TIEA agreement between Argentina and China

8/3/2019 TIEA agreement between Argentina and China

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AGREEMENTBETWEEN

TH E GOVERNMENT OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLICANDTH E GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF C HINA

FORTHE EXC HAN GE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO TAXES

The Government of the Argentine Republic and the Government of the Peop le' s Repub licof China ("the Contracting Parties"):Acknowledging that the Contract ing Parties are competent to negotiate and conc lude atax informa tion exchange agreement;Desiring to prov ide a framework for cooperation and exchange of information in taxmatters;Agree to conc lud e the Agreement as fo llows:

ARTICLE!SCOPE OF AGREEMENT

1. The Competent Authorities of the Contract ing Parties shall provide assistancethrough exchange of inform ation that is foresceably relevant to the administration andenforcement orl hc domestic laws of the Contracting Parties concerning taxes covered bythis Agreement. Such information sha ll include information that is foreseeably relevant tothe detennination, assessment, verifi ca tion and co llection of such taxes, the recovery andenforcement of tax cla ims, and the investigation or prosecution of tax matters.2. In formation shall be exchanged in accordance with the provisions of thisAgreement and shall be treated as confidentia l in the manner provided in Article 8.

ARTICLE 2JURJSDlCTION

Infonnation to be exchanged shall be provided in accordance with this Agreement by theCompetent Authority of the Requested Party:

(a) without regard to whether the person to whom the information re lates is ares ident, national or citizen of a Party, or whether the person by whom theinfonn ation is held is a res ident, national or c itizen of a Party; and

(b) provided that the infonnation is present within the territory, or in the possessionor control of a person subject to the jurisdiction, of the Requested Party.


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- - - - - - -rARTICLE 3TAXES COVERED

1. The taxes covered by this Agreement are:(a) in the case of the People 's Republic of China, all taxes except customs tariffs;(b) in the case of th e Argentine Republic, ali laxes adminisfered by its CompetentAut hor ity exce pt custom s tariffs.

2. This Agreement shall also apply to any identical or substantiall y similar taxesimposed by ei ther Contracti ng Party after the date of signature of thi s Agreement inaddition to, or in place o f, any of the taxes li sted in paragraph 1.3. The Competent Aut horities of the Contracting Parti es shall notify each other ofany relevant changes to the taxation and related iofonn atioo gather ing measures coveredby th is Agreement.4. The taxes covered by this Agreement may be expanded or mod ified by mutualagreement of the Contracting Parties.

I. In this Agreement:

ARTICLE 4DEHNITIONS

(a) " the People' s Republic of China", when used in a geographica l sense, means allthe territory of th e People 's Republic of China, includi ng its territorial sea, inwhi ch the Chinese laws relati ng to taxation apply, and any area beyond itsterritorial sea, within which the People' s Republic orChina has sovereign rightsof exploration fo r and exploitation of resources of the seabed and its sub-soiland superj acent water resources in accordance with international law and itsdomestic law;(b) "the Argentine Republ ic" means all the territory of the Argen ti ne Republic,within the scope of its sovereignty, encompass ing its continental land; territorialwaters; and, purs uant to Pu bl ic International Law and Argentine legislation, anyarea beyond the territoria l waters, inclu d ing the exclusive economic zone andthe seabed and the sub soil , over which the Argentine Republic exerc ises itscompetence and sovereign rights for the exploration, expl oitat ion andconservation of natural resources;

(c) "Competent Authority" means:(i) in the case of the People 's Republic of China, the State Admin istrat io n ofTaxation or its authorized representatives; and(ii) in the case of the Argentine Republic, the Federal Administrat ion ofPublic Revenues or its authorized representatives;

(d) " in fonnation" means any fact, statemcnt, docum ent or record in whatever foml ,necessary for the adm in istration and cnforcement oftne taxes covered herein;

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(e)

(I)

(g)(h)(i)G)

(k)

(I)(m)(n)

"infonnat ion gathering measurcs" means judicial, regulatory or adm in istrativelaws and procedures enabling a Contracting Party to obtain and provide theinformation requested;"national" means:(i) in relation to the People's Republic of China, any individual possessingthe nationality of the People's Republic of China;( ii) in rela tion to the Argentine Republ ic, any ind ivi dual possessing thenationality of the Argentine Republic;( ii i) any company, partnership or association deriving its status as such fromthe laws in force in a Contracting Party;"person" means an individual , a compan y or any other ent ity that is subject totaxation as defined in the domestic law of each of the Contracting Parties;"company" means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as a bodyco rporate for tax purposes;"co llective investment fund or scheme" means any pooled investment vehicle,irrespective o f its legal fonn;"public collective investment fun d o r scheme" means any co llective in vestmentfund or scheme in which the purchase, sale or redemption o f share s or otherinterests is not implici tly or exp licitly rest ricted to a limited gro up of investors;"publicly traded company" means any company whose principal class of sharesis listed on a recognised stock exchange prov ided its listed shares can be readilypurchased or sold by the public. Shares can be purchased or sold "by the public"if the purchase or sale of shares is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to alimited group of investors; and for this purpose , the term "principal class ofshares" means the class or classes of shares representing a majority of the vot in gpower and value of the company. For the purposes of this sub-paragraph theterm "recognised stock exchange" means:(i) in the People 's Republic of China:the Shanghai Stock Exchange or the Shenzhen Stock Exchange;( ii) in the Argentine Republic:

the Bo lsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires or the Mercado de Valores deBuenos Aires Soc iedad "n6nima;(iii) any other Stock Exchange which the Competent Au thorities agrec torecognize for the purposes of this sub-paragraph ;

"Requested Party" means the Party to this Agreement wh ich is requested toprov ide or has provided in formation in response to a request;"Requesting Party" means the Party to this Agreement submitting a request foror having received information from the Requested Party;"tax" means any tax covered by thi s AgreemenL

2. As regards the a pplication of this Agreement at any time by a Contracting Party,any term not defined therein shall , unlcss the context otherw ise requires, have themeaning that it has at that time un der the law of that Contrac ting Party, any meaningunder the appl icable tax laws of that Contracting Party prevail ing over a meaning givento the term under other laws of that Contracting Party.

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ARTICLESEXCHANGE OF INFORMATION UPON REQUESTI . The Competent Authori ty or he Requested Party sha ll provide upon request inWTiting in formation for the purposes referred (0 in Article I . Such information shall beexchan ged without regard to whether the conduct being investigated woul d constitute atax offence under the laws of th e Requested Party i f such conduct occurred in theterritory of th e Requested Party. If the information received by the Competent Authorityof the Requested Party is not sufficient to enable it to compl y with th e request forinfonnation , it shall advise the Competent Authority of the Request ing Party of that factand request such additional infonnation as may be required to enable th e effectiveprocessing o f the reques t.2. [rthe inform ation in the possession of th e Comp etent Author ity of the RequestedParty is not sufficient to enable it to compl y with the request for th e in fo rmation. theReq uested Party shall use all relevant information ga th erin g measures to provide theRequesting Party with the inform ation requested. notw ithstanding that the RequestedParty may not need such inform ation for its own tax purposes.3. If specifica lly requ es ted by the Compctent Authority of the Requesting Party, theCompetent Authority of the Requested Party shall provide information under this Article.to the extent allowable under its domestic laws, in th e form of depositions of witnc!>sesand authenticated copies of orig inal records.4. Each Contractin g Party sha ll ensure th at its Compe tent Auth ority. for thepurposes of thi s Agreement. has the authority to obtain and provide upon request:

(a) information held by banks, oth er fin anc ial institutions, and any person,including nominees and trustees, acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity;(b) inform ation rega rding the own ership of companies, partnerships, trusts,foundations and other persons, including, within the constraints of Article 2,own ership info rm ation on all such persons in an ownership chain ; in the case oftrusts, information on settlors, trustees and be neficiaries, and where appli cable,those person s to wh om the trust property ti tle is transferred at the ex piration ofthe trust; an d in the case of foundations, informatio n on fo unders, members ofthe foundation council and beneficiaries.

5. Notwithstand ing the preceding paragraph s, th is Agreement does not create anobligation on the Contractin g Parties to obtain or provide own ership information withrespect to publicly traded companies or publ ic collective investment fu nds or schemes,unl ess su ch inform atio n can be obtained without giving ri se to di sproportionatedifficulties.6. 'The Competent Authority of the Requesting Party shall provide the fo llowinginformation to th e Comp etent Authority of the Requ ested Party w hen making a request

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for info rm ation under this Agreement in order to demonstrate the foreseeable relevanceof the information to the request:(a) the identity of the person or persons under exam inat ion, inspect ion orinvestigation;(b) the period for which the infonnation is requested;(c) the nature and type of the in formation requested, includ ing a description of the

information and lor specific evidence sought, and the form in which theRequesting Party wou ld prefer to rece ive the information;(d) the tax purposes for whi ch the in formation is sought ;(c) grounds for believing lhat the information requested is present in the territory of

the Requested !)arty or is in the possession or control of a person subject 10 theju ri sdiction or the Requested Party;(f) to the extent known, the name and address of any person bel ieved to be inpossession or control of he information requested;(g) a statement that the request is in confonnity w ith this Agreement and the lawsand administrative practices of the Requesting Party. and that if the requestedinform ation were w ith in the jurisdiction of th e Request ing Party then theCompetent Authority of the Requesting Party would be able to obta in thein formation under the laws of the Requestin g Party or in the norm al cou rse ofadministrative practice;

(h) a statement that the Requesting Party has pursued all means avai lable in its ownterritory to obtain the information, except those that would give rise todi sproportionate difficu lt ies.

7. The Competent Authority of the Requested Party shall forward the req uestedinformation as promptly as poss ible to the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party.To ensure a prompt response, the Competent Authority of h e Requested Party shall:

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ARTICLE 6 -11,TAX EXAMINATIONS OR INVESTIGATIONS ABROAD1. The Requested Party may, in accordance with its domestic laws, followingreceipt of notice oCa reasonable time from the Requesting Party. a llow representatives ofthe Competent Authority of the Requesti ng Party to enter the territory of the RequestedParty in connection with a request to interview persons and exam ine records with theprior written consent of the persons concerned. The Competent Authorities of theContracting Parties shall agree on the time and place of the intend ed meeting with thepersons concern ed.2. At the request of the Competent Authority of th e Requesting Party. and inaccordance with its domestic laws, th e Competent Authority of the Requested Party maypermit representati ves of the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party to be prescntat the tax examination in the territory of the Requested Party.3. If th e request referred to in paragraph 2 is granted, the Competent Authority ofthe Requested Party conducting the examination shall. as soon as possible, notify theCompetent Authority of the Requesting Party of the time and pl ace of th e examination,the authority or person authorised to carry Oll t the examination and th e procedures andconditions required by th e Requested Party for th e conduct of the examination. Alldecisions regarding the conduct of the examination shall be made by th e Requested Partyconducting the exam ination in accordance with its domestic laws.

L(3)(b)

(c)

ARTICLE 7POSSIBILITY OF DECLININGA REQUEST

The Competent Authority of the Requested Party may decline to assist:where the request is not made in confonnity with this Agreement;where the Requesting Party has not pursued all means available in its ownterritory to obtain the information, except where recourse to such means wo uldgive rise to di sproportionate difficulty; orwhere the di sclosure of the infonnation requested would be contrary to thepubl ic pol icy (ordre public) ofthe Requested Party.

2. Th is Agreement shall not im pose upon a Contract ing Party any obligation toprovide information whi ch would di sclose any trade, busin ess, industrial, commercial orprofessional secret or trade process. Information described in paragraph 4 of Article 5shall not by reason of hat fact alone constitute such a secret or process.3. A request for in format ion shaH not be refused on th e ground that the tax liabi litygiving rise to th e request is di sputed by the taxpayer.

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4. The Requested Party shall not be required to obtain and provide informationwhich, i f the requested information was within the jurisdiction of the Requesting Party.the Competent Authority of the Requesting Party wou ld not be able to obtain under itslaws or in the normal course of administrative practice.5. The Requested Party may decline a request for infonnation if the info rm ation isrequested by the Requesting Party to administer or enforce a provision of the tax law ofth e Request ing Party, or any requirement connected therewith, wh ich discriminatesagainst a national of the Requested Party as compared with a nati onal of the Request ingParty in the same circumstances.

ARTICLE 8CONFIDENTIALITY1. All infonnation provided and received by the Competent Authorities of theContracting Parties shall be trea ted as confidential in the same manner as informationobtained under its domestic legislation; or according to the confidentiality conditionsapplicable in the jurisdiction of the Contracting Party that provides such information ifthe lalter conditions are more restrict ive and shall be disclosed only to persons orauthorities (including courts and adm inistrative bodies) in the jurisdiction of theContracting Parties officially concerned with the purposes specified in Article I and usedby such persons or authorities only for such purposes, including the determination of anyappeal. For these purposes, information may be disclosed in public court proceed ings orin judicial proceedings.2. The informati on may not be used for an y purpose other than for the purposesstated in Article I and may not be disclosed to any other person or ent ity or authority orany other jurisdiction without the express written consent of the Competent Au thority ofthe Requested Party.

ARTICLE 9SAFEGUARDSThe rights and safeguard s secured to persons by the laws or administrative practices ofthe Req uested Party remain applicable. The Requested Party sha ll use its best endeavoursto ensure lhat the effective exchange of information is not unduly prevented or delayed.

ARTICLE 10ADMINISTRATIVE COSTSUnless the Competent Authoriti es of the Parties othen.vise agree, ordinary costs incurredin providing assistance shall be borne by the Requested Party, and extraordinary costs inproviding ass istance (in cl uding costs of engag ing ex terna l advisors in connection withlitigation or otherwise) shall be borne by the Req uesting Party. The respective CompetentAuthorities shall consult from time to t ime with regard to thi s Article, and in particu larthe Competent Authority of the Requested Party shall consult with the Competent

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Authonty of the Requesting Party In advance I f the costs of providing information withrespect to a specific req uest are expected to be significant.ARTICLE IILANGUAGES

Requests fo r assistance and responses thereto shall be in English.ARTICLE 12MUTUALAGREEMENT PROCEDURE

I. Where difficulties or doubts or controversies arise between the Contract ingParties regarding the implementation or interpretation of this Agreement., the respectiveCompetent Authorities shaH use thei r best efforts to resolve the matter by mutualagreement.2. In addition to the endeavours referred to in paragraph t, the CompetentAuthorities of the Contracting Part ies may mutually determi ne the procedures to be usedunder Articles 5 and 6 as we ll as those ma tters related to costs covered under Article 10he rei n.3. The Competent Authorities of the Contracting Parties may communicate witheach other directly for the purposes of this Agreement.4. The Contracting Parties may also agree in writing on other forms of di sputeresolution.

ARTICLE 13ENTRY INTO FORCEThe Contracting Parties sha ll notify each other in writ ing that they have completed theinternal legal procedures necessary for the entry into force of thi s Agreement. ThisAgreement shall enter into force on the thi rtieth day upon receipt of the latter notification.Thi s Agreement shall have effect in respect of taxable years beginning on or after thedate of entry into force.

ARTICLE 14TERMINATION1. This Agreement shall remain in force unti l terminated by either ContractingParty through a written communication sent to the other Contract ing Party via dipl omaticchan nel.

,!fIriI!t,lIItIII!III r 2. Such termination shall become effective on the first day of the month fo llowing IIthe expiration of a period of six months after the date of receipt of notice of termination

by the other Contract ing Party. I:I:11.1= = = = = =====8=========1;


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3. If this Agreement is tenn inated, the Contracting Parties sha ll remain bound bythe provisions of Article 8 with respect to any information obtained under this Agreement.Ali requests rece ived up to the effective date of termination sha ll he dealt with inaccordance with the tenns oft his Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the un dersigned, being du ly authorised by the respectiveContracting Parties, have signed th is Agreement.

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TIEA agreement between Argentina and China