of the system of perception.
2. The taxes on total income, total property, or income or property, including taxes on earnings from the alienation of movable or real estate property, taxes on the total amount of wages paid by companies, as well as taxes on surplus-values, are considered income and property taxes.
3. Current taxes to which the Convention applies include:
(a) In the Republic of Kazakhstan:
(i) the income tax of legal persons and natural persons;
(ii) the property tax of legal persons and natural persons;
(hereinafter referred to as "Kazakh tax");
(b) in the Kingdom of Belgium:
(i) the tax of natural persons;
(ii) corporate tax;
(iii) corporation tax;
(iv) non-resident tax;
(v) the complementary contribution of crisis;
including pre-payments, additional cents to such taxes and pre-payments, and additional taxes to the tax of natural persons,
(hereinafter referred to as "Belgian tax").
4. The Convention also applies to taxes of an identical or similar nature that would be established after the date of signature of the Convention and that would be in addition to or replace existing taxes. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall communicate the significant changes to their respective tax laws.
Article 3
General definitions
1. For the purposes of this Convention, unless the context requires a different interpretation:
(a) the term:
(i) "Kazakhstan" means the Republic of Kazakhstan; employed in a geographical sense, the term "Kazakhstan" includes territorial waters as well as the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf on which, in accordance with international law, Kazakhstan may, for certain purposes, exercise sovereign rights and jurisdiction and to which Kazakh tax legislation is applicable;
(ii) "Belgium" means the Kingdom of Belgium; employed in a geographical sense, it designates the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium, including the territorial sea and the maritime areas and the airspace on which, in accordance with international law, the Kingdom of Belgium exercises sovereign rights or jurisdiction;
(b) the term "person" includes natural persons, societies and all other groups of persons;
(c) the term "society" means any corporation or entity that is considered to be a corporation for taxation purposes;
(d) the terms "contracting State" and "the other contracting State" mean, according to the context, Kazakhstan or Belgium;
(e) the terms "company of a Contracting State" and "company of the other Contracting State" shall, respectively, designate a business operated by a resident of a Contracting State and a business operated by a resident of the other Contracting State;
(f) the term "international traffic" means any transport by a ship or aircraft operated by a company of a Contracting State, except where the ship or aircraft is operated only between points in the other Contracting State;
(g) the term "competent authority" means:
(i) with regard to Kazakhstan: the Ministry of Finance or its authorized representative, and
(ii) in respect of Belgium: the Minister of Finance or its authorized representative;
(h) the term "national" means:
(i) any natural person having the nationality of a Contracting State;
(ii) any legal person, partnership or other association constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in a Contracting State;
(i) the term "fortune", for the purposes of section 22, refers to movable and immovable property and includes (but is not limited to) liquid money, shares or other titles of ownership, bonds or other titles of receivables, as well as patents, trademarks or trade marks, copyright or any other right or similar.
2. For the purposes of the Convention at any time by a Contracting State, any term or expression that is not defined therein, unless the context requires a different interpretation, the meaning assigned to it at that time by the law of that State in respect of the taxes to which the Convention applies.
Article 4
Resident
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 subject to tax in that State, because of his domicile, residence, management seat, place of incorporation or any other criterion of a similar nature and also applies to that State as well as to all its political subdivisions or local authorities. However, this term does not include persons who are subject to tax in that State only for income from sources located in that State or for the property located therein.
2. Where, according to the provisions of paragraph 1, a natural person is a resident of the two Contracting States, his or her situation shall be settled as follows:
(a) that person is considered to be a resident of the State where the person has a permanent home; if it has a permanent home in both states, it is considered to be a resident of the State with which its personal and economic ties are the narrowest (centre of vital interests);
(b) if the State in which that person has the centre of his or her vital interests cannot be determined, or if it does not have a permanent home in any of the States, it is considered to be a resident of the State in which it normally resides;
(c) if the person normally stays in both States or if he or she does not normally stay in any of them, he or she is considered to be a resident of the State of which he or she is a national;
(d) if the person possesses the nationality of the two States or has no nationality of any of them, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall decide the question by mutual agreement.
3. Where, according to the provisions of paragraph 1, a person other than a natural person is a resident of the two Contracting States, it is considered to be a resident of the State where its effective management seat is located.
Article 5
Stable establishment
1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "stable establishment" means a fixed business facility through which a company operates all or part of its business.
2. The term "stable establishment" includes:
(a) a steering seat,
(b) a branch,
(c) an office,
(d) a factory,
(e) a workshop, and
(f) a mine, oil or gas well, a career or any other place of extraction of natural resources.
3. The term "stable establishment" also includes:
(a) a construction or assembly site located in a Contracting State or related monitoring services, but only where such construction site or services continue for more than 12 months in that Contracting State; and
(b) a facility or structure used for the exploration of natural resources in a Contracting State, or related monitoring services, or a platform or drilling vessel used for the exploration of natural resources, but only where such use or services continue for more than 12 months in that Contracting State; and
(c) the provision, in the territory of a Contracting State, of services, including services of consultants, by a resident acting through employees or other personnel engaged for that purpose by the resident and present in that Contracting State, but only when the activities of that nature continue (for the same project or a related project) for more than 12 months in the territory of that Contracting State.
4. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this article, it is considered that there is no "stable establishment" if:
(a) the use of facilities for the sole purpose of storage, exposure or delivery of goods owned by the company;
(b) goods belonging to the undertaking are stored for storage, exposure or delivery purposes only;
(c) goods belonging to the enterprise are stored for the sole purpose of processing by another company;
(d) a fixed business facility is used for the sole purpose of purchasing goods or collecting information for the company;
(e) a fixed business facility is used for the sole purpose of carrying out any other preparatory or auxiliary activity for the enterprise;
(f) a fixed business facility shall be used only for the purpose of the cumulative year of activities referred to in subparagraphs (a) to (e), provided that the overall activity of the fixed business facility resulting from this accumulated business shall be preparatory or auxiliary.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person - other than an agent enjoying an independent status to which paragraph 6 applies - shall act on behalf of a business and shall have in a Contracting State powers that it normally exercise to enter into contracts on behalf of the enterprise, that undertaking shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in that State for all activities that that that person exercises for the enterprise, unless
6. A business is not considered to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State solely because it operates in it through a broker, a general commissioner or any other agent with an independent status, provided that such persons act within the ordinary framework of their business.
7. The fact that a corporation that is a resident of a Contracting State controls or is controlled by a corporation that is a resident of the other Contracting State, or that exercises its activity (either through a permanent establishment or not), is not sufficient in itself to make any of these companies a permanent establishment of the other.
Article 6
Real estate income
1. The income that a resident of a Contracting State derives from real property (including income from farms or forestry) located in the other Contracting State, is taxable in that other State.
2. The term "real property" has the meaning assigned to it by the law of the Contracting State in which the property is located. The term includes, in any case, accessories, dead or alive livestock of farms and forests, the rights to which the provisions of private law apply in respect of land ownership, the usufruct of real property and the rights to variable or fixed payments for the exploitation or concession of the exploitation of mineral deposits, sources and other natural resources; ships and aircraft are not considered real property.
3. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply to income derived from direct exploitation or enjoyment, lease or charter, as well as any other form of exploitation of real property.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 3 also apply to income from real property of a business as well as to income from real property used in the exercise of an independent profession.
Article 7
Business benefits
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 located therein. If the company operates in such a way, the profits of the company are taxable in the other State but only to the extent that they are attributable to that permanent establishment.
2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3, where a business of a Contracting State carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment located therein, it shall be charged, in each Contracting State, to that permanent establishment the profits that it could have realized if it had constituted a separate undertaking carrying out identical or similar activities under identical or similar conditions and acting independently.
3. In order to determine the benefits of a permanent establishment, deductions are allowed for the expenses incurred for the purposes of this permanent establishment, including the executive expenses and general administrative expenses so exposed, either in the State where the permanent establishment is located or elsewhere. However, no deduction is allowed for amounts that would, if any, be paid (other than the reimbursement of costs incurred) by the permanent establishment at the company's central office or at any of its offices, such as royalties, fees or other similar payments, for the use of patents or other fees, or as a commission, for specific services rendered or for a financial activity, or, unless Similarly, in the calculation of the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be no account of the amounts (other than the reimbursement of costs incurred) carried by the permanent establishment at the rate of the central office of the enterprise or of any of its other offices, such as royalties, fees or similar payments, for the use of patents or other fees, or as a commission for specific services rendered or for any directional activity or
4. If it is customary in a Contracting State to determine the profits attributable to a permanent establishment on the basis of a distribution of the total profits of the enterprise between its various parties, no provision in paragraph 2 shall prevent that Contracting State from determining the taxable profits according to the distribution in use; However, the method of distribution adopted must be such that the result obtained is consistent with the principles contained in this article.
5. No profit is charged to a permanent establishment because it simply purchased goods for the company.
6. For the purposes of the preceding paragraphs, the benefits to be charged to the permanent establishment are determined annually on the same basis, unless there are valid and sufficient grounds to proceed otherwise.
7. Where profits include income elements treated separately in other articles of this Convention, the provisions of these articles are not affected by the provisions of this article.
Article 8
Maritime and air navigation
1. The profits derived from the operation, in international traffic, of ships or aircraft shall be taxable only in the Contracting State where the effective management seat of the enterprise is located.
2. For the purposes of this section, benefits derived from the operation, in international traffic, of ships or aircraft include:
(a) profits from the rental of ships or aircraft, armed and equipped, and the occasional benefits from the bare hull rental of ships or aircraft operated in international traffic;
(b) profits derived from the use or lease of containers, provided that these benefits are complementary or incidental to the benefits to which the provisions of paragraph 1^er are applicable.
3. If the effective management seat of a marine navigation company is on board a vessel, that seat shall be considered to be located in the Contracting State where the vessel's port of attachment is located, or if the vessel is not carrying the vessel, in the Contracting State of which the vessel operator is a resident.
4. The provisions of paragraph 1 also apply to benefits derived from participation in a pool, a joint operation or an international operating organization.
Article 9
Associated companies
When
(a) a business of a Contracting State directly or indirectly participates in the direction, control or capital of a business of the other Contracting State, or
(b) the same persons directly or indirectly participate in the direction, control or capital of a business of a Contracting State and a business of the other Contracting State,
and that, in both cases, both companies are, in their commercial or financial relations, bound by agreed or imposed conditions, that differ from those that would be agreed between independent companies, the profits that, without these conditions, would have been realized by one of the companies but could not be in fact because of these conditions, may be included in the profits of that undertaking and imposed accordingly.
Article 10
Dividends
1. Dividends paid by a corporation that is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be taxable in that other State.
2. However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the corporation paying the dividends is a resident, and according to the law 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 dividends if the beneficial owner is a corporation that holds directly or indirectly at least 10 per cent of the capital of the corporation that pays the dividends;
(b) 15 per cent of the gross amount of dividends in all other cases.
This subsection does not affect the corporation's taxation of profits that are used to pay dividends.
3. The term "dividends" used in this article refers to income from shares, shares or benefits, shares of mine, share of founder or other share of beneficiaries with the exception of receivables, as well as incomes - even attributed in the form of interest - subject to the same tax regime as income from shares by the law of the State whose debiting society is a resident.
4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply where the beneficial owner of the dividends, a resident of a Contracting State, exercises in the other Contracting State whose dividend paying company is a resident, either an industrial or commercial activity through a permanent establishment located therein or an independent occupation by means of a fixed base located therein, and that the dividend-generating interest is effectively connected to it. In this case, the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as applicable, shall apply.
5. Where a corporation that is a resident of a Contracting State derives from the profits or income of the other Contracting State, that other State may not collect any tax on the dividends paid by the corporation, except to the extent that such dividends are paid to a resident of that other State or to the extent that the dividend-generating interest is effectively connected to a permanent establishment or to a fixed base located in that other State, or prelever any
6. Nothing in this Convention shall be construed as precluding a Contracting State to collect, in addition to the tax applicable to the profits of a corporation that is a national of that State, a special tax on the profits of a corporation attributable to a permanent establishment in that State, provided that the additional tax does not exceed 5 per cent of the amount of such profits that have not been subject to such an additional taxation year in the course of the preceding taxation. For the purposes of this provision, profits shall be earned after deduction of all taxes, other than the additional tax referred to in this paragraph, which are collected in the Contracting State where the permanent establishment is located and after deduction of any reinvestment in that permanent establishment.
Article 11
Interest
1. Interest arising from a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be taxable in that other State.
2. However, these interests are also taxable in the Contracting State in which they arise and according to the law of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the interest is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the interest.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, interest shall be exempted from tax in the Contracting State from which it arises when it is:
(a) interest paid to the other Contracting State, one of its political subdivisions or local authorities or to the Central Bank of that other State;
(b) interest paid on the basis of a loan made, guaranteed or insured, or a credit granted, guaranteed or insured by an agency or agency owned by that State or any of its political subdivisions or local authorities and whose purpose is to promote exports.
4. The term "interest" used in this section refers to the income of receivables of any kind, whether or not accompanied by mortgage guarantees or an interest clause in the debtor's profits, including income from public funds and borrowing obligations, including premiums and lots attached to these securities. However, this term does not include, within the meaning of this section, penalties for late payment or interest treated as dividends under section 10, paragraph 3.
5. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not apply where the beneficial owner of the interest, a resident of a Contracting State, carries on in the other Contracting State in which the interest arises, either an industrial or commercial activity through a permanent establishment located therein or an independent occupation by means of a fixed base located therein, and that the interest-generating debt is effectively linked to it. In this case, the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as applicable, shall apply.
6. Interest shall be deemed to arise from a Contracting State where the debtor is that State itself, a political subdivision, a local authority or a resident of that State. However, where the debtor of interest, whether or not a resident of a Contracting State, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment, or a fixed base, for which the debt giving rise to the payment of interest has been contracted and which bears the burden of such interests, these shall be deemed to arise from the State where the permanent establishment or fixed base is located.
7. Where, because of special relations between the debtor and the beneficial owner or between the debtor and the other person maintain with third persons, the amount of interest, taking into account the debt for which they are paid, exceeds the amount agreed upon by the debtor and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relations, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the latter amount. In this case, the surplus portion of the payments shall remain taxable, in accordance with its legislation, in the Contracting State from which the interest arises.
8. The provisions of this Article shall not apply where the principal purpose of any person concerned by the birth or assignment of the interest-generating receivable was to take advantage of the provisions of this Article through that birth or assignment.
Article 12
Claims
1. Royalties from a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be taxable in that other State.
2. However, such royalties are also taxable in the Contracting State in which they arise and according to the law of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the royalties is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the royalties.
3. The term "debtedness" used in this article means remuneration of any kind paid for the use, or concession of use, of a copyright on a literary, artistic or scientific work, including software, film films and films or tapes registered for radio or television, of a patent, of a trademark or trade, of a drawing or of a model,
4. The provisions of paragraphs 1^er and 2 shall not apply where the beneficial owner of the royalties, a resident of a Contracting State, carries out in the other Contracting State in which the royalties arise, either an industrial or commercial activity through a permanent establishment located therein or an independent occupation by means of a fixed base located therein, and that the right or property generating the royalties is effectively connected to it. In this case, the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as applicable, shall apply.
5. The royalties shall be deemed to come from a Contracting State when the debtor is that State itself, a political subdivision, a local authority or a resident of that State. However, where the debtor of royalties, whether or not a resident of a Contracting State, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment, or a fixed base, for which the contract giving rise to the payment of royalties has been concluded and which bears the charge of such royalties, these shall be deemed to be from the State where the permanent establishment, or the fixed base, is located.
6. Where, because of special relations between the debtor and the beneficial owner or between the debtor and the other person maintain with third persons, the amount of royalties, taking into account the benefit for which they are paid, exceeds the amount agreed upon by the debtor and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relations, the provisions of this section apply only to the latter amount. In this case, the surplus portion of the payments shall remain taxable, in accordance with its legislation, in the Contracting State from which royalties arise.
7. The provisions of this section shall not apply where the principal purpose of any person concerned by the creation or assignment of royalty-generating rights was to take advantage of the provisions of this section through such creation or assignment.
Article 13
Capital gains
1. The gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation of real property referred to in Article 6 and situated in the other Contracting State shall be taxable in that other State.
2. The gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation:
(a) shares, other than shares listed on a recognized stock exchange, which derive most of their value from real property located in the other Contracting State, or
(b) an interest in a partnership of persons whose assets are constituted principally by real property located in the other Contracting State shall be taxable in that other State.
3. The gains from the alienation of movable property that are part of the assets of a permanent establishment that a business of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State, or of movable property that belong to a fixed base of which a resident of a Contracting State disposes in the other Contracting State for the exercise of an independent profession, including such gains from the alienation of that permanent establishment (ully or with
4. Gains derived from the alienation of ships or aircraft operated in international traffic, or movable property assigned to the operation of such ships or aircraft, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State where the effective management seat of the enterprise is located.
5. Gains derived from the alienation of any property other than those referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the assignor is a resident.
Article 14
Independent occupations
1. The income derived by a resident of a Contracting State from a liberal profession or other independent activities shall be taxable only in that State, unless such activities are carried out in the other Contracting State; and
(a) that income is attributable to a fixed base normally available in that other State; or
(b) that resident is present in that other State for a period or periods exceeding a total of 183 days during any period of twelve consecutive months.
In this case, the revenues attributable to these activities are taxable in that other State in accordance with principles similar to those of Article 7 concerning the determination of the amount of business profits and the imputation of business profits to a permanent establishment.
2. The term "professional liberal" includes independent scientific, literary, artistic, educational or educational activities, as well as independent activities of doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, dentists and accountants.
Article 15
Dependent professions
1. Subject to the provisions of Articles 16, 18, 19 and 20, wages, salaries and other similar remuneration that a resident of a Contracting State receives under an employee employment shall be taxable only in that State, unless employment is exercised in the other Contracting State. If the employment is exercised, the remuneration received as such is taxable in that other State.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, the remuneration of a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employee employed in the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the first State if:
(a) the beneficiary stays in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding a total of 183 days for any period of twelve consecutive months, and
(b) compensation shall be paid by an employer or on behalf of an employer who is not a resident of the other State, and
(c) the pay charge is not borne by a permanent establishment or a fixed base that the employer has in the other State.
3. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, remuneration received for an employee employed on board a ship or aircraft operated in international traffic shall be taxable in the Contracting State where the effective management seat of the enterprise is located.
Article 16
Corporate managers
1. The fortieth, attendance and other similar remuneration that a resident of a Contracting State receives as a member of the board of directors or of a similar body of a corporation that is a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.
The foregoing provision also applies to remuneration received because of the performance of functions which, under the legislation of the Contracting State whose company is a resident, are treated as functions of a nature similar to those exercised by a person referred to in that provision.
2. Compensation that a person referred to in subsection 1^er shall be paid from the corporation by reason of the exercise of a day-to-day activity of direction or of a technical nature and the remuneration that a resident of a Contracting State derives from his or her personal activity as a partner in a corporation other than a share-owning corporation, which is a resident of the other Contracting State, shall be taxable in accordance with the provisions of Article 15, as if it were remuneration that an employee shall be employed in the case of an employee
Article 17
Artists and athletes
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 14 and 15, income derived by a resident of a Contracting State from his or her personal activities in the other Contracting State as an artist of the spectacle, such as a theatre, cinema, radio or television artist, or a musician, or as a sportsman, may be taxed in that other State.
2. Where the income of activities that an entertainer or a sportsperson exercises personally and in this capacity is attributed not to the artist or to the athlete himself but to another person, such income shall be taxable, notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7, 14 and 15, in the Contracting State where the activities of the artist or athlete are carried out.
3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the activities carried out in a Contracting State are financed largely by public funds of the other Contracting State or by one of its political subdivisions or local authorities. In this case, income derived from these activities shall be taxable only in that other Contracting State.
Article 18
Pensions and other allowances
1. Subject to the provisions of Article 19, paragraph 2, pensions and other similar remuneration, paid to a resident of a Contracting State for an earlier employment and any annuity paid to such a resident shall be taxable only in that State.
2. However, pensions and other allowances, periodic or unpaid, paid in accordance with the social legislation of a Contracting State are taxable in that State. This provision also applies to pensions and allowances paid under a general regime organized by that Contracting State to supplement the benefits provided by that legislation.
3. The term "rent" means a specified amount, payable periodically at fixed maturity to a natural person, his or her life for or during a specified or determinable period of time, in accordance with a commitment to make payments in exchange for a full and adequate counter-value in money or its equivalent.
Article 19
Public functions
1. (a) Salaries, salaries and other similar remuneration, other than pensions, paid by a Contracting State or any of its political subdivisions or local authorities to a natural person, for services rendered to that State or subdivision or community, shall be taxable only in that State.
(b) However, such wages, salaries and other similar remuneration shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the services are rendered in that State and if the natural person is a resident of that State who:
(i) has the nationality of that State, or
(ii) did not become a resident of that State for the sole purpose of rendering the services.
2. (a) Pensions paid by a Contracting State or any of its political subdivisions or local authorities, either directly or by debiting from funds that they have constituted, to a natural person, for services rendered to that State or to that subdivision or community, shall be taxable only in that State.
(b) However, such pensions shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the natural person is a resident of that State and has its nationality.
3. The provisions of Articles 15, 16, 17 and 18 apply to salaries, salaries and other similar remuneration and to pensions paid for services rendered in the course of an industrial or commercial activity carried out by a Contracting State or one of its political subdivisions or local authorities.
Rule 20
Students, trainees, teachers and researchers
1. The sums that a student or trainee who is, or who was immediately before going to a Contracting State, a resident of the other Contracting State and who resides in the first State for the sole purpose of pursuing his or her studies or training shall be paid to cover his or her maintenance, education or training expenses shall not be taxable in that State, provided that they arise from sources outside that State.
2. Compensation paid by a Contracting State, one of its political subdivisions or local authorities or by a public law body of that State or community to a natural person as a teacher or researcher shall be taxable only in that State.
Article 21
Other income
1. The income elements of a resident of a Contracting State, wherever they arise, which are not dealt with in the preceding articles of this Convention and which are imposed in that State shall be taxable only in that State.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall not apply to income other than income derived from real property as defined in Article 6, paragraph 2, where the beneficiary of such income, a resident of a Contracting State, carries on in the other Contracting State, either an industrial or commercial activity through a permanent establishment located therein, or an independent occupation by means of a fixed base located therein, and that the right or property therein shall, In this case, the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as applicable, shall apply.
Article 22
Fortune
1. The property constituted by real property referred to in Article 6, which is owned by a resident of a Contracting State and situated in the other Contracting State, is taxable in that other State.
2. The property constituted by movable property that is part of the asset of a permanent establishment that a business of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State, or by movable property that is owned by a fixed base of which a resident of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State for the exercise of an independent profession, is taxable in that other State.
3. The assets constituted by ships and aircraft belonging to a business of a Contracting State that operates them in international traffic, as well as by movable property assigned to the operation of such ships or aircraft, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State where the effective management seat of the enterprise is located.
4. All other assets of a resident of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State.
Article 23
Elimination of double taxation
1. With regard to Kazakhstan, double taxation is avoided as follows:
(a) Where a resident of Kazakhstan receives income or has property that, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, is taxable in Belgium, Kazakhstan grants:
(i) on the tax it receives on the income of that resident, a deduction of an amount equal to the income tax paid in Belgium;
(ii) on the tax that he receives on the fortune of that resident, a deduction of an amount equal to the tax on fortune paid in Belgium.
In no case may this deduction exceed the tax established in Kazakhstan, at the rates in force, on the same income or property elements.
(b) Where a resident of Kazakhstan receives income or owns property that, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, is taxable only in Belgium, Kazakhstan may include such income or assets in the taxable basis but only for the purpose of determining the tax rate applicable to other incomes or assets that are taxable in Kazakhstan.
2. With regard to Belgium, double taxation is avoided as follows:
(a) When a Belgian resident receives income or owns assets that are taxed in Kazakhstan in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, with the exception of those of articles 10, paragraph 2, 11, paragraphs 2 and 7, and 12, paragraphs 2 and 6, Belgium exempts from tax these incomes or assets, but it may, to calculate the amount of its taxes on the rest of the income or fortune of that resident, apply the same rate if
(b) Subject to the provisions of Belgian law relating to the imputation on Belgian tax of taxes paid abroad, where a Belgian resident receives income elements that are included in his or her total income subject to Belgian tax and that consist of taxable dividends in accordance with Article 10, paragraph 2, and not exempted from Belgian tax under (c) below, in taxable interest in accordance with Article 11, paragraphs 2 or 7 of that tax,
(c) The dividends that a corporation that is a resident of Belgium receives from a corporation that is a resident of Kazakhstan are exempted from the corporate tax in Belgium, under the conditions and limits provided for in Belgian legislation.
(d) Where, in accordance with Belgian law, losses incurred by a company operated by a resident of Belgium in a permanent establishment located in Kazakhstan were effectively deducted from the profits of that undertaking for its taxation in Belgium, the exemption provided for in (a) does not apply in Belgium to the profits of other taxable periods attributable to that establishment, to the extent that such profits were also exempted from tax in Kazakhstan due to their compensation with
Article 24
Non-discrimination
1. Nationals of a Contracting State shall not be subject in the other Contracting State to any taxation or obligation relating thereto, which is other or heavier than those to which nationals of that other Contracting State are or may be subject to the same situation, particularly in respect of the residence.
This provision also applies, notwithstanding the provisions of section 1^erpersons who are not residents of a Contracting State or both Contracting States.
2. Stateless persons who are residents of a Contracting State shall not be subject in either Contracting State to any taxation or relative obligation that is other or heavier than those to which nationals of the State concerned are or may be subject in the same situation.
3. The imposition of a permanent establishment that a business of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State is not established in that other State in a less favourable manner than the taxation of the enterprises of that other State that exercise the same activity. This provision shall not be construed as requiring a Contracting State to grant personal deductions, deductions and tax reductions to the residents of the other Contracting State on the basis of the situation or family expenses that it grants to its own residents.
4. Unless the provisions of Article 9, Article 11, paragraph 7 or Article 12, paragraph 6, are applicable, the interests, royalties and other expenses paid by an enterprise of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be deductible, for the determination of the taxable profits of that undertaking, on the same terms as if they had been paid to a resident of the first Contracting State. Similarly, the debts of an enterprise of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be deductible, for the determination of the taxable fortune of that undertaking, on the same basis as if they had been contracted to a resident of the first Contracting State.
5. The undertakings of a Contracting State, whose capital is wholly or partly, directly or indirectly, held or controlled by one or more residents of the other Contracting State, shall not be subject in the first State to any taxation or obligation relating thereto, which is other or heavier than those to which the other similar enterprises of the first State are or may be subject.
6. The provisions of this section shall apply notwithstanding the provisions of section 2, to taxes of any kind or denomination.
Rule 25
Friendly procedure
1. Where a person considers that the measures taken by a Contracting State or by the two Contracting States shall result in or result in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, the person may, independently of the remedies provided by the domestic law of those States, submit his case to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which he is a resident or, if his case falls under Article 24, paragraph 1, to that of the Contracting State of which he or she is a national. The case shall be submitted within three years after the first notification of the measure that results in taxation not in conformity with the provisions of the Convention.
2. The competent authority shall endeavour, if the request appears to it to be founded and if it is not itself able to make a satisfactory solution to it, to resolve the case by amicable agreement with the competent authority of the other Contracting State, with a view to avoiding taxation not in conformity with the Convention. The agreement shall be applied irrespective of the time limits provided by the domestic law of the Contracting States.
3. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour, by mutual agreement, to resolve the difficulties or to dispel the doubts to which the interpretation or application of the Convention may take place.
4. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall agree on the administrative measures necessary for the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and in particular on the justifications to be provided by the residents of each Contracting State for the benefit in the other State of the exemptions or tax reductions provided for in this Convention.
5. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall communicate directly with each other for the purposes of the Convention.
Rule 26
Exchange of information
1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange the information necessary to apply the provisions of this Convention or those of the domestic legislation of the Contracting States relating to the taxes covered by the Convention to the extent that the taxation it provides is not contrary to the Convention. The exchange of information is not restricted by section 1^er. The information received by a Contracting State shall be kept secret in the same manner as the information obtained under the domestic legislation of that State and shall only be communicated to the persons or authorities (including the courts and administrative bodies) concerned by the establishment or collection of the taxes referred to in the Convention, by the procedures or prosecutions relating to such taxes, or by the decisions on remedies relating to such taxes. These individuals or authorities only use this information for these purposes. They may report this information at public court hearings or in judgments.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 cannot in any case be construed as imposing on a Contracting State the obligation:
(a) take administrative measures derogating from its legislation and its usual practice or those of the other Contracting State;
(b) provide information that could not be obtained on the basis of its legislation or in the course of its normal administrative practice or those of the other Contracting State;
(c) provide information that would reveal a commercial, industrial, professional or commercial secret or information that would be contrary to public order.
Rule 27
Recovery assistance
1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States undertake to lend themselves mutual assistance in order to notify and recover the taxes as well as any administrative interests, fees and fines relating to the said taxes, referred to in this Article "tax credit".
2. The requests for assistance made by the competent authorities of a Contracting State for the recovery of a tax claim shall contain a certificate of that authority certifying that, according to the laws of that State, the tax debt is final. For the purposes of this Article, a tax debt is final when a Contracting State has the right to recover it under its domestic law and the taxpayer has no right to object to recovery.
3. Claims subject to requests for assistance shall not enjoy any privilege in the Contracting State which lends the assistance and provisions of Article 26, paragraph 1^er, shall also apply to any information brought to the attention of the competent authority of a Contracting State pursuant to this Article.
4. A tax debt of a Contracting State which the competent authority of the other Contracting State has agreed to recover, is recovered by that other Contracting State as if it were its own tax receivable, which has become final in accordance with the provisions of its tax recovery legislation.
5. The amounts recovered by the competent authority of a Contracting State under the provisions of this Article shall be transferred to the competent authority of the other Contracting State.
6. A Contracting State shall apply in accordance with the provisions of this Article only when it has exhausted all means of recovery of its tax debt on its own territory.
7. No assistance shall be provided under the provisions of this Article for a tax debt of a Contracting State in respect of a taxpayer insofar as that tax claim relates to a period in which the taxpayer was not a resident of either of the Contracting States.
8. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as imposing on either of the Contracting States the obligation to take administrative measures of a different nature than those to which it uses for the recovery of its own taxes or which would be contrary to its conception of public order.
9. With regard to tax claims that are subject to appeal, the competent authority of a Contracting State may, in order to safeguard its rights, request the competent authority of the other Contracting State to take the precautionary measures provided for in the legislation of that other State; the provisions of the preceding paragraphs shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to these measures.
Rule 28
Members of diplomatic missions and consular posts
The provisions of this Convention shall not affect the tax privileges enjoyed by members of diplomatic missions or consular posts under either the general rules of the law of people or the provisions of special agreements.
Rule 29
Entry into force
This Convention shall be ratified and come into force on the thirtieth day following that of the last notifications announcing that the two Contracting States have completed the procedures required by their respective domestic legislation for its entry into force.
The Convention will apply:
(a) the taxes withheld from the source on amounts paid or awarded from 1^er January of the calendar year in which the Convention comes into force;
(b) other income taxes for taxable periods beginning on or after 1^er January of the calendar year in which the Convention comes into force;
(c) capital taxes on assets existing as at 1^er January of any year from the date of entry into force of the Convention.
Rule 30
Denunciation
This Convention shall remain in force until it has been denounced by one of the Contracting States. Each Contracting State may denounce the Convention by diplomatic means at least six months before the end of any calendar year after the expiry of a five-year period from the date of entry into force of the Convention. In this case, the Convention will cease to apply:
(a) the taxes withheld from the source on amounts paid or awarded from 1^er January of the year immediately following the denunciation;
(b) other income taxes for taxable periods beginning on or after 1^er January of the year immediately following the denunciation;
(c) capital taxes on assets existing as at 1^er January of the year immediately following the denunciation.
In faith, the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed this Convention.
Done in Almaty on 16 April 1998 in duplicate, in French, Kazakh, Russian, Dutch and English, all texts being equally authentic. The English language text will prevail in the event of a discrepancy between the texts.
For the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium:
Jean-Luc Dehaene,
Prime Minister.
For the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
Balgimbaiev,
Prime Minister.
Protocol
At the time of the signing of the Convention between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kingdom of Belgium to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion in respect of income and property taxes, the undersigned have agreed on the following provisions which are an integral part of the Convention.
1. Ad Article 2:
It is understood that the terms "pre-payments, additional cents to the said taxes and pre-payments and additional taxes to the tax of natural persons" in paragraph 3, (b), include:
- movable prepayment (on dividends, interest and royalties);
- the real estate account;
- professional accounting;
- additional local taxes to the tax of natural persons and the real estate pre-payment.
2. Ad article 4:
The term "resident of a Contracting State" also includes any institution or organization constituted in accordance with the legislation of a Contracting State, whose exclusive purpose is to provide pensions or benefits to employees, even if such institutions or organizations are exempt from tax in the State in which they are established.
3. Ad articles 6 and 7:
It is understood that an enterprise of a Contracting State that operates mineral deposits, sources or other natural resources in the other Contracting State shall, with respect to such exploitation, carry on an industrial or commercial activity in that other State through a permanent establishment located therein and to which the rules of Article 7, paragraphs 1 apply.^er 6. It is also considered that this undertaking carries on industrial or commercial activity in that other State through a permanent establishment located therein and to which the rules of Article 7, paragraphs 1 to 6 apply, when it has the right to exploit mineral deposits, sources or other natural resources in that other State.
4. Ad article 7:
(a) (i) Where a business of a Contracting State sells goods or carries on an industrial or commercial activity in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment located therein, the profits of that permanent establishment are not determined on the basis of the total amount received by the undertaking but only on the basis of the remuneration that is attributable to the actual activity of the permanent establishment in respect of such sales or activity;
(ii) In the case of contracts, in particular for the study, supply, installation or construction of industrial, commercial or scientific premises or public works, the profits attributable to a permanent establishment at the disposal of the company are not determined on the basis of the total amount of the contract but only on the basis of the part of the contract that is actually executed by the stable establishment.
(b) Nevertheless, the profits derived from the sale of goods of an identical or similar nature to those sold through a permanent establishment, or other commercial activities of a similar or similar nature to those carried out through a permanent establishment, may be considered to be attributable to that permanent establishment if it is determined that the transaction concerned took place in order to avoid taxation in the Contracting State where the permanent establishment is located.
(c) In the case of a banking business, the permanent establishment is authorized to deduct the amounts paid to the central office or to any other office of the company for interest on amounts that have been lent to it in the form of separate advances from the capital allocated to it. However, this deduction is limited to the normal amounts that would have been paid if the permanent establishment had been a separate business independently dealing with the central office or any other office of the company.
5. Ad article 10:
(a) The dividends that a corporation that is a resident of a Contracting State shall pay to a corporation that is a resident of the other Contracting State shall be exempted from tax in the first Contracting State provided that such dividends are paid for an investment of not less than US$50 million in the corporation that pays the dividends.
This exemption applies from 1^er January of the year immediately following that in which the investment reaches US$50 million but no longer applies after a ten-year period from 1^er January of the year immediately following that in which the beneficial owner of the dividends begins to invest in the corporation that pays the dividends.
This provision shall apply only for twenty years from 1^er January of the year immediately following that of the entry into force of the Convention.
(b) As long as a preventive double taxation agreement does not provide for the special tax referred to in Article 10, paragraph 6, of this Convention is applicable between Kazakhstan and an OECD member country, this special tax will not be charged to enterprises operated by a Belgian resident.
6. Ad article 11:
With regard to Belgium, it is understood that the provisions of paragraph 3 (b) apply to a loan made, guaranteed or insured, or a credit granted, guaranteed or insured by:
- The National Office of the Ducroire;
- Association pour la Coordination du Financement à Moyen Terme des Exportations Belges ("Creditexport");
- The Committee for the Promotion of Exports of Belgian Equipment ("Copromex");
- The Deposit and Guarantee Institute.
7. Ad Article 12:
(a) If, in a preventive convention of double taxation concluded after the date of signature of this Convention with a third State member of the European Union, Kazakhstan agrees to exempt or reduce the tax rate referred to in paragraph 2, the Contracting States will begin negotiations.
(b) For the purposes of Article 12, paragraph 2, of the Convention, remuneration paid for technical assistance or services shall not be considered compensation paid for information relating to an industrial, commercial or scientific experience but shall be taxable in accordance with the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as appropriate.
(c) In the case of royalties paid for the use, or concession of use, of industrial, commercial or scientific equipment, the beneficial owner may choose to calculate the tax for such income on a net basis as if it were revenues attributable to a permanent establishment or a fixed base located in the Contracting State in which royalties arise.
(d) It is understood that sections 7 or 14 apply to amounts paid for the acquisition of software for the personal or professional use of the purchaser or for the assignment of rights relating to such software (transfer of full ownership of the software).
(e) The provisions of Article 12, paragraph 3, do not apply to equipment referred to in Article 8, paragraph 2.
8. Ad article 13:
Subsection 2 does not apply where the gains referred to in this subsection are obtained on the occasion of a restructuring of the corporation, a merger, split or similar operation.
9. Ad article 25:
The provisions of Article 25, paragraphs 1^er and 2, also apply to cases of double economic taxation that may arise from the application of section 9.
In faith, the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed this Protocol.
Done in Almaty on 16 April 1998 in duplicate, in French, Kazakh, Russian, Dutch and English, all texts being equally authentic. The English language text will prevail in the event of a discrepancy between the texts.
For the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium:
Jean-Luc Dehaene,
Prime Minister.
For the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
Balgimbaiev,
Prime Minister.

Convention between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of Kazakhstan for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital
Desiring to conclude a Convention for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
Personal scope
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 and on capital 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 and on capital all taxes imposed on total income, on total capital, or on elements of income or of capital, 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 which the Convention shall apply are in particular :
(a) in the Republic of Kazakhstan:
(i) the tax on income of legal persons and individuals;
(ii) the tax on the property of legal persons and individuals;
(hereafter referred to as "Kazakhstan tax").
(b) in the Kingdom of Belgium:
(i) the individual income tax;
(ii) the corporate income tax;
(iii) the income tax on legal entities;
(iv) the income tax on non-residents;
(v) the supplementary crisis contribution;
including the prepayments, the surcharges on these taxes and prepayments, and the supplements to the individual income tax,
(hereinafter referred to as "Belgian 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.
Article 3
General definitions
1. For the purposes of this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) the term:
(i) "Kazakhstan" means the Republic of Kazakhstan, and when used in a geographical sense, the term "Kazakhstan" includes the territorial waters, and also the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in which Kazakhstan, for certain purposes, may exercise sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law and in which the law relating to Kazakhstan tax are applicable;
(ii) "Belgium", means the Kingdom of Belgium, and when 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) the term "person" includes an individual, a company and any other body of persons;
c) the term "company" means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes.
d) the terms "Contracting State" and "the other Contracting State" mean Kazakhstan or Belgium, as the context requires;
e) the terms "enterprise of a Contracting State" and "enterprise of the other Contracting State" mean respectively an enterprise carried on by a resident of a Contracting State and an enterprise carried on by a resident of the other Contracting State;
(f) the term "international traffic" means any transport by a ship or aircraft operated by an enterprise of a Contracting State, except when the ship or aircraft is operated solely between places in the other Contracting State;
(g) the term "competent authority" means:
(i) in the case of Kazakhstan: the Ministry of Finance or its authorized representative, and
(ii) in the case of Belgium: the Minister of Finance or his authorized representative;
(h) the term "national" means:
(i) any individual possessing the nationality of a Contracting State;
(ii) any legal person, partnership or any other association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a Contracting State.
(i) the term "capital" for purposes of Article 22 means movable and immovable property, and includes (but is not limited to) cash, stock or other evidences of ownership rights, notes, bonds or other evidences of indebtedness, and patents, trademarks, copyrights or other like right or property;
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 concerning the taxes to which the Convention applies.
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, place of incorporation, 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 or capital situated therein.
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 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 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 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 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 of the State in which its place of effective management is situated.
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. The term "permanent establishment" also includes :
a) a building site or construction or installation or assembly project in a Contracting State, or supervisory services connected therewith, only if such site or project lasts or such services continue for more than 12 months in that Contracting State; and
b) an installation or structure used for the exploration of natural resources in a Contracting State, or supervisory services connected therewith, or a drilling rig or ship used for the exploration of natural resources, only if such use lasts or such services continue for more than 12 months in that Contracting State; and
c) the furnishing of services within a Contracting State, including consultancy services, by a resident through employees or other personnel engaged by the resident for such purpose and present in that Contracting State, but only where the activities of that nature continue (for the same or connected project) within the Contracting State for more than 12 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 habitually 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 undertake that person establishment that enterprise, unless the activities of such person are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 4
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.
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 consideration 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 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 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 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.
3. In the determination of the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be allowed as deductions expenses which are incurred for the purposes of the business 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. However, no such deduction shall be allowed in respect of amounts, if any, paid (otherwise than towards reimbursement of actual expenses) by the permanent establishment to the head office of the enterprise or any of its other offices, by way of royalties, fees or other similar payments in return for the use of patents or other rights, or by way of commission, for specific services performed or for management, or, except in the case of a banking enterprise, by way of interest on Likewise, no account shall be taken, in the determination of the profits of a permanent establishment, for amounts charged (otherwise than towards reimbursement of actual expenses), by the permanent establishment to the head office of the enterprise or any other offices, by way of royalties, fees or other similar payments in return for the use of patents or other rights, or by way of commission for specific services performed or for management, or, except in the case of a banking enterprise, by way of interest
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 contributionionment 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 contributionionment as may be customary; the method of contributionionment adopted shall, however, be such that the 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 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 effected by the provisions of this Article.
Article 8
Shipping and air transport
1. Profits derived 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. For the purpose of this Article, profits from the operation in international traffic of ships or aircraft shall include in particular:
a) profits derived from the rental on a full basis of ships or aircraft and profits derived from the incidental rental on a bareboat basis of ships or aircraft used in international traffic;
b) profits derived from the use or rental of containers, if such profits are supplementary or incidental to profits to which the provisions of paragraph 1 apply.
3. If the place of effective management of a shipping enterprise is aboard a ship, then it shall be deemed to be situated in the Contracting State in which the home harbour of the ship is situated, or, if there is no such home harbour, in the Contracting State of which the operator of the ship is a resident.
4. 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
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 enterprise 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 increasedd to one of the enterprises, but, by reason of those conditions, have not so increasedd, may be included in the profits of that enterprise and taxed accordingly.
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 dividend if the beneficial owner is a company which holds directly or indirectly 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.
This paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid.
3. The term "dividends" as used in this Article means income from shares, "jouissance" shares or "jouissance" rights, mining shares, founders' shares or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits, as well as income - even paid in the form of interest - which is treated as income from shares by the tax legislation of the State of which the paying company is a resident.
4. 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.
5. 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 profits undistributed
6. Nothing in this Convention shall be construed as preventing a Contracting State from imposing a special tax on the profits of a company attributable to a permanent establishment in that State, in addition to the tax which would be chargeable on the profits of a company which is a national of that State, provided that any additional tax shall not exceed 5 per cent of the amount of such profits which have not been subjected to such additional tax in previous taxation years. For the purpose of this provision, the profits shall be determined after deducting therefrom all taxes, other than the additional tax referred to in this paragraph, imposed in the Contracting State in which the permanent establishment exists and after deducting any amount reinvested in that permanent establishment.
Article 11
Interest
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 also be taxed in the Contracting State in which it arises and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the interest is a resident of other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the interest.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, interest shall be exempted from tax in the Contracting State in which it arises if it is:
a) interest paid to the other Contracting State, a political subdivision or a local authority thereof or to the Central Bank of that other State;
b) interest paid in respect of a loan made, guaranteed or insured or a credit extended, guaranteed or insured by an agency or instrumentality owned by that State a political subdivision or a local authority thereof the objective of which is to promote the export.
4. 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. However, the term "interest" shall not include for the purpose of this Article penalty charges for late payment or interest regarded as dividends under paragraph 3 of Article 10.
5. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 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 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.
6. Interest shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the pay 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 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.
7. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the pay 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 pay 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 in the Contracting State in which the interest arises according to the laws of that State.
8. The provisions of this Article shall not apply if it was the main purpose of any person concerned with the creation or assignment of the debt-claim in respect of which the interest is paid to take advantage of this Article by means of that creation or assignment.
Article 12
Royalties
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 also be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the royalties is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 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 software, cinematograph films and films or tapes for television or radio broadcasting, any patent, trade mark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process, or for information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience, and payments for the use of, or the right to use,
4. 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 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.
5. Royalties shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the pay 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 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.
6. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the pay 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 pay 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 in the Contracting State in which the royalties arise, according to the laws of that State.
7. The provisions of this Article shall not apply if it was the main purpose of any person concerned with the creation or assignment of the rights in respect of which the royalties are paid to take advantage of this Article by means of that creation or assignment.
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 derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation of:
a) shares, other than shares quoted on an approved Stock Exchange, deriving the greater part of their value from immovable property situated in the other Contracting State, or
b) an interest in a partnership the assets of which consist principally of immovable property situated in the other Contracting State,
may be taxed in that other State.
3. 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 that (alone or with the whole enterprise) or of such fixed base, may be taxed in
4. Gains from the alienation of ships or aircraft operated in international traffic or movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships or aircraft, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the place of effective management of the enterprise is situated.
5. Gains from the alienation of any property other than that referred to in the preceding paragraphs, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State of which the alienator is a resident.
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 such services are performed in the other Contracting State; and
a) the income is attributable to a fixed base which is regularly available to him in that other State; gold
b) such resident is present in that other State for a period or periods exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any consecutive twelve month period.
In such a case the income attributable to the services may be taxed in that other State in accordance with principles similar to those of Article 7 for determining the amount of business profits and attributing business profits to a permanent establishment.
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 and 20, 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 in 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 period of twelve consecutive months, 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 in respect of an employment exercised aboard a ship or aircraft operated in international traffic, may be taxed in the Contracting State in which the place of effective management of the enterprise is situated.
Article 16
Company managers
1. Directors' fees and other 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.
The preceding provision shall also apply to payments derived in respect of the discharge of functions which, under the laws of the Contracting State of which the company is a resident, are regarded as functions of a similar nature as those exercised by a person referred to in the said provision.
2. Remuneration derived by a person referred to in paragraph 1 from the company in respect of the discharge of day-to-day functions of a managerial or technical nature and remuneration received by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of his personal activity as a partner of a company, other than a company with share capital, which is a resident of the other Contracting State, may be taxed in accordance with the provisions of Article 15, as if such remuneration were remuneration derived by an employee in respect
Article 17
Artists 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 artist, or a musician, or as 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 increaseds 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. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the activities exercised in a Contracting State are substantially supported from public funds of the other Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof. In such case, income derived from such activities shall be taxable only in that other Contracting State.
Article 18
Pensions and other payments
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 and any annuity paid to such a resident shall be taxable only in that State.
2. However, pensions and other allowances, periodic or non periodic, paid under the social security legislation of a Contracting State may be taxed in that State. This provision also applies to pensions and allowances paid under a public scheme organised by a Contracting State in order to supplement the benefits of that legislation.
3. The term "annuity" means a stated sum payable to an individual periodically at stated times during his 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.
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 shall be taxable only 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; gold
(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 shall be taxable only 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.
Rule 20
Students, trainees, teachers and researchers
1. Payments which a student or a trainee 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.
2. Remuneration paid by a Contracting State, political subdivisions or a local authority thereof, or by a statutory body of that State or authority, to an individual in his capacity as a teacher or a researcher shall be taxable only in that State.
Article 21
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 and which are taxed in that State 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.
Article 22
Capital
1. Capital represented by immovable property referred to in Article 6, owned by a resident of a Contracting State and situated in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.
2. Capital represented by 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 by 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, may be taxed in that other State.
3. Capital represented by ships and aircraft owned and operated in international traffic by an enterprise of a Contracting State and by movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships or aircraft, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the place of effective management of such enterprise is situated.
4. All other elements of capital of a resident of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State.
Article 23
Elimination of double taxation
1. In the case of Kazakhstan, double taxation shall be avoided as follows:
(a) Where a resident of Kazakhstan derives income or owns capital which, in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, may be taxed in Belgium, Kazakhstan shall allow:
(i) as a deduction from the tax on the income of that resident, an amount equal to the income tax paid in Belgium;
(ii) as a deduction from the tax on the capital of that resident, an amount equal to the capital tax paid in Belgium.
Such deduction in any case shall not exceed the tax assessed on the same income or capital in Kazakhstan at the rates in effect therein.
(b) Where a resident of Kazakhstan derives income or owns capital, which in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, shall be taxable only in Belgium, Kazakhstan may include this income or capital in the tax base but only for purposes of determining the rate of tax on such other income or capital as is taxable in Kazakhstan.
2. In the case of Belgium, double taxation shall be avoided as follows:
(a) Where a resident of Belgium derives income or owns elements of capital which are taxed in Kazakhstan in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, other than those of paragraph 2 of Article 10, of paragraphs 2 and 7 of Article 11 and of paragraphs 2 and 6 of Article 12, Belgium shall exempt such income or such elements of capital from tax but may, in calculating the amount of tax on the remaining income or capital of that resident, apply the rate of tax which would have been applicable if
(b) Subject to the provisions of Belgian law regarding the deduction from Belgian tax of taxes paid abroad, where a resident of Belgium derives items of his aggregate income for Belgian tax purposes which are dividends taxable in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 10, and not exempt from Belgian tax according to subparagraph c) hereinafter, interest taxable in accordance with paragraph 2 or 7 of Article 11, or royalties taxable in accordance with paragraph 2 or 6 of Article 12, the Kazakhstan tax credit as income.
(c) Dividends derived by a company which is a resident of Belgium from a company which is a resident of Kazakhstan, shall be exempt from the corporate income tax in Belgium under the conditions and within the limits provided for in Belgian law.
(d) Where, in accordance with Belgian law, losses incurred by an enterprise carried on by a resident of Belgium in a permanent establishment situated in Kazakhstan, have been effectively deducted from the profits of that enterprise for its taxation in Belgium, the exemption provided for in sub-paragraph a) shall not apply in Belgium to the profits of other taxable periods attributable to that establishment to the extent that those profits have also been exempted from tax in Kazakhstan, by reason of compensation for the said losses.
Article 24
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. Stateless persons who are residents of a Contracting State shall not be subjected in either 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 the State concerned in the same circumstances are or may be subjected.
3. 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.
4. Except where the provisions of Article 9, paragraph 7 of Article 11, or paragraph 6 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.
5. 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 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.
6. The provisions of this Article shall, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 2, apply to taxes of every kind and description.
Rule 25
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 I of Article 24, 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.
4. ITte competent authorities of the Contracting States shall agree on administrative measures necessary to carry out the provisions of the Convention and particularly on the proofs to be furnished by residents of either Contracting State in order to benefit in the other State from the exemptions or reductions in tax provided for in the Convention.
5. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall communicate directly with each other for the application of the Convention
Rule 26
Exchange of infonnation
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 infommation 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) involved in the assessment or collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of or the detemmination of appeals in relation to, the taxes covered by the Convention. Such persons or authorities shall use the infommation only for such purposes. They may disclose the infommation in Dubiic court nraceeHinv[] or in illHici[]l Heci[]inn[]
2. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph I be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation:
a) to carry out adminstrative measures at variance with the laws and political 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).
Rule 27
Assistance in collection
1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States undertake to lend assistance to each other in the notification and the collection of taxes, together with interest, costs, and - administrative penalties relating to such taxes, referred to in this Article as a "tax claim,'.
2. Requests for assistance by the competent authorities of a Contracting State in the collection of a tax claim shall include a certification by such authority that, under the laws of that State, the tax claim has been finally determined. For the purposes of this Article, a tax claim is f natty detemmined when a Contracting State has the right under its internal law to collect the tax claim and the taxpayer has no further rights to restrain collection.
3. Claims which are the subject of requests for assistance. shall not have any priority in the Contracting State rendering assistance and the provisions of paragraph I of Article 26 shall also apply to any information which, by virtue of this Article, is supplied to the competent authority of a Contracting State.
4. A tax claim of a Contracting State that has been accepted for collection by the competent authority of the other Contracting State shall be collected by the other State as though such claim were the other State's own tax claim as finally determined in accordance with the provisions of its laws relating to the collection of its taxes.
5. Amounts collected by the competent authority of a Contracting State pursuant to this Article shall be forwarded to the competent authority of the other Contracting State.
6. A request under this Article shall only be made by a Contracting State if that State has exhausted all means in its own territory for the recovery of its own tax claim.
7. No assistance shall be provided under this Article for a tax claim of a Contracting State in respect of a taxpayer to the extent that the tax claim relates to a period during which the taxpayer was not a resident of one or the other Contracting State.
8. Nothing in this Article shall be construed as imposing on either Contracting State the obligation to carry out administrative measures of a different nature Mom those used in the collection of its own taxes or that would be contrary to its public policy (ordre public).
9. With regard to tax claims which are open to appeal, the competent authority of a Contracting State may, in order to safeguard its rights, request the competent authority of the other Contracting State to take the protective measures provided for in the laws of that other State; the provisions of the preceding paragraphs shall apply with the necessary changes to such measures. :
Rule 28
Members of diplomatic missions and consular costs
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.
Rule 29
Entry into force
This Convention shall be ratified and shall enter into force on the 30th day after the date of the latter notification indicating that both Contracting States have complied with the domestic legal procedures required in each State for its entry into force.
The Convention shall apply:
a) with regard to taxes withheld at source, in respect of amounts paid or credited on or after the first day of January in the calendar year in which the Convention enters into force;
b) with regard to other taxes on income, in respect to taxable periods beginning on or after the first day of January in the calendar year in which the Convention enters into force;
c) with regard to taxes on capital charged on elements of capital existing on the first day of January of any year trom the year in which the Convention enters into force.
Rule 30
Termination
This Convention shall remain in force until terminated by one of the Contracting States. 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 the expiry of five years from the date of entry into force of the Convention. In such event, the Convention shall cease to have Oft -
a) with regard to taxes withheld at source, for amounts paid or credited on or after the first day of January in the year next following that in which the notice of termination is given;
b) with regard to other taxes on income, for taxable periods beginning on or after the first day of January in the year next following that in which the notice of termination is given;
c) with regard to taxes on capital charged on elements of capital existing on the first day of January of the year next following that in which the notice of termination is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorised by their respective Governments, have signed this Convention.
DONE in duplicate at Ammos this 46th day of April 1998, in the English, Kazakh, Russian, Dutch and French languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence between the texts, the English text shall prevail.
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM :
J.-L. DEHAENE
Prime Minister
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN:
BALGIMBAIEV
Prime Minister.

PROTOCOL
At the moment of signing the Convention between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kingdom of Belgium for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital, the undersigned have agreed that the following provisions shall form an integral part of the Convention.
I. Ad Article 2
It is understood that the terms "the prepayments, the surcharges on these taxes and prepayments, and the supplements to the individual income tax" used in subparagraph b) of paragraph 3 include:
- the withholding tax on movable income (dividends, interest and royalties);
- the withholding tax on immovable income;
- the withholding tax on professional income;
- the additional local taxes on the individual income tax and on the withholding tax on immovable income.
2. Ad Article 4:
The term "resident of a Contracting State" shall also include any institution or body established under the law of a Contracting State, which operates exclusively for the purpose of providing pension or employee benefits, even if such an institution or body is exempt Mom tax in the State in which it has been established.
3. Ad Articles 6 and 7:
It is understood that an enterprise of a Contracting State which works mineral deposits, sources or other natural resources in the other Contracting State carries on, in respect of those activities, business in that other State through a permanent establishment situated therein to which the rules of paragraphs I to 6 of Article 7 apply. Such an enterprise shall also be considered to carry on business in that other State through a permanent establishment situated therein to which the rules of paragraphs I to 6 of Article 7 apply if it has the right to work mineral deposits, sources or other natural resources in that other State.
4. Ad Article 7:
(a) (i) Where an enterprise of a Contracting State sells goods or merchandise or carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, the profits of that permanent establishment shall not be determined on the basis of the total amount received by the enterprise but only on the basis of the remuneration which is attributable to the actual activity of the permanent establishment for such sales or business;
(ii) in the case of contracts, in particular for the survey, supply, installation or construction of industrial, commercial or scientific equipment or premises, where the enterprise has a permanent establishment the profits of such permanent establishment shall not be determined on the basis of the total amount of the contract, but only on the basis of that part of the contract which is effectively carried out by the permanent establishment.
(b) Nevertheless, profits derived from the sale of goods or merchandise of the same or similar kind as those sold, or from other business activities of the same or similar kind as those effected, through a permanent establishment, may be considered attributable to that permanent establishment, provided that it is proved that the transaction concerned has been resorted to in order to avoid taxation in the Contracting State where the permanent establishment is situated.
(c) In the case of a banking enterprise, the permanent establishment shall be allowed a deduction for amounts paid to its head office or any of the other offices of the enterprise by way of interest on moneys lent to it by means of advances as distinct from capital allotted to it. Nevertheless this deduction shall be limited to the normal amounts which would have been paid if the permanent establishment had been a distinct and separate enterprise dealing wholly independently with the head office or any of the other off ces of the enterprise.
5. Ad Article 10:
(a) Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of a Contracting State to a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State shall be exempt from tax in the firstmentioned State provided that such dividends are paid in consideration of an investment of at least fifty million US dollars in the paying the dividends.
Such exemption shalLapply as from January I st of the year immediately following the year in which the investment amounts to fifty million US dollars but shall not apply after a period of ten years starting from January I st of the year immediately following the year in which the beneficial owner of the dividends begins to invest in the company paying the dividends.
This provision shall only apply for twenty years as from January 1st of the year immediately following the year in which the Convention enters into force.
(b) As long as a convention for the avoidance of double taxation is effective between Kazakhstan and a country which is a member of the OECD, which convention does not provide for the special tax provided for in paragraph 6 of Article 10 of this Convention, this special tax shall not be levied upon enterprises carried on by a resident of Belgiutrt.
6. Ad Article 11:
In the case of Belgium, it is understood that the provisions of subparagraph b) of paragraph 3 apply to a loan made, guaranteed or insured or to a credit extended, guaranteed or insured by :
- The Ducroire National Offer;
- Association pour la Coordination du Financement a Moyen Terme des Exportations Beiges ("Creditexport");
- The Committee for the Promotion of the Exports of Beiges Equipment ("Copromex");
- Reescount and Guarantee.
7. Ad Article 12:
(a) If, in any agreement for the avoidance of double taxation which Kazakhstan would conclude after the date of signature of this Convention with a third State, being a member of the European Union, Kazakhstan would agree to exempt or lower the rate of tax provided in paragraph 2, the Contracting States shall enter into negotiations.
(b) When applying paragraph 2 of Article 12, of the Convention payments for technical assistance or technical services shall not be considered to be payments for information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience, but shall be taxable in accordance with the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as the case may be.
c) in the case of royalties paid for the use of or the right to use industrial, commercial or scientific equipment the beneficial owner may elect to compute the tax on such income on a net basis as if such income were attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base situated in the Contracting State in which the royalties arise.
d) it is understood that Articles 7 or 14 apply to payments made in consideration of the acquisition of software for the personal or business use of the purchaser or in consideration of the alienation of rights attached to the software (transfer of full ownership of the software).
(e) The provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 12 shall not apply to equipment dealt with in paragraph 2 of Article 8.
8. Ad Article 13:
Paragraph 2 shall not apply if the gains referred to in this paragraph are derived in the course of a corporate reorganisation, merger, division or similar.transaction.
9. Ad Article 25:
The provisions of paragraphs I and 2 of Article 25 shall also apply to a case of economic double taxation which may result from the application of Article 9.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Protocol.
DONE in duplicate at Almaty this 16th day of April 1998, in the English, Kazakh, Russian, Dutch and French languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of divergence between the texts, the English text shall prevail.
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM :
J.-L. DEHAENE
Prime Minister
FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN :
BALGIMBAIEV
Prime Minister.