belgiquelex.be - Carrefour Bank of Legislation

11 MAI 1995. - An Act to approve the Convention between the Kingdom of Belgium and the People's Republic of Bangladesh to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion on income tax, signed in Brussels on 18 October 1990 (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Single article. The Convention entitles the Kingdom of Belgium and the People's Republic of Bangladesh to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion on income tax, signed in Brussels on 18 October 1990, will come out its full and entirety.
Promulgation of this law, let us order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 11 May 1995.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
E. DERYCKE
Minister of Finance,
Ph. MAYSTADT
Minister of Foreign Trade,
R. URBAIN
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
T. VAN PARYS
____
Note
(1) Parliamentary references:
Session 1993-1994.
Senate.
Documents. - Bill No. 1109-1.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion. Session of 21 June 1994. - Vote. Session of 21 June 1994.
Room.
Documents. - Project transmitted by the Senate, No. 1515-1. Van der Maelen report, no. 1515-2.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion. Session of 1^er July 1994. - Vote. Session of 1^er Jullet 1994.

Convention between the Kingdom of Belgium and the People's Republic of Bangladesh to avoid double taxation and to prevent tax evasion on income taxes
The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium
and
the Government of the People ' s Republic of Bangladesh,
Desirous of concluding a Convention to Avoid Double Taxation and Prevent Tax Evasion in Income Tax,
The following provisions were agreed:
CHAPTER I. - Scope of the Convention
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 income taxes collected on behalf of a Contracting State, its political subdivisions or local authorities, regardless of the system of collection.
§ 2. Income taxes are considered to be taxed on total income or income elements, including taxes on gains from the alienation of movable or real property, as well as taxes on surplus-values.
§ 3. Current taxes to which the Convention applies include:
(a) Belgium:
1° the tax of natural persons;
2° corporate tax;
3° the tax of legal persons;
4° the non-resident tax;
5° the special contribution assimilated to the tax of natural persons,
including pre-payments, decimals and additional centimes to these taxes and pre-taxes and additional taxes to the tax of natural persons (hereinafter referred to as "Belgian tax");
(b) Bangladesh:
income tax (hereinafter referred to as Bangladesh's 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.
CHAPTER II. - Definitions
Article 3
General definitions
§ 1. For the purposes of this Convention, unless the context requires a different interpretation:
(a) 1° the term "Belgium" means the Kingdom of Belgium;
2° the term Bangladesh refers to the People ' s Republic of Bangladesh;
(b) the terms "a severing State" and "the other Contracting State" mean, according to the context, Belgium or Bangladesh;
(c) the term "person" includes individuals, societies and other groups of persons;
(d) the term "corporate" means any corporation or entity that is considered to be a corporation for taxation purposes;
(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 an enterprise whose effective steering seat is located in a Contracting State, except where the vessel or aircraft is operated only between points in the other Contracting State;
(g) the term "nationals" means:
(a) all natural persons who have the nationality of a Contracting State;
(b) all legal persons, corporations and associations constituted in accordance with the legislation in force in a Contracting State;
(h) the term "competent authority" means:
(a) in respect of Belgium, the Director-General of Direct Contributions;
(b) with respect to Bangladesh, the National Board of Revenue or its authorized representative.
§ 2. For the purposes of the Convention by a Contracting State, any expression not defined therein shall have the meaning assigned to it by the law of that State concerning the taxes to which the Convention applies, unless the context requires a different interpretation.
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 or any other similar criterion. However, this term does not include persons who are subject to tax in that State only for income from sources in that State.
§ 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, they are considered to be a resident of the State in which he or she stays from the usual way;
(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 in turn or in 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;
(f) a warehouse in the case of a person who makes storage facilities available to other persons;
(g) a mine, oil or gas well, a career or any other place of extraction of natural resources.
§ 3. A construction or construction site is a permanent establishment only if its duration exceeds 183 days.
§ 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 or exposure of goods owned by the company;
(b) goods belonging to the enterprise are stored for storage or exposure 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 enterprise, for the sole purpose of advertising, the provision of information, scientific research or similar activities that have a preparatory or auxiliary character;
(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 - acts in a Contracting State for an enterprise of the other Contracting State, that undertaking shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in the first Contracting State for any activities that the person carries on for it if that person:
(a) the State shall have the power to enter into contracts on behalf of the undertaking, unless the activities of that person are limited to those listed in paragraph 4 and which, exercised in a fixed business facility, would not make such a fixed business facility a permanent establishment within the meaning of a new paragraph; or
(b) having no such power, usually keeps in the first State a stock of goods on which it regularly collects goods for the purpose of delivery on behalf of the company.
§ 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 operates therein (either through a permanent establishment or not) is not sufficient in itself to make any of these companies a permanent establishment of the other.
CHAPTER III. - Income tax
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 right of the Contracting State where 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, 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, and any 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 dealing independently with the enterprise of which it constitutes a permanent establishment.
§ 3. In order to determine the profits of a permanent establishment, the expenses set out for the purposes of the permanent establishment, including the executive expenses and general administrative expenses so exposed, are deducted in the State in which the permanent establishment is located or elsewhere, but these expenses do not include those whose deduction would not be permitted by the law of that State in the head of a state-owned enterprise.
§ 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 from the operation of aircraft in international traffic are taxable only in the Contracting State where the effective management seat of the enterprise is located.
§ 2. The profits derived from a Contracting State and derived from the operation of ships in international traffic by a company that has its effective headquarters in the other Contracting State, are taxable in the first State but the tax established in that State is diminished in an amount equal to 50 per cent of that tax.
§ 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 paragraphs 1 and 2 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, the two companies are, in their commercial or financial relations, disposed of by agreed or imposed conditions, which 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 company 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 15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends.
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 as well as income from other social units subject to the same tax regime as income from shares under the law of the State whose distribution society is a resident. This term also refers to income - even allocated in the form of interest - taxable for capital income invested by partners in companies other than equity corporations that are residents of Belgium.
§ 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 shall 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
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 15 per cent of the gross amount of the interest.
§ 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, interest shall not be taxable in the State from which it arises in respect of interest in commercial receivables, including those represented by commercial effects, resulting from the payment of goods, goods or services by a business of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State.
§ 4. The term "interest" used in this section refers to income from 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 such securities; However, the term "interest" does not include, within the meaning of this section, the penalizations for late payment or the interest treated as dividends in due course of Article 10, paragraph 3, second sentence.
§ 5. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not apply where the beneficial owner of the interests, a resident of a Contracting State, is engaged in the other Contracting State in which the interests arise, i.e. a commercial naked industrial 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 1'anicle 14, as applicable, are applicable.
§ 6. Interest shall be deemed to arise from a Contracting State when the debtor is that State itself, a political subdivision, a local authority bare 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 such cases, the surplus portion of the payments shall be taxable in accordance with the laws of each Contracting State and taking into account the other provisions of this Convention.
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, these 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 " royalties" used in this article means the remuneration of any kind paid for the use or concession of the use of a copyright on a literary, artistic or scientific work, including film films and films or tapes for radio or television, a patent, a trademark or trade mark, a drawing or a model, a plan, a secret formula or
§ 4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply where the beneficial owner of the royalties, a resident of a Contracting State, carries on in the other Contracting State in which the royalties arise, in the evening an industrial or commercial activity through a permanent establishment located therein, or an independent occupation by means of a fixed base located therein, and the right or property that generates 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 such cases, the excess portion of the royalties shall remain taxable according to the law of each Contracting State and taking into account the other provisions of this Convention.
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 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
§ 3. Gains derived from the alienation of ships or aircraft operated in international traffic or movable property assigned to the operation of such vessels or aircraft shall be taxable only in the Contracting State where the effective management seat of the enterprise is located.
§ 4. Gains derived from the alienation of any property other than those referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 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. However, such income shall be taxable in the other Contracting State in the following cases:
(a) if the resident has, in the other Contracting State, a fixed basis for the exercise of his or her activities; in such case, only the fraction of the income attributable to the fixed base shall be taxable in that other Contracting State; or
(b) if he or she stays in the other Contracting State for a period or periods of a total duration equal to or greater than 183 days during the tax period under review; in that case, only the fraction of the income derived from the activities carried out in that other State is taxable in that other State.
§ 2. The term "liberal profession" includes independent scientific, literary, artistic, educational or educational activities, as well as independent activities of physicians, 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 I, remuneration paid by a resident of a Contracting State for 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 during the taxable period Considered, 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 taxed in the Contracting State where the effective management seat of the enterprise is located.
Article 16
Elevenths
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.
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.
Article 18
Pensions
§ 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 job shall be taxable only in that State.
§ 2. Pensions and other allowances, whether periodic or not, paid in accordance with the social legislation of a Contracting State by that State, by one of its political subdivisions or local authorities or by a legal person who is a national of its public law, are taxable in that State.
Article 19
Public functions
§ 1. (a) Compensation, 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 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:
1° has the nationality of that State; or
2° 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 and 18 apply to remuneration and pensions paid for services rendered in an industrial or commercial activity carried out by a Contracting State or one of its political subdivisions or local authorities.
Rule 20
Professors
A teacher or teacher who temporarily stays in a Contracting State to teach there, for a period not exceeding two years, in a university, college, school or other recognized educational institution and "who is, or was immediately before that stay, a resident of the other Contracting State, is exempt from tax in the first Contracting State on remuneration derived from that teaching provided that he or she is subject to tax on such remuneration.
Article 21
Students, apprentices and interns
A natural person who was a resident of a Contracting State immediately before travelling to the other Contracting State and who temporarily resides in that other State only:
(a) as a student in a university, college, school or other similar recognized educational institution of that other State;
(b) as an apprentice or trainee; or
(c) as a beneficiary of a scholarship, grant or award granted by a scientific, educational, religious or philanthropic organization or within the framework of a technical assistance programme established by the Government of a Contracting State, is exempt from tax in that other State:
(i) on all amounts it receives from abroad to cover its maintenance, education, learning or training expenses;
(ii) on remuneration for activities performed personally in that other State, provided that such remuneration does not exceed in a taxable period of 120,000 Belgian francs or the equivalent of that sum in Bangladesh Taka; and
(iii) the amount of this award, grant or award.
The benefits provided in paragraph (ii) above are granted only during the period that is reasonably or usually required to complete the studies, learning or training undertaken without power in any case exceeding a period of five consecutive years.
Article 22
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 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 activity 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 the right of ownership thereof shall be exercised. In this case, the provisions of Article 7 or Analus 14, as applicable, are applicable.
§ 3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, the income elements of a resident of a Contracting State that are not dealt with in the preceding articles of the Convention and that come from the other Contracting State shall also be taxable in that other State.
CHAPTER IV. - Methods to eliminate double taxation
Article 23
§ 1. In Belgium, double taxation is avoided as follows:
(a) Where a resident of Belgium receives income not referred to in subparagraphs (b) and (c) below and which is taxable in Bangladesh in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, except those of Article 10, paragraph 2, Article 11, paragraphs 2 and 7 and Article 12, paragraphs 2 and 6, Belgium exempts from tax such income but may, in calculating the amount of its taxes on the rest of the income of that resident,
(b) Where a Belgian resident receives income elements that are included in his or her overall income subject to Belgian tax and consisting of taxable dividends in accordance with Article 10, paragraph 2, and not exempted from Belgian tax under paragraph (c) below, in taxable interest in accordance with Article 11, paragraph 2 or 7, or in taxable royalties in accordance with Article 12, paragraphs 2 or 6,1a a foreign tax Notwithstanding the provisions of its legislation, Belgium also grants the deduction provided for in this paragraph for taxes which may be collected in Bangladesh on dividends, interests and royalties under the Convention and Bangladeshi legislation, but which are temporarily abandoned in whole or in part under special provisions to promote the economic development of Bangladesh.
(c) Where a corporation that is a resident of Belgium has the ownership of shares or share of a corporation by shares that is a resident of Bangladesh and that is taxable in Bangladesh on its profits, the dividends that are paid to it by the latter corporation and that are taxable in Bangladesh in accordance with Article 10, paragraph 2, are exempted from the tax of the companies in Belgium, to the extent that this exemption would be granted if the two companies were residents of Belgium.
(d) Where, in accordance with Belgian law, losses incurred by a company operated by a Belgian resident in a permanent establishment located in Bangladesh were effectively deducted from the profits of that undertaking for its taxation in Belgium, the exemption provided for in paragraph (a) does not apply in Belgium to the profits of other taxable periods that are attributable to that establishment, to the extent that these profits were also exempted from tax in Bangladesh, as a result
§ 2. In Bangladesh, double taxation is avoided as follows:
Subject to the provisions of Bangladesh's law relating to the imputation on Bangladesh's tax of taxes paid in a territory outside Bangladesh (and which do not affect the general principle of this provision), the tax paid, directly or by deduction, under Belgian law and in accordance with the convention, on the profits, income or taxable gains from sources located in Belgium shall be deducted from any Bangladesh tax established on the same reason
CHAPTER V. - Special provisions
Article 24
Non-discrimination
§ 1. Nationals of a Contracting State shall not be subject in the other Contracting State to any taxation or related obligation which is other or heavier than those to which nationals of that other State are or may be subject in the same situation. This provision also applies, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 1, to persons who are not residents of a Contracting State or both Contracting States.
§ 2. 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.
§ 3. Unless the provisions of Article 9, Article 11, paragraph 7, or Article 12, paragraph 6, are applicable, interest, 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.
§ 4. 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.
§ 5. Nothing in this article shall be construed:
(a) as requiring a Contracting State to grant, to residents of the other Contracting State, personal deductions, deductions and tax reductions based on the situation or family expenses that it grants to its own residents;
(b) as encroaching Belgium:
(i) to impose at the rate provided for in Belgian legislation the total amount of profits attributable to a Belgian permanent establishment of a company that is a resident of Bangladesh or an association with its effective headquarters in Bangladesh;
(ii) to collect the movable pre-payment on the dividends associated with an effective interest in a permanent establishment or fixed base in Belgium that has a corporation that is a resident of Bangladesh or an association with its effective management seat in Bangladesh and that is taxable as a legal entity in Belgium;
c) as affecting the provisions of Bangladesh's tax legislation relating to the establishment of a dependant tax for non-resident persons as such.
§ 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 the person is a resident or, if the case falls under Article 24, paragraph 1, to that of the Contracting State of which the person 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 claim appears to it to be founded and if it is not itself in a position to provide a satisfactory solution, 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 on a case that has been submitted in accordance with the provisions of paragraph I 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 may communicate directly with each other in order to reach an agreement as indicated in the preceding paragraphs or in order to apply the provisions of the Convention.
Rule 26
Exchange of information
§ 1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange the information necessary to implement the provisions of this Convention or those of the domestic legislation of the Contracting States relating to taxation referred to in the Convention to the extent that the taxation it provides is in conformity with the Convention. The exchange of information is not restricted by section 1. 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. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 1 be construed as imposing on a Contracting State the obligation:
(a) take administrative measures derogating from its legislation, administrative 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
Diplomatic and consular officers
§ 1. Nothing in this Convention affects the tax privileges enjoyed by members of a diplomatic mission or consular post under either the general rules of human rights or the provisions of special agreements.
§ 2. For the purposes of the Convention, a natural person who is a member of a diplomatic mission, consular post or permanent mission of a Contracting State located in the other Contracting State or in a third State shall be deemed to be a resident of the accrediting State if it is subject to the same obligations in respect of the taxation of all its global income as the residents of the State are.
§ 3. The Convention does not apply to international organizations, their organs or officials, or to persons who are members of a diplomatic mission, consular post or a permanent mission of a third State, when they are in the territory of a Contracting State and are not subject to the same obligations in respect of the taxation of the totality of their global income as the residents of those States.
Artide 28
Limitation of the effects of the Convention
The provisions of this Convention do not limit the imposition of a corporation that is a resident of Belgium, in accordance with Belgian law, in the event of the redemption of its own shares or on the occasion of the sharing of its social assets.
CHAPTER Vl. - Final provisions
Rule 29
Entry into force
§ 1. This Convention shall be ratified and the instruments of ratification shall be exchanged in Dhaka as soon as possible.
§ 2. The Convention shall enter into force on the thirtieth day of the exchange of instruments of ratification and its provisions shall apply:
(a) in Belgium: in respect of taxes for any taxation year beginning on or after 1^er January of the calendar year immediately following that in which the instruments of ratification were exchanged;
(b) Bangladesh: for any taxation year beginning on or after 1^er July of the calendar year immediately following that during which the instruments of ratification were exchanged.
Rule 30
Denunciation
This Convention shall remain in force until it has been denounced by a Contracting State. Each Contracting State may, until 30 June inclusive of any calendar year from the fifth year following that of the exchange of instruments of ratification, denounce it in writing and through diplomatic channels to the other Contracting State. In this case, the Convention shall cease to apply:
(a) in Belgium: in respect of taxes for any taxation year beginning on or after 1^er January of the calendar year immediately following that in which the denunciation was notified;
(b) Bangladesh: for any taxation year beginning on or after 1^er July of the calendar year immediately following that in which the denunciation was notified.
In faith, the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed this Convention.
Done in Brussels on 18 October 1990, in duplicate, in French, Bengalis, Dutch and English, all texts being equally authentic. The English-language text will be credible in the event of a discrepancy of interpretation.

The exchange of instruments of ratification was carried out in Dhaka on 9 November 1997. In accordance with its article 29, the Convention entered into force on 9 December 1997.