{ "_comment": "US income tax treaty partners. Entity list and IRS document URLs from the IRS 'United States income tax treaties - A to Z' index, 2026-09-15. General effective years of each treaty and of its latest protocol (NOT entry-into-force or signing years: Table 3 lists the date a treaty starts applying, usually January 1 after it enters into force), and suspension status from IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties, updated through 2025-09-26. Withholding rates and article numbers are NOT collected yet and stay null: IRS Table 1 carries them with footnote letters that encode ownership thresholds and other conditions, so a rate lifted from it without its footnote is the 'a rate that varies is not one rate' error the contract warns about. 'United States Model' is on the IRS A-to-Z index but is a model document, not a partner, and is excluded.", "collectedAt": "2026-09-15", "count": 68, "treaties": [ { "country": "Armenia", "slug": "armenia", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/armenia-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1987", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "Armenia has no treaty of its own. The U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty, in force since 1987, applies (IRS Table 3, footnote 6).", "governedBy": "U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty", "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Australia", "slug": "australia", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/australia-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1983", "latestProtocolEffective": "2004", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": { "documentsRead": [ { "title": "Convention (signed Sydney, August 6, 1982)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/aus.pdf", "inForce": "1983" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 1982 Convention", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/austtech.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Protocol amending the Convention (signed Canberra, September 27, 2001)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Australia-Protocol-9-27-2001.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 2001 Protocol (dated March 5, 2003)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Australia-Protocol-TE-3-5-2003.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 1, Tax Rates on Income Other Than Personal Service Income (Rev. May 2023), cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/tax-treaty-table-1.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties (updated through September 26, 2025), cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Publication 901, U.S. Tax Treaties (Rev. September 2024), cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p901.pdf", "inForce": null } ], "withholding": { "dividends": { "general": 15, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "a company that directly holds at least 10% of the voting power of the company paying the dividend (not available on dividends from a US RIC or REIT)", "article": "10(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a company resident in the other country that has owned shares with 80% or more of the voting power of the paying company for the 12 months ending on the date the dividend is declared, and that either is listed and regularly traded on a recognized stock exchange (or at least 50% owned by five or fewer such listed companies) or is granted the benefit by the competent authority (not available on dividends from a US RIC or REIT)", "article": "10(3)" } ], "article": "10(2)(b)", "setBy": "Article 10 as substituted in full by Article 6 of the 2001 protocol (the 1982 text had a single 15% rate)", "note": "Dividends from a US regulated investment company (RIC) get 15%. Dividends from a US real estate investment trust (REIT) get 15% only if the owner is an individual holding no more than 10% of the REIT, holds no more than 5% of a publicly traded class, or holds no more than 10% of a diversified REIT; otherwise the treaty sets no cap, Article 10(4). REIT dividends paid to a listed Australian property trust get 15%, with a look-through for its unitholders owning 5% or more, Article 10(4)(d), and REIT shares the trust held on March 26, 2001 are grandfathered at 15% (protocol Article 13(3)). The branch profits tax is capped at 5%, Article 10(8) and (9)." }, "interest": { "general": 10, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 0, "who": "either government, a political subdivision or local authority, any other body exercising governmental functions, or a central bank", "article": "11(3)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a financial institution (a bank or other business that raises money in financial markets or takes deposits and uses it to provide finance) that is unrelated to and dealing wholly independently with the payer, unless the interest is paid under a back-to-back loan or an economically equivalent arrangement, which is taxed at up to 10% under Article 11(4)(a)", "article": "11(3)(b)" }, { "rate": 15, "who": "interest whose amount is determined by reference to the profits of the payer or an associated enterprise", "article": "11(9)(a)" } ], "article": "11(2)", "setBy": "Article 11 as substituted in full by Article 7 of the 2001 protocol (the 10% rate carries over from the 1982 text; the exemptions in 11(3) are new)", "note": "The 0% rates are for governments, central banks and unrelated financial institutions, not for individuals. Interest on ownership interests in a securitization vehicle, to the extent it exceeds a normal return on comparable publicly traded debt, may be taxed under each country's domestic law with no treaty cap, Article 11(9)(b). Article 1(2) keeps any more favorable domestic-law exemption available, so the treaty rate is a ceiling." }, "royalties": { "general": 5, "byType": false, "tiers": [], "article": "12(2)", "setBy": "base treaty Article 12(2) as amended by Article 8(a) of the 2001 protocol, which replaced 10% with 5%", "note": "The protocol removed rentals of industrial, commercial or scientific equipment from the royalty definition (Article 12(4)(a) as substituted by protocol Article 8(b)), so the 5% rate no longer applies to them. The Treasury technical explanation treats them as business profits, taxable at source only through a permanent establishment." } }, "tieBreaker": { "article": "4(2)", "tests": [ "where you maintain your permanent home, looking at where you live with your family", "if you have a permanent home in both countries or in neither, where you have a habitual abode", "if you have a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, where your personal and economic relations are closer, with your citizenship of one of the two countries taken into account" ] }, "savingClause": { "article": "1(3)", "summary": "Each country may tax its own residents, and the United States its citizens, as if the treaty did not exist; for US-source income this also reaches a former US citizen or long-term resident who gave up that status with tax avoidance as one of the principal purposes, for 10 years afterward (long-term residents added by Article 1 of the 2001 protocol).", "exceptions": "Article 1(4) keeps for everyone the benefits of Article 9(2), Article 18(2) (social security and public pensions) and 18(6) (alimony and child support), Article 22, Article 23, Article 24 and Article 27(1); it keeps Articles 19 (government pay), 20 (students) and 26 (diplomats) only for people who are not US citizens or green card holders (for US benefits) or not ordinarily resident in Australia (for Australian benefits)." }, "pensions": { "article": "18(1)", "summary": "A pension for past employment, meaning periodic payments on retirement or death, paid to a resident of one country is taxable only in that country of residence, and annuities are likewise taxable only where the recipient lives (Article 18(3)); a government-service pension paid to a citizen of the paying country falls under Article 19 instead. Because 18(1) is not a saving-clause exception, the United States can still tax its citizens living in Australia on these pensions." }, "socialSecurity": { "article": "18(2)", "summary": "Social security and other public pensions paid by one country to a resident of the other country, or to a US citizen wherever they live, are taxable only by the paying country, so US Social Security received by a resident of Australia is taxed only by the United States and Australian public pensions received by a US resident or US citizen are taxed only by Australia. This rule is an exception to the saving clause, so it applies to US citizens too." }, "students": { "article": "20", "summary": "A student who is, or was immediately before the visit, a resident of one country and is temporarily in the other for full-time education is exempt in the host country on payments from sources outside the host country for maintenance or education. The article sets no time limit and covers only those outside payments." }, "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "corrections": [ { "field": "savingClause.summary", "was": "including a former US citizen or long-term resident who gave up that status mainly to avoid tax, for 10 years afterward", "now": "for US-source income this also reaches a former US citizen or long-term resident who gave up that status with tax avoidance as one of the principal purposes, for 10 years afterward", "evidence": "Article 1(3) of the 1982 Convention: the former-citizen rule applies 'with respect to United States source income' where loss of citizenship 'had as one of its principal purposes the avoidance of tax'; protocol Article 1 adds long-term residents. 'Mainly' overstated the test and the US-source limit was missing." }, { "field": "pensions.summary", "was": "government-service pensions fall under Article 19 instead", "now": "a government-service pension paid to a citizen of the paying country falls under Article 19 instead (plus the Article 18(4) meaning of pension: periodic payments on retirement or death)", "evidence": "Article 19 covers pay, including pensions, for governmental functions paid 'to a citizen of that State'; the 1982 technical explanation says remuneration paid to a non-citizen resident of the employing State is decided under Articles 14, 15, 17 or 18. Article 18(4) defines pensions as periodic payments." }, { "field": "socialSecurity.summary", "was": "Australian public pensions paid to a US resident or to a US citizen living in Australia are taxed only by Australia", "now": "Australian public pensions received by a US resident or US citizen are taxed only by Australia (US citizen wherever they live)", "evidence": "Article 18(2) covers payments to 'a resident of the other Contracting State or a citizen of the United States' with no residence limit; 1982 technical explanation, Article 1: social security payments by Australia 'to a citizen of the United States, wherever resident, are taxable only in Australia'. The collected wording was true but narrower than the text." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends (0% tier condition)", "was": "meets the publicly traded test of Article 16(2)(c)", "now": "is listed and regularly traded on a recognized stock exchange (or at least 50% owned by five or fewer such listed companies) or is granted the benefit by the competent authority", "evidence": "Article 16(2)(c)(i) and (ii) as substituted by protocol Article 10; Article 10(3)(a) and (b) as substituted by protocol Article 6. 16(2)(c) includes the subsidiary-of-listed-companies test, not only a listing test." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends.note", "was": "The RIC and REIT rules name US vehicles, so that part is one-directional.", "now": "removed; the note describes the RIC and REIT limits as applying to US RICs and REITs without claiming the article is one-directional", "evidence": "Article 10(4) as substituted by protocol Article 6 does not state that it applies in one direction only; the protocol technical explanation describes the rules as 'consistent with U.S. treaty policy' but does not say they cannot apply the other way. The claim went beyond the text." }, { "field": "withholding.royalties.note", "was": "those payments are business profits taxable at source only through a permanent establishment", "now": "the Treasury technical explanation treats them as business profits, taxable at source only through a permanent establishment", "evidence": "The treaty text only removes equipment from the royalty definition (protocol Article 8(b)); the business-profits consequence is stated in the protocol technical explanation, Article 8. IRS Table 1 footnote u notes that passive equipment leasing outside a trade or business falls under the other-income article instead, which here (Article 21(3) as substituted by protocol Article 11) lets the source country tax. Attributed the statement to its source rather than stating it as treaty text." }, { "field": "withholding.interest (tiers)", "was": "back-to-back loans and contingent interest described only in note", "now": "contingent interest at 15% is a tier under 11(9)(a); the back-to-back 10% rate is stated within the financial-institution tier because it equals the general rate", "evidence": "Article 11(4)(a) and 11(9)(a) as substituted by protocol Article 7. Schema requires every other rate the article sets to be a tier." }, { "field": "note", "was": "the saving clause still lets the United States tax a citizen living in Australia on worldwide income", "now": "the saving clause still lets the United States tax a citizen living in Australia as if the treaty did not exist, apart from the Article 1(4) exceptions", "evidence": "Article 1(3) and 1(4). 'Worldwide income' is a US domestic-law gloss not in the treaty, and the unqualified statement omitted the carve-outs, including 18(2)." } ], "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "Tie-breaker order: permanent home, habitual abode, then personal and economic relations, with citizenship only a factor and no mutual-agreement step.", "resolution": "Confirmed word for word. Article 4(2)(a) permanent home; (b) habitual abode if a permanent home in both or neither; (c) closer personal and economic relations if a habitual abode in both or neither. The paragraph numbered (3) says regard is given to where the individual dwells with family and, for closer relations, to citizenship. Article 4 has no mutual-agreement step; Article 24(2)(e) lets competent authorities agree on the closer-relations question, and the 1982 technical explanation says they will attempt to settle unresolved cases. The 2001 protocol did not amend Article 4(2).", "evidence": "1982 Convention Article 4(2), 4(3), 24(2)(e); 1982 technical explanation, Article 4; protocol Article 3 amends only Article 4(1)(b)." }, { "question": "Interest: general 10% and the 0% financial-institution tier's conditions.", "resolution": "Confirmed. 10% in Article 11(2); 0% for governments and central banks, 11(3)(a), and for a financial institution unrelated to and dealing wholly independently with the payer, 11(3)(b), with 'financial institution' defined in the same sub-paragraph; back-to-back loans or economic equivalents may be taxed at up to 10%, 11(4)(a). IRS Table 1 cites 11(2)/P7 at 10% with footnote nn describing the exemptions.", "evidence": "Protocol Article 7 (substituted Article 11); protocol technical explanation, Article 7; IRS Table 1 (May 2023)." }, { "question": "Royalties 5% after the protocol.", "resolution": "Confirmed. Protocol Article 8(a) omits '10' and substitutes '5' in Article 12(2). The 1982 text read 10 percent. IRS Table 1 shows 5 at 12(2)/P8.", "evidence": "1982 Convention Article 12(2); protocol Article 8(a); IRS Table 1 (May 2023)." }, { "question": "Social security under 18(2) taxable only by the paying country, and whether that overrides the saving clause for US citizens.", "resolution": "Confirmed. Article 1(4)(a) lists paragraph (2) of Article 18 among benefits the saving clause does not affect, with no citizenship limit (unlike 1(4)(b)). The 1982 technical explanation says the reference to US citizens ensures an Australian social security payment to a US citizen resident in Australia is taxable only in Australia, and that the exemption is excepted from the saving clause. The protocol did not amend Article 1(4) or Article 18.", "evidence": "1982 Convention Articles 1(4)(a) and 18(2); 1982 technical explanation, Articles 1 and 18." }, { "question": "Collector openQuestion 1: protocol entry-into-force date not stated; data/tax-treaties.json latestProtocol is \"2004\".", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. None of the four treaty documents states the protocol's entry-into-force date; the protocol takes effect for withholding on the later of the first day of the second month after entry into force or July 1, 2003 (protocol Article 13(2)), and IRS Table 3 lists its general effective date as Jan. 1, 2004. The protocol's documentsRead inForce stays null. The 1982 Convention's inForce of 1983 is confirmed (entered into force October 31, 1983). latestProtocol was collected earlier from Table 3 and is outside this pass.", "evidence": "Protocol Article 13(2); IRS Table 3 (through September 26, 2025); proclamation page of the 1982 Convention." }, { "question": "Collector openQuestion 2: Article 29(2) lets either country terminate Article 18(2) by diplomatic notice; has that happened?", "resolution": "Settled as not terminated on the available primary record. IRS Table 3, current through September 26, 2025, footnotes every suspension and partial suspension it knows of (Russia, Belarus) and carries no footnote for Australia; IRS Table 1 (May 2023) still cites Article 18(2) for US social security paid to Australian residents. No IRS or Treasury document read mentions a termination notice. The socialSecurity field stands.", "evidence": "1982 Convention Article 29(2); IRS Table 3 footnotes 7 and 8; IRS Table 1 social security column, Australia row." }, { "question": "Collector openQuestion 3: whether Australian superannuation payments fall under Article 18(1), 18(3) or elsewhere.", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. No published summary mentions superannuation, and the treaty and both technical explanations do not name it. Not resolved here, and no Australian domestic law was brought in; the page must not characterize superannuation from this record.", "evidence": "1982 Convention Article 18(4) and 18(5) definitions; neither technical explanation mentions superannuation." }, { "question": "tie-breaker steps rewritten to house style", "resolution": "re-read Article 4 and confirmed order and conditions", "evidence": "Article 4(2) and 4(3) of the 1982 Convention (irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/aus.pdf); Article 3 of the 2001 protocol amends only Article 4(1)(b)." } ], "note": "Three things readers get wrong. First, the dividend rate is not one number: 15% for individuals, 5% for a company holding 10% of the voting power, and 0% for an 80%-owned subsidiary meeting a 12-month holding period and a stock-exchange or competent-authority test, all set by the 2001 protocol, which also cut royalties from 10% to 5% and added interest exemptions that cover governments and unrelated financial institutions, not individuals, who still face up to 10%. Second, the residence tie-breaker runs permanent home, then habitual abode, then closer personal and economic relations, putting habitual abode ahead of the closer-ties test, with citizenship only a factor in that last test; since the protocol a US citizen is also treated as a US resident unless resident in a third country under that country's own tax treaty with Australia (Article 4(1)(b)(ii)), but the saving clause still lets the United States tax a citizen living in Australia as if the treaty did not exist, apart from the Article 1(4) exceptions. Third, social security is taxed only by the paying country, so US Social Security received by someone living in Australia stays taxable by the United States, not Australia.", "collectedAt": "2026-09-15" } }, { "country": "Austria", "slug": "austria", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/austria-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1999", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Azerbaijan", "slug": "azerbaijan", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/azerbaijan-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1987", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "Azerbaijan has no treaty of its own. The U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty, in force since 1987, applies (IRS Table 3, footnote 6).", "governedBy": "U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty", "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Bangladesh", "slug": "bangladesh", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/bangladesh-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2007", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Barbados", "slug": "barbados", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/barbados-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1984", "latestProtocolEffective": "2005", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Belarus", "slug": "belarus", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/belarus-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1987", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "Belarus has no treaty of its own. The U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty, in force since 1987, applies (IRS Table 3, footnote 6). Operation of Article III(1)(g) is suspended by mutual agreement from 2024-12-17 until 2026-12-31 or earlier if the two governments decide.", "governedBy": "U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty", "status": "partially-suspended", "articles": null, "suspensionScope": "one article of the US-USSR treaty, Article III(1)(g), scheduled to run until 2026-12-31" }, { "country": "Belgium", "slug": "belgium", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/belgium-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2008", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Bulgaria", "slug": "bulgaria", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/bulgaria-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2009", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Canada", "slug": "canada", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/canada-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1985", "latestProtocolEffective": "2009", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": { "documentsRead": [ { "title": "IRS Canada tax treaty documents page", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/canada-tax-treaty-documents", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Convention (signed 26 September 1980), in the IRS compilation 'Income Tax Treaty and Protocols 1, 2, 3, and 4'", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/canada.pdf", "inForce": "1985" }, { "title": "Protocol 1 (signed 14 June 1983), same IRS compilation; ratified with the Convention", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/canada.pdf", "inForce": "1985" }, { "title": "Protocol 2 (signed 28 March 1984), same IRS compilation; ratified with the Convention", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/canada.pdf", "inForce": "1985" }, { "title": "Protocol 3 (signed 17 March 1995), same IRS compilation; general effective date per IRS Table 3", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/canada.pdf", "inForce": "1996" }, { "title": "Protocol 4 (signed 29 July 1997), same IRS compilation; entered into force 16 December 1997 per IRS Table 3 footnote 5", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/canada.pdf", "inForce": "1997" }, { "title": "Protocol 5 (signed at Chelsea 21 September 2007), Treasury text; general effective date per IRS Table 3", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Canada-Pr2-9-21-2007.pdf", "inForce": "2009" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the Convention as amended by the 1983 and 1984 Protocols, with the Technical Explanations of Protocols 3 (1995) and 4 (1997)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/canatech.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 2007 Protocol", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Canada-Pr2-TE-9-21-2007.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Tax Treaty Table 1 (Rev. May 2023), cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/tax-treaty-table-1.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties (updated through 26 September 2025), protocol dates only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Publication 597 (Rev. October 2015), cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p597.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Publication 915, cross-check on social security paid to US citizens living in Canada", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p915.pdf", "inForce": null } ], "withholding": { "dividends": { "general": 15, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "a company that owns at least 10% of the voting stock of the company paying the dividends (voting stock held through a fiscally transparent entity counts in proportion to the company's share of that entity)", "article": "X(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 10, "who": "a US company that owns at least 10% of the voting stock of a Canadian non-resident-owned investment corporation paying the dividends (Canada's ceiling on those dividends)", "article": "X(7)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a religious, scientific, literary, educational or charitable organization resident in the other country, only to the extent the income is tax-exempt there, and not on income from a business or from a related person", "article": "XXI(1)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a pension, retirement or employee-benefit trust, company or arrangement resident in the other country, generally tax-exempt there and operated only to provide those benefits, but not on income from a business or from a related person", "article": "XXI(2)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a tax-exempt trust, company or arrangement resident in the other country that is operated only to earn income for a qualifying charity or pension organization, but not on income from a business or from a related person", "article": "XXI(3)" } ], "article": "X(2)(b)", "setBy": "15% is the 1980 Convention, X(2)(b), never amended. The 5% corporate rate was set by the 1995 Protocol (Article 5(1), replacing 10%) and restated by the 2007 Protocol (Article 5(1)). The 10% NRO rule is the 1995 Protocol (Article 5(2)). The 0% rates for exempt organizations are Article XXI as replaced by the 2007 Protocol (Article 16).", "note": "Dividends from a US Regulated Investment Company always take the 15% rate, even for a company holding 10% or more of the voting stock (X(7)(b)). Dividends from a US REIT never take 5%. They take 15% in only three cases (X(7)(c), as replaced by the 2007 Protocol): the owner is an individual holding no more than 10% of the REIT; the dividends are paid on a publicly traded class of stock and the owner holds no more than 5% of any class of the REIT's stock; or the REIT is diversified and the owner holds no more than 10% of it. In any other case the US domestic rate applies. Separately from dividends, a country may charge a branch profits tax of up to 5% on a permanent establishment's earnings (X(6)). The REIT, RIC and NRO rules run in one direction only. The other ceilings apply the same way in both countries." }, "interest": { "general": 0, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 15, "who": "US-source contingent interest of a type that does not qualify as portfolio interest under US law, paid to a resident of Canada", "article": "XI(6)(a)" }, { "rate": 15, "who": "Canadian-source interest paid to a US resident that is worked out by reference to the receipts, sales, income, profits or other cash flow of the debtor or a related person, a change in the value of their property, or a dividend or partnership distribution the debtor pays to a related person", "article": "XI(6)(b)" } ], "article": "XI(1)", "setBy": "2007 Protocol, Article 6, which replaced Article XI in full. The Convention set 15% and the 1995 Protocol cut it to 10%. The 2007 Protocol's transitional 7% and 4% rates for related-party interest (Article 27(3)(d)) applied only during the first two calendar years ending after it entered into force and have expired.", "note": "The 15% in both tiers is the treaty's general dividend rate, which XI(6) borrows. An excess inclusion on a residual interest in a REMIC (real estate mortgage investment conduit) may be taxed under each country's own law with no treaty cap (XI(6)(c)). The exemption does not cover interest connected with a permanent establishment in the source country (XI(3)), or the part of related-party interest above an arm's-length amount (XI(5))." }, "royalties": { "general": null, "byType": true, "tiers": [ { "rate": 0, "who": "copyright royalties and similar payments for producing or reproducing a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, but not films or works on film, videotape or other reproduction for television", "article": "XII(3)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "payments for the use of, or the right to use, computer software", "article": "XII(3)(b)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "payments for the use of a patent or of know-how (information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience), except information provided under a rental or franchise agreement", "article": "XII(3)(c)" }, { "rate": 10, "who": "every other royalty, including films and television works, trademarks, know-how provided under a rental or franchise agreement, and payments for the use of equipment or other tangible property", "article": "XII(2)" } ], "article": "XII(2) and XII(3)", "setBy": "10% is the 1980 Convention, XII(2), never amended. The 0% list in XII(3) was set by the 1995 Protocol, Article 7(1). The 2007 Protocol amended only XII(5), XII(6)(a) and XII(8), not either rate.", "note": "The rate depends on what is licensed, so there is no single rate for an individual. An author's or musician's copyright royalties, software payments, patent payments and know-how payments are exempt at source. Film, television and trademark royalties can be taxed at up to 10%. XII(3)(d) also lets the two governments add broadcasting payments to the 0% list by an exchange of notes. No such exchange appears in the IRS or Treasury documents, so broadcasting is not shown as exempt here. The article works the same way in both directions." } }, "tieBreaker": { "article": "IV(2)", "tests": [ "where you have a permanent home available to you", "if you have a permanent home available to you in both countries or in neither, where your personal and economic ties are closer (your centre of vital interests)", "if that centre cannot be determined, where you have a habitual abode", "if you have a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, the country you are a citizen of", "if you are a citizen of both countries or of neither, the two tax authorities settle it by mutual agreement" ] }, "savingClause": { "article": "XXIX(2)", "summary": "Apart from the exceptions listed below, the treaty does not change how each country taxes its own residents, or how the United States taxes its citizens. So a US citizen living in Canada is still taxed by the US as if there were no treaty. The US may also tax a former US citizen or former long-term resident on US-source income for ten years after that person loses the status.", "exceptions": "Some promises survive the saving clause, and XXIX(3)(a) lists them. Each country must still apply them, even to its own residents and even to US citizens. From the pensions article the survivors are XVIII(1), (3), (4), (5), (6)(b), (7), (8), (10) and (13), which is where the social security rule sits. Whole articles on the list are XIX (Government Service), XXI (Exempt Organizations), XXIV (Elimination of Double Taxation), XXV (Non-Discrimination) and XXVI (Mutual Agreement Procedure). The list also picks up a few narrower paragraphs in Articles IX, XIII, XXIX, XXIX B and XXX. The Students article is handled separately: under XXIX(3)(b) it survives only for people who are neither citizens of the taxing country nor hold immigrant status there." }, "pensions": { "article": "XVIII(1) and XVIII(2)(a)", "summary": "A pension from one country paid to someone living in the other may be taxed where the retiree lives. That country must exempt any part of the pension that the paying country would leave out of taxable income if the retiree lived there. The paying country may also tax it, but no more than 15% of the gross amount of each periodic payment, and only where the retiree is the beneficial owner. A payment that is not periodic, such as a lump sum, does not get that cap. The 15% cap is not on the saving clause exception list, so it does not limit US tax on a US citizen living in Canada." }, "socialSecurity": { "article": "XVIII(5)", "summary": "Social security benefits are taxed only by the country where the recipient lives. US Social Security paid to someone living in Canada is taxed only by Canada, which treats it like a Canada Pension Plan benefit and exempts 15% of it. A Canadian benefit paid to someone living in the US is taxed only by the US, which treats it like a US Social Security benefit, except that a type of benefit Canada does not tax when it pays it to its own residents is exempt from US tax too. This rule is an exception to the saving clause, so a US citizen living in Canada owes no US tax on US Social Security." }, "students": { "article": "XX", "summary": "You are covered if you are a student, apprentice or business trainee, you live in the other country or lived there right before the visit, and you are in the host country for full-time education or full-time training. The host country does not tax the payments you receive for your maintenance, education or training, as long as those payments come from outside that country. For an apprentice or business trainee the article runs for no more than one year from the date you first arrive for the training." }, "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "note": [ "One dividend rate does not cover everyone. Individuals and portfolio investors face 15%. The 5% rate is only for a company that owns at least 10% of the voting stock, and REIT and mutual fund (RIC) dividends follow their own rules.", "The interest rate people quote is often out of date. The 1980 Convention set 15% and the 1995 Protocol cut it to 10%. Since the 2007 Protocol most cross-border interest is exempt at source, and 15% is left only for certain contingent or profit-linked interest.", "Royalties are not all taxed at 10%. Book, music, software, patent and know-how royalties are exempt at source. Film, TV and trademark royalties are the ones capped at 10%.", "The US does not tax the Social Security it pays to its own citizens living in Canada. The social security rule is an exception to the saving clause, so only Canada taxes that benefit. The 15% pension cap is not an exception, so it does not protect US citizens the same way." ], "corrections": [ { "field": "withholding.royalties.general / byType", "was": "general 10 with a 0% reduced tier, implying 10% is the rate an individual faces", "now": "general null, byType true, with the 10% residual rate and each 0% category as separate tiers", "evidence": "XII(2) (1980) sets 10%, but XII(3) as replaced by 1995 Protocol Article 7(1) exempts copyright, software, patent and know-how royalties, which are the royalties individuals most often receive. Which rate applies turns on what is licensed, which is the contract's definition of byType." }, { "field": "withholding.royalties tiers (broadcasting)", "was": "broadcasting payments listed inside the 0% condition", "now": "removed from the 0% tiers; the note says the treaty only allows broadcasting to be added by exchange of notes and none was located", "evidence": "XII(3)(d) covers only payments 'as may be agreed ... in an exchange of notes'. The 1995 Technical Explanation (canatech.pdf, Article 7) says Canada was not prepared to commit to the exemption at signing. No exchange of notes is on the IRS page or in either Treasury PDF." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends tiers (exempt organizations)", "was": "0% for tax-exempt pension, retirement or employee-benefit organizations, with no exclusions, and no mention of charities or investment vehicles", "now": "three 0% tiers, XXI(1) charities to the extent exempt at home, XXI(2) pension organizations that are generally exempt and operated only for those benefits, XXI(3) exempt vehicles earning income for either, each excluding business income and income from related persons", "evidence": "Article XXI(1) to (4) as replaced by the 2007 Protocol, Article 16(2); XXI(4) removes the exemption for income from carrying on a trade or business or from a related person." }, { "field": "withholding.interest note (XI(6)(b))", "was": "participating interest 'computed by reference to the debtor's receipts, profits, cash flow, property value or dividends'", "now": "tier states the full test: receipts, sales, income, profits or other cash flow of the debtor or a related person, a change in the value of their property, or a dividend or partnership distribution paid to a related person", "evidence": "XI(6)(b) as replaced by the 2007 Protocol, Article 6." }, { "field": "pensions.summary", "was": "no statement of whether US citizens living in Canada can use the 15% cap", "now": "states the XVIII(2) cap does not limit US tax on a US citizen living in Canada", "evidence": "XXIX(3)(a) as replaced by the 2007 Protocol, Article 24(2), lists XVIII paragraphs 1, 3, 4, 5, 6(b), 7, 8, 10 and 13 as exceptions to the saving clause. Paragraph 2 is not listed, so XXIX(2)(a) lets the US tax its citizens without regard to it." }, { "field": "socialSecurity.summary", "was": "named Old Age Security as a Canadian social security benefit covered by XVIII(5)(b), which read as implying a US tax result for OAS", "now": "no specific Canadian benefit named", "evidence": "Whether a Canadian benefit is exempt from US tax under XVIII(5)(b) depends on whether Canada taxes that benefit type for its own residents, which is Canadian domestic law and not in the treaty documents. The 1997 Technical Explanation discusses OAS only in terms of a change Canada had proposed at the time." }, { "field": "documentsRead[Protocol 1].title", "was": "'entered into force 16 August 1984'", "now": "date removed", "evidence": "No document read (the compilation, either Technical Explanation, or IRS Table 3, which gives only the 1 January 1985 effective date) states that date." }, { "field": "note", "was": "included claims that IRS Table 1 cites the pension and royalty rows to the wrong protocol articles", "now": "removed", "evidence": "Table 1 is a cross-check, not a published source for this record, and the citation claims were not re-verified in this pass. They do not affect any published rate, which was read in the treaty text." } ], "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "The 2007 Protocol's Annex A (arbitration) and Annex B (General Note) are not in the Treasury PDF and were not read.", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. Per the 2007 Technical Explanation, the General Note paragraphs relevant to these fields only clarify scope: paragraph 3 treats certain Canadian income trust distributions as dividends, paragraph 8 narrows what counts as franchise information under XII(3)(c), paragraph 10 lists qualifying retirement plans for XVIII(15), and paragraphs 11 and 12 define 'long-term resident' for XXIX(2)(b). None changes a rate, a tier condition or an article reference published here.", "evidence": "Treaty-Canada-Pr2-TE-9-21-2007.pdf, discussion of Articles 5, 7, 13 and 24 of the Protocol; the Protocol PDF itself ends at the signatures on page 38 with no annex." }, { "question": "No document gives the 2007 Protocol's exact entry-into-force date; data/tax-treaties.json records 2009, the effective year.", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field in this record. IRS Table 3 lists the 5th Protocol at 1 January 2009 and its footnote 5 marks only the 4th Protocol's date (16 December 1997) as an entry-into-force date, so 2009 is an effective date. Page copy should call it the 2007 Protocol. The expiry of the transitional 7% and 4% interest rates does not depend on the exact date: Article 27(2) bars entry into force before 1 January 2008 and Table 3 shows effect from 2009, so both transitional years ended long ago.", "evidence": "IRS Table 3 (Canada rows and footnote 5); 2007 Protocol Article 27(2) and 27(3)(d); 2007 Technical Explanation, Article 27 discussion." }, { "question": "Whether Old Age Security or another Canadian benefit is exempt from US tax under XVIII(5)(b) turns on current Canadian law.", "resolution": "Removed the benefit-specific claim from socialSecurity.summary, which now states only the treaty rule. No published field depends on Canadian domestic law.", "evidence": "XVIII(5)(b) as replaced by the 1997 Protocol, Article 2(2); 1997 Technical Explanation, Article 2 paragraph 2." }, { "question": "The broadcasting category of 0% royalties in XII(3)(d) depends on an exchange of notes that was not located.", "resolution": "Broadcasting is no longer published as a 0% tier. The royalty note says the treaty permits it only by exchange of notes and none was found in the IRS or Treasury documents.", "evidence": "XII(3)(d) as replaced by the 1995 Protocol, Article 7(1); 1995 Technical Explanation, Article 7." }, { "question": "Verifier check: does the saving clause let a US citizen living in Canada use the social security rule?", "resolution": "Yes. XVIII(5) is on the XXIX(3)(a) exception list, and IRS Publication 915 separately lists Canada among countries whose resident US citizens are exempt from US tax on their Social Security benefits. The reverse case (Canadian benefits paid to a US citizen living in Canada) is not covered by XVIII(5), because the benefit is not paid to a resident of the other country, so no claim is made about it.", "evidence": "XVIII(5) (1997 Protocol, Article 2(2)); XXIX(3)(a) (2007 Protocol, Article 24(2)); IRS Publication 915, 'U.S. citizens residing abroad'." }, { "question": "Verifier check: did any protocol replace or renumber the individual tie-breaker?", "resolution": "No. IV(2)(a) to (d) is the 1980 text. The 1995 Protocol replaced IV(1) (adding a rule that a US citizen or green card holder is a US resident only with a substantial presence, permanent home or habitual abode in the US and closer ties to the US than to any third country), and the 2007 Protocol replaced IV(3) and added IV(6) and (7). None touches the individual tie-breaker steps or their order.", "evidence": "1995 Protocol Article 3; 2007 Protocol Article 2." }, { "question": "Verifier check: which paragraph numbers are current after renumbering?", "resolution": "The 2007 Protocol renumbered XXI(4) to (6) as (5) to (7) and inserted new XXI(1) to (4), so the exempt-organization tiers cite the current XXI(1) to (3). It replaced Article XI in full, so REMIC excess inclusions are now XI(6)(c) (formerly XI(9)) and the permanent establishment rule is XI(3). It deleted Articles XIV and XVII without renumbering later articles, so XVIII, XX and XXIX keep their numbers. The RRSP deferral once in XXIX(5) is now XVIII(7); XXIX(5) is the S corporation rule.", "evidence": "2007 Protocol Articles 6, 9, 12, 13(2) and 16; 1995 Protocol Articles 9(3) and 17(2)." }, { "question": "Verifier check: are the tier conditions exact (ownership %, voting vs capital, holding periods)?", "resolution": "The 5% dividend tier needs a company beneficial owner with at least 10% of the voting stock; capital is not the test and the treaty sets no holding period. The REIT tests are 'not more than' 10%, 5% and 10%, not 'less than' as in the superseded 1995 text.", "evidence": "X(2)(a) and X(7)(c) as replaced by the 2007 Protocol, Article 5(1) and 5(5)." }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of note", "resolution": "Split one stacked block into four paragraphs, one per likely error, and shortened the sentences. Re-read every rate it asserts before publishing the plain version: X(2)(b) 15% general and X(2)(a) 5% corporate; the 1980 XI(2) 15% cut to 10% by the 1995 Protocol and replaced by exemption in the 2007 Protocol, with 15% left in XI(6)(a) and (b); XII(2) 10% with the XII(3) exemptions; XVIII(5) social security and its presence on the XXIX(3)(a) list, against XVIII(2), which is absent from that list. No rate, threshold or protocol year changed.", "evidence": "Convention Articles X(2), XI(2) (1980); 1995 Protocol Articles 5(1) and 6(1); 2007 Protocol Articles 5(1) and 6; Convention XII(2) with XII(3) as replaced by 1995 Protocol Article 7(1); XVIII(5) (1997 Protocol Article 2(2)); XXIX(3)(a) (2007 Protocol Article 24(2))." }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of pensions.summary", "resolution": "Broke a 63-word sentence into four. Re-read XVIII(1) as replaced by the 1983 Protocol, which exempts in the residence country any amount that would be excluded from taxable income in the paying country if the recipient lived there, and XVIII(2)(a), unchanged since 1980, which caps tax at 15% of the gross amount of a periodic pension payment where a resident of the other country is the beneficial owner. The plain version now carries 'gross amount', 'periodic' and 'beneficial owner' explicitly, which the dense version had compressed. The saving clause sentence is unchanged and still holds: XXIX(3)(a) omits XVIII(2).", "evidence": "Convention Article XVIII(2)(a); XVIII(1) as replaced by the 1983 Protocol, Article IX(1); XXIX(3)(a) as replaced by the 2007 Protocol, Article 24(2)." }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of socialSecurity.summary", "resolution": "Split into four sentences and restored one condition the dense version had dropped. XVIII(5) as replaced by the 1997 Protocol taxes the benefit only in the residence country, taxes a US benefit in Canada as though it were a Canada Pension Plan benefit with 15% exempt from Canadian tax, and taxes a Canadian benefit in the US as though it were a Social Security Act benefit except that a type of benefit not subject to Canadian tax when paid to residents of Canada is exempt from US tax. That last carve-out is treaty text and is now stated, still without naming any Canadian benefit, which is what the earlier correction removed.", "evidence": "Convention Article XVIII(5) as replaced by the 1997 Protocol, Article 2(2); XXIX(3)(a) (2007 Protocol, Article 24(2)); IRS Publication 915." }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of savingClause.summary", "resolution": "Split into three sentences. Re-read XXIX(2) as replaced by the 2007 Protocol: (a) preserves each country's taxation of its residents and, for the US, its citizens, except as paragraph 3 provides; (b) allows the US to tax a former citizen or former long-term resident on US-source income for ten years following the loss of that status. Ten years is unchanged, and the summary still omits the 'companies electing to be treated as domestic corporations' clause, as it did before.", "evidence": "Convention Article XXIX(2) as replaced by the 2007 Protocol, Article 24(1)." }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of savingClause.exceptions", "resolution": "Led with what the list means, then gave it in three groups. Re-read XXIX(3)(a) as replaced by the 2007 Protocol word for word and confirmed the pension paragraphs are 1, 3, 4, 5, 6(b), 7, 8, 10 and 13, that the whole articles are XIX, XXI, XXIV, XXV and XXVI, and that the narrower items sit in Articles IX, XIII, XXIX, XXIX B and XXX. XXIX(3)(b), unchanged since 1980, limits the Students article to individuals who are neither citizens of, nor have immigrant status in, that State. No paragraph number added or dropped.", "evidence": "Convention Article XXIX(3)(b) (1980); XXIX(3)(a) as replaced by the 2007 Protocol, Article 24(2)." }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of students.summary", "resolution": "Split into three sentences and addressed the reader directly. Re-read Article XX as replaced by the 2007 Protocol. Two conditions the dense version had compressed are now explicit: the person is, or was immediately before the visit, a resident of the other country, and the payments must arise outside the host country. The one-year limit for an apprentice or business trainee runs from the date of first arrival for the training and is unchanged.", "evidence": "Convention Article XX as replaced by the 2007 Protocol, Article 15." }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of withholding.dividends.note", "resolution": "Broke the REIT sentence into its three separate statutory cases. Re-read X(7)(c) as replaced by the 2007 Protocol: case (i) is an individual holding not more than 10% of the REIT, case (ii) is a publicly traded class of stock with a person holding not more than 5% of any class, and case (iii) is a person holding not more than 10% of a diversified REIT. The dense version read as though 'an individual' governed all three; cases (ii) and (iii) say 'person'. All three percentages are unchanged. X(7)(b) RIC and the X(6) branch tax at 5%, set by the 1995 Protocol, were re-read and are unchanged.", "evidence": "Convention X(7)(b) and X(6) as amended by the 1995 Protocol, Article 5(1) and 5(2); X(7)(c) as replaced by the 2007 Protocol, Article 5(5)." }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of withholding.royalties.note", "resolution": "Split two semicolon sentences into five short ones; no content added or removed. Re-read XII(2), which caps other royalties at 10%, and XII(3)(a) to (d) as replaced by the 1995 Protocol, which exempt copyright, software, patent and know-how payments and allow broadcasting to be added only by an exchange of notes. The claim that no such exchange appears in the IRS or Treasury documents was re-checked against both PDFs and still holds.", "evidence": "Convention Article XII(2) (1980); XII(3) as replaced by the 1995 Protocol, Article 7(1)." }, { "question": "tie-breaker steps rewritten to house style", "resolution": "re-read Article IV and confirmed order and conditions. Four substantive fixes. Step 2 said 'a home in both countries'; IV(2)(a) says 'a permanent home available to him', so permanent home is restored. Step 3 carried no condition and has been given the only condition IV(2)(b) states, that the centre of vital interests cannot be determined. Canada's IV(2)(b) deliberately does NOT carry the 'or has no permanent home in either State' branch that France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Thailand and the United Kingdom carry, because IV(2)(a) already routes the no-permanent-home case to the centre of vital interests ('in both States or in neither State'). Importing the other treaties' condition here would have been wrong. Steps 4 and 5 now state the conditions IV(2)(c) and (d) give, habitual abode in both States or in neither, and citizenship of both States or of neither. 'Citizen' is kept throughout; Canada's IV(2)(c) and (d) say citizen, not national. 'Centre' keeps the treaty's own spelling. Order and step count are unchanged at five.", "evidence": "Convention Article IV(2)(a) to (d) (1980), IRS compilation 'Income Tax Treaty and Protocols 1, 2, 3, and 4' (irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/canada.pdf). Confirmed unamended: Protocol 1 Article IV amends Article VIII, not Article IV; the 1995 Protocol Article 3 replaces only IV(1); the 2007 Protocol Article 2 replaces only IV(3) and adds IV(6) and (7) (Treaty-Canada-Pr2-9-21-2007.pdf). No protocol touches IV(2)." } ], "collectedAt": "2026-09-15" } }, { "country": "Chile", "slug": "chile", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/chile-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2024", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "China", "slug": "china", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/china-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1987", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Cyprus", "slug": "cyprus", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/cyprus-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1986", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Czech Republic", "slug": "czech-republic", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/czech-republic-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1994", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Denmark", "slug": "denmark", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/denmark-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2001", "latestProtocolEffective": "2008", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Egypt", "slug": "egypt", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/egypt-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1982", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Estonia", "slug": "estonia", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/estonia-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2000", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Finland", "slug": "finland", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/finland-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1991", "latestProtocolEffective": "2008", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "France", "slug": "france", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/france-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1996", "latestProtocolEffective": "2010", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": { "documentsRead": [ { "title": "IRS France tax treaty documents page", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/france-tax-treaty-documents", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Convention (signed Paris, August 31, 1994), with exchanges of notes", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/france.pdf", "inForce": "1996" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 1994 Convention", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/francetech.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Protocol (signed Washington, December 8, 2004)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-France-Protocol-8-12-2004.pdf", "inForce": "2007" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 2004 Protocol", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-France-Protocol-TE-8-12-2004.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Protocol (signed Paris, January 13, 2009)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-France-Pr2-1-13-2009.pdf", "inForce": "2010" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 2009 Protocol", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-France-Pr2-TE-1-13-2009.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Memorandum of Understanding on arbitration (January 13, 2009)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-France-Protocol-MOU-1-13-2009.pdf", "inForce": "2010" }, { "title": "IRS Table 1, Tax Rates on Income Other Than Personal Service Income (Rev. May 2023), cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/tax-treaty-table-1.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties, source of the entry-into-force years above (general effective dates)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "inForce": null } ], "withholding": { "dividends": { "general": 15, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "a company owning directly at least 10% of the voting stock of a US company paying the dividend, or directly or indirectly at least 10% of the capital of a French company paying it", "article": "10(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a company that has owned, directly or indirectly through residents of either country, 80% or more of the voting power of a US payer or 80% or more of the capital of a French payer for the 12 months ending on the date entitlement to the dividend is determined, and that also passes one of the Article 30 limitation-on-benefits tests listed in 10(3): publicly traded or owned by publicly traded companies, the ownership and base-erosion test together with the active trade or business test, derivative benefits, or a competent authority determination", "article": "10(3)" } ], "article": "10(2)(b)", "setBy": "Article 10 as wholly replaced by Article II of the 2009 protocol (the 15% and 5% rates match the 1994 text; the 0% rate is new in 2009)", "note": "The tier tests are not symmetrical: a US paying company is measured by voting stock or voting power, a French paying company by capital. There is no 0% rate for pension funds in the treaty text; the 2009 Technical Explanation's introduction to paragraph 3 mentions 'certain pension funds', but 10(3) as signed covers only companies. Dividends from a US RIC or a French SICAV are capped at 15% and never get 5% or 0% (10(5)). Dividends from a US REIT, French SIIC or SPPICAV get 15% only if the owner is an individual or pension trust holding not more than 10%, holds not more than 5% of a publicly traded class, or holds not more than 10% of a diversified REIT; otherwise the treaty sets no cap (10(5)(b)). Under Article 30(5), dividends attributable to a low-taxed permanent establishment in a third jurisdiction may be taxed at up to 15%. The old French 'avoir fiscal' refund in 1994 Article 10(4) disappeared when the 2009 protocol replaced Article 10." }, "interest": { "general": 0, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 15, "who": "interest figured by reference to the profits of the payer or an associated enterprise (contingent interest); the cap is the 10(2)(b) dividend rate", "article": "11(2)(b)" } ], "article": "11(1)", "setBy": "base treaty (1994); Article 11 was not amended by the 2004 or 2009 protocol", "note": "Ordinary interest beneficially owned by a resident of the other country is taxable only in the residence country. The exemption does not reach an excess inclusion on a REMIC residual interest (29(6)). Under Article 30(5), interest attributable to a low-taxed permanent establishment in a third jurisdiction may be taxed at up to 15%." }, "royalties": { "general": 0, "byType": false, "tiers": [], "article": "12(1)", "setBy": "Article 12(1) as replaced by Article III of the 2009 protocol", "note": "Before the 2009 protocol the source country could withhold up to 5% on most royalties, with copyright, film, recording and software royalties exempt (1994 Article 12(2) and 12(3)). Since the 2009 protocol all royalties beneficially owned by a resident of the other country are taxable only in the residence country. Under Article 30(5), royalties attributable to a low-taxed permanent establishment in a third jurisdiction may be taxed at up to 15%, unless they pay for intangibles produced or developed by that permanent establishment." } }, "tieBreaker": { "article": "4(4)", "tests": [ "where you have a permanent home available to you", "if you have a permanent home in both countries, where your personal and economic ties are closer (your centre of vital interests)", "if that centre cannot be determined, or you have no permanent home in either country, where you have a habitual abode", "if you have a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, the country you are a national of", "if you are a national of both countries or of neither, the two tax authorities settle it by mutual agreement" ] }, "savingClause": { "article": "29(2)", "summary": "The United States may tax its residents and its citizens as if the treaty did not exist, and either country may tax a former citizen or former long-term resident (a lawful permanent resident, for the US a green card holder, in at least 8 of the prior 15 tax years) on income from its sources for 10 years after the status ends.", "exceptions": "For everyone, including US citizens: corresponding adjustments (9(2)), gains on business property of a permanent establishment or fixed base (13(3)(a)), pensions and social security (18(1)), relief from double taxation (24), non-discrimination (25) and mutual agreement (26); only for individuals who are neither citizens nor green card holders of their country of residence: pension contributions and accruals (18(2)), public remuneration (19), teachers and researchers (20), students and trainees (21) and diplomats (31) (29(3))." }, "pensions": { "article": "18(1)", "summary": "A pension or similar payment for past employment, periodic or lump sum, paid to a resident of the other country by a retirement arrangement established in one country is taxable only in the country where the arrangement is established, and since the 2004 protocol that includes government pensions. The saving clause does not override this, so a US citizen living in the United States is taxed only by France on a French plan pension; but the rule does not reach a French pension paid to someone living in France, so the United States can still tax a US citizen there on it, with a credit for French tax under Article 24." }, "socialSecurity": { "article": "18(1)", "summary": "Social security and similar payments are taxable only in the paying country when paid to a resident of the other country or to a US citizen: US Social Security received by a French resident is taxed only by the United States, and French social security received by a US resident or by a US citizen living in France is taxed only by France." }, "students": { "article": "21", "summary": "A student, professional trainee or grant-funded researcher who lived in the other country just before arriving is exempt in the host country on gifts from abroad for maintenance and study, on qualifying grants, and on up to 5,000 US dollars a year of pay for local work, for as long as the purpose reasonably needs and no more than five tax years counting Article 20. Someone temporarily present as an employee of a home-country business, to gain experience from another company or to study, is exempt on up to 8,000 US dollars of pay for 12 consecutive months (21(2)); in the United States neither rule helps a US citizen or green card holder." }, "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "note": "Three things a reader gets wrong about France. First, the dividend rate is 15% for an individual; the 5% and 0% rates are only for companies with 10% and 80% holdings, and the 0% rate also needs a 12-month holding and an Article 30 test. Second, the 2009 protocol took royalties to 0%, so sources quoting the old 5% royalty rate are out of date. Third, pensions and social security are taxed only where they are paid from, and the treaty overrides the saving clause for them: a US citizen living in France is taxed only by the United States on US Social Security and only by France on French social security, and a French pension paid to a US resident is taxed only by France. For US pensions and Social Security that only the United States may tax, France can still count the income when it computes a French resident's tax, then allows a credit equal to the French tax attributable to it (Article 24, France's relief paragraph). The dual-resident tie-breaker is now Article 4(4) (renumbered from 4(3) by the 2009 protocol), and it does not stop the United States taxing its citizens. Separately, Article 4(2)(a) says France treats a US citizen or green card holder as a US resident only if that person has a substantial presence in the United States or would be a US resident rather than a third-country resident under the permanent home, center of vital interests and habitual abode tests (the text still cites 'subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 3', a cross-reference the 2009 protocol did not update after renumbering).", "corrections": [ { "field": "pensions.summary", "was": "a US plan or IRA paid to a French resident is taxed only by the United States", "now": "Names no specific plan type; states the rule as the text does (payments for past employment by a pension or retirement arrangement established in one country), adds that government pensions are covered since 2004, and gives the Technical Explanation's own saving clause example.", "evidence": "18(1) as replaced by 2004 protocol Article III and amended by 2009 protocol Article VI requires the payment be 'in consideration of past employment'. IRAs are named only in 18(2)(c)(ii), which is about contributions, not distributions. Neither the protocols nor the 2004 or 2009 Technical Explanations say an IRA distribution meets the past-employment test, so the IRA claim was stronger than the text. Government pensions: 2004 protocol Article IV deleted 19(2); 2004 TE says 'The provisions of new Article 18 now govern the treatment of such pensions.'" }, { "field": "note (Article 4(2)(a) sentence)", "was": "would be a US resident rather than a third-State resident under the first two tie-breaker steps", "now": "under the permanent home, center of vital interests and habitual abode tests", "evidence": "4(2)(a) refers to 'subparagraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 3'. Subparagraph (a) contains both the permanent home and center of vital interests tests, and (b) is habitual abode, so it covers the first three of the five listed steps, not two." }, { "field": "savingClause.summary", "was": "former long-term resident (a green card holder in at least 8 of the prior 15 tax years)", "now": "former long-term resident (a lawful permanent resident, for the US a green card holder, in at least 8 of the prior 15 tax years)", "evidence": "29(2) as replaced by 2009 protocol Article XIII(1): 'any individual (other than a citizen of that Contracting State) who is a lawful permanent resident of that Contracting State'. The rule applies to either country, so 'green card holder' alone is US-only." }, { "field": "savingClause.exceptions", "was": "for individuals who are neither citizens nor green card holders of the taxing State only: pension contributions (18(2))", "now": "only for individuals who are neither citizens nor green card holders of their country of residence: pension contributions and accruals (18(2))", "evidence": "29(3)(b) as replaced by 2009 protocol Article XIII(2): 'upon individuals resident in a Contracting State who are neither citizens of, nor have immigrant status in, that Contracting State'. 18(2)(a)(ii) also covers employer contributions and accrued benefits." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends (0% tier condition)", "was": "Article 30 tests named in Article 10(3) (publicly traded, ownership-base erosion plus active trade or business, derivative benefits, or a competent authority determination)", "now": "adds 'or owned by publicly traded companies' to the first test", "evidence": "10(3)(a) cites clause (i) or (ii) of 30(2)(c); clause (ii) is a company at least 50% owned by five or fewer publicly traded companies." }, { "field": "withholding.interest", "was": "contingent interest at up to 15% described only in note", "now": "15% contingent interest tier at 11(2)(b)", "evidence": "Schema change only (second amendment requires every other rate as a tier). 11(2)(b): rate 'not exceeding the rate prescribed in subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2 of Article 10', which is 15% under the 2009 text." }, { "field": "students.summary", "was": "employee sent by a home-State employer to gain experience or study; no mention of the saving clause limit", "now": "experience from a company other than the employer; notes the US saving clause blocks US citizens and green card holders", "evidence": "21(2)(a): 'acquiring technical, professional, or business experience from a person other than that resident of the first-mentioned State'; 29(3)(b) limits Article 21 to individuals who are neither citizens nor immigrants of the residence country, and 29(2) lets the US tax its citizens and residents." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends.note (REIT, SIIC, SPPICAV)", "was": "otherwise domestic rates apply (10(5)(b))", "now": "otherwise the treaty sets no cap (10(5)(b))", "evidence": "The 2009 replacement 10(5)(b) says only when 10(2)(b) applies; unlike the 1994 10(2)(b) it does not state that domestic rates apply otherwise. Wording narrowed to what the text says." }, { "field": "withholding.interest.note", "was": "IRS Table 1 cites 11(2) for the 0% rate; the exemption itself is in 11(1).", "now": "sentence removed", "evidence": "Table 1 was not re-read in verification and the sentence adds nothing a reader needs; the exemption is read directly in 1994 Article 11(1), untouched by either protocol." }, { "field": "pensions.summary", "was": "It is an exception to the saving clause, so it protects US citizens too (no limit stated)", "now": "adds that 18(1) does not reach a French pension paid to a resident of France, so the US can still tax a US citizen living in France on it, with a credit for French tax under Article 24", "evidence": "18(1) as replaced by 2004 protocol Article III applies only to payments 'paid to a resident of the other Contracting State'; the 29(3)(a) exception preserves only benefits 18(1) actually confers. Social security differs: 2009 protocol Article VI extends it to payments 'to a citizen of the United States'. 1994 Article 24(1)(a)-(b) gives the US credit for French tax." }, { "field": "note (Article 24 sentence)", "was": "France can still count US-taxed income of a French resident when it computes French tax, then gives a credit equal to the French tax on that income", "now": "limited to US pensions and Social Security that only the United States may tax", "evidence": "Article 24, France's paragraph (a): income taxable only in the US is taken into account with a credit equal to the French tax attributable (clause (i)); but for dividends, interest, royalties and some other income, clause (iii) as replaced by 2009 protocol Article VIII(2) sets the credit at the US tax paid, capped at the French tax. The broad sentence was wrong for those items." } ], "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "Entry-into-force dates: the inForce years in documentsRead come from IRS Table 3, and the 0% dividend and royalty rates may have applied at source before 2010.", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. The published rates are current rates. Table 3 lists 'Jan. 1, 1996', 'Jan. 1, 2007' and 'Jan. 1, 2010', which are general effective dates rather than signing or entry-into-force dates. The 2009 protocol's withholding provisions apply from January 1 of the year it entered into force (Article XVI(2)(a)). No document read states the entry-into-force date, so no start year for the 0% rates is published.", "evidence": "2009 protocol Article XVI(1)-(2); 2004 protocol Article VII(2); IRS Table 3 France rows." }, { "question": "Is there a 0% dividend rate for pension funds? (collector's note)", "resolution": "No, not in the signed text. The 2009 TE introduction to 10(3) says the exemption is available 'with respect to certain pension funds', but the operative 10(3) text and the TE's detailed walk-through cover only companies. The page publishes no pension fund tier.", "evidence": "2009 protocol Article II, new 10(3); 2009 TE, 'Paragraph 3 of Article 10'." }, { "question": "Are pensions and social security under 18(1) taxable only by the paying country even for US citizens?", "resolution": "Confirmed. 29(3)(a) as replaced by the 2004 protocol lists 'paragraph 1 of Article 18 (Pensions)' among benefits the saving clause does not affect, with no citizenship limit, and the 2009 protocol left 29(3)(a) untouched. The 2004 TE gives the example that a US citizen resident in the US is taxed solely by France on a French plan distribution. The 2009 protocol added 'or to a citizen of the United States' to the social security clause, and its TE says France has exclusive jurisdiction over French social security paid to a US citizen resident in France. Private and government pensions require payment to a resident of the other country; social security also covers a US citizen wherever resident.", "evidence": "2004 protocol Articles III and VI(2); 2009 protocol Article VI; 2004 TE 'Relationship to other Articles'; 2009 TE Article VI." }, { "question": "Tie-breaker article number and order.", "resolution": "Confirmed as 4(4). The 1994 text put it at 4(3); 2009 protocol Article I(5) renumbered paragraphs 3 and 4 as 4 and 5 after adding a new 4(3) on fiscally transparent entities. Order in the text: permanent home, then center of vital interests if a home in both, then habitual abode, then nationality, then mutual agreement.", "evidence": "1994 Convention Article 4(3)(a)-(d); 2009 protocol Article I(4)-(5)." }, { "question": "Dividend tier asymmetry (voting power versus capital).", "resolution": "Confirmed. 5% tier: directly at least 10% of voting stock for a US payer, directly or indirectly at least 10% of capital for a French payer. 0% tier: 80% of voting power for a US payer, 80% of capital for a French payer, owned directly or indirectly through residents of either country, for 12 months.", "evidence": "2009 protocol Article II, new 10(2)(a) and 10(3)." }, { "question": "Did the 2004 protocol leave any dividend, interest or student rule that the 2009 protocol did not supersede?", "resolution": "No. The 2004 protocol only rewrote the REIT sentence of the 1994 10(2); the 2009 protocol then replaced all of Article 10, so the 2009 text alone governs every dividend tier. Articles 11 and 21 were amended by neither protocol, and Article 4(4) and 29(3)(a) were confirmed in the full protocol texts.", "evidence": "2004 protocol Articles I to VII and 2009 protocol Articles I to XIII, read in full." }, { "question": "tie-breaker steps rewritten to house style", "resolution": "re-read Article 4 and confirmed order and conditions", "evidence": "Article 4(4) of the 1994 Convention (irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/france.pdf), which is the former paragraph 3 renumbered by Article I(5) of the 2009 protocol; neither the 2004 nor the 2009 protocol changed the individual cascade." } ], "collectedAt": "2026-09-15" } }, { "country": "Georgia", "slug": "georgia", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/georgia-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1987", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "Georgia has no treaty of its own. The U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty, in force since 1987, applies (IRS Table 3, footnote 6).", "governedBy": "U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty", "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Germany", "slug": "germany", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/germany-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1990", "latestProtocolEffective": "2008", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": { "documentsRead": [ { "title": "Convention (signed Bonn, August 29, 1989) with the related Protocol of the same date", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/germany.pdf", "inForce": "1990" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 1989 Convention", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/germtech.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Protocol amending the Convention (signed Berlin, June 1, 2006)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/germanprot06.pdf", "inForce": "2008" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 2006 Protocol", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/germanyte07.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 1, Tax Rates on Income Other Than Personal Service Income (Rev. May 2023), cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/tax-treaty-table-1.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties (updated through September 26, 2025), effective dates only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "inForce": null } ], "withholding": { "dividends": { "general": 15, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "a company that directly owns at least 10% of the voting stock of the company paying the dividend (not available on dividends from a US RIC or REIT or a German Investmentvermögen)", "article": "10(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a company resident in the other country that has directly owned shares carrying at least 80% of the voting power of the paying company for the 12 months ending on the date entitlement to the dividend is determined, and that also passes one of the limitation-on-benefits routes listed in 10(3)(a): the listed-company tests of Article 28(2)(c), the ownership and base-erosion test of 28(2)(f) together with the active-business test of 28(4), the derivative-benefits test of 28(3), or a competent authority determination under 28(7) (not available on dividends from a US RIC or REIT or a German Investmentvermögen)", "article": "10(3)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a pension fund resident in the other country, as defined in 10(11), on dividends not derived from a business the fund carries on directly or indirectly; Protocol paragraph 8(a) withdraws this rate if Germany introduces a tax exemption for real estate investment companies (see note)", "article": "10(3)(b)" } ], "article": "10(2)(b)", "setBy": "2006 Protocol, Article IV, which replaced Article 10 in full", "note": "Dividends from a US RIC or a German Investmentvermögen never get the 5% rate or the 80% parent 0% rate; the 15% rate applies, or 0% for a qualifying pension fund (10(4)). A US REIT dividend gets the 15% rate only if the owner is an individual holding not more than 10% of the REIT, a person holding not more than 5% of a publicly traded class, or a person holding not more than 10% of a diversified REIT; otherwise the treaty does not cap it (10(4)). Income from profit-sharing arrangements that the payer deducts (German silent partnerships, participating loans, Gewinnobligationen and jouissance rights, and US contingent interest that is not portfolio interest) may be taxed where it arises under that country's own law (10(6)). Shares held through a permanent establishment in the paying country are taxed as business profits instead (10(7)). Branch profits tax is capped at 5% and not charged at all on companies meeting the tests in 10(10). The 1989 text gave US portfolio investors an extra 5 point reduction on German dividends while Germany's corporate tax credit system lasted (old 10(3)); the 2006 Protocol deleted it, so the portfolio rate is 15% in both directions. Protocol paragraph 8(a) says the pension fund 0% rate in 10(3)(b) shall not apply if Germany introduces a tax-exempt regime for real estate investment companies; Treasury's 2007 technical explanation reads this as reaching only dividends paid by such a German company, and IRS Table 1 (May 2023) still lists the pension fund exemption for US-source dividends. Under Protocol paragraph 8(b), Germany applies the pension fund rate to the person treated as owning pension fund assets under section 39 of its Fiscal Code, if the dividends can only fund retirement benefits." }, "interest": { "general": 0, "byType": false, "tiers": [], "article": "11(1)", "setBy": "1989 Convention; the 2006 Protocol kept the 0% rate, added paragraph 6 (Article V) and removed fixed-base wording from paragraphs 3 and 5 (Article VII)", "note": "Interest is taxable only in the country where the owner lives. Exceptions: profit-sharing interest that the payer deducts, including US contingent interest that is not portfolio interest, falls under 10(6) and may be taxed where it arises under that country's own law; an excess inclusion from a residual interest in a US REMIC may be taxed by the US under its own law (11(6)); and interest connected with a permanent establishment in the paying country is taxed as business profits (11(3)). Article 28(5) allows up to 15% where the income belongs to a permanent establishment in a third country and the combined tax paid is under 60% of what the home country would charge." }, "royalties": { "general": 0, "byType": false, "tiers": [], "article": "12(1)", "setBy": "1989 Convention; the 2006 Protocol (Article VII(4)) only removed fixed-base wording from paragraph 3", "note": "Royalties are taxable only in the country where the owner lives, including gains from selling such rights that depend on their productivity or use (12(2)). Payments for films and works for radio or television broadcasting are outside the 12(2) definition. Under Protocol paragraph 11, a performer's royalties on a recording made in the other country fall under this Article. Royalties connected with a permanent establishment in the paying country are taxed as business profits (12(3)). Article 28(5) allows up to 15% where the income belongs to a permanent establishment in a third country and the combined tax paid is under 60% of what the home country would charge." } }, "tieBreaker": { "article": "4(2)", "tests": [ "where you have a permanent home available to you", "if you have a permanent home in both countries, where your personal and economic ties are closer (your centre of vital interests)", "if that centre cannot be determined, or you have no permanent home in either country, where you have a habitual abode", "if you have a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, the country you are a national of", "if you are a national of both countries or of neither, the two tax authorities settle it by mutual agreement" ] }, "savingClause": { "article": "1(4)", "summary": "The US keeps the right to tax its citizens, and anyone who counts as a US resident under the treaty's own residence rules, as if the treaty did not apply, apart from the exceptions below. It may also tax a former citizen or long-term resident (a green card holder in at least 8 of the prior 15 tax years) under US law for ten years after that status ends.", "exceptions": "Under 1(5)(a) the US still gives everyone, its citizens included, the benefits of 9(2), 13(6), 18(3) to 18(5) (alimony, child support and social security), 18A(1) and 18A(5) (pension plans), 19(3) (compensation for war or persecution injuries), and Articles 23, 24 and 25; under 1(5)(b) it gives 18A(2), 19(1)(b), Article 20 (visiting professors, students and trainees) and Article 30 only to people who are neither US citizens nor holders of US immigrant status." }, "pensions": { "article": "18(1)", "summary": "A private pension or similar pay for past employment is taxable only in the country where the retiree lives (Treasury's 1989 explanation says this covers lump sums as well as periodic payments), and annuities follow the same rule under 18(2), but the saving clause lets the US still tax a US citizen living in Germany on a private pension. Government service pensions fall under Article 19(2) instead, and under 18A(1), which the US applies to its own citizens too, growth inside a pension plan in the other country is taxed only when paid out." }, "socialSecurity": { "article": "18(5)", "summary": "Social security benefits and other public pensions (Treasury names US Tier 1 Railroad Retirement) paid by one country to a resident of the other are taxable only in the country where the recipient lives, which treats them as if they were its own social security benefits. Because 18(5) is an exception to the saving clause, a US citizen who is a resident of Germany under the treaty is taxed on US Social Security only by Germany." }, "students": { "article": "20(2)-(5)", "summary": "A student or business apprentice from the other country here for full-time education or training is not taxed here on money from abroad for maintenance, education or training, grants from non-profit or comparable public bodies are exempt, students and grant recipients staying up to four years are exempt on up to $9,000 a year of job income that supplements those funds, and an employee from the other country here up to one year to gain work experience is exempt on pay from the home employer only if that pay is no more than $10,000 in total (above that, none of it is exempt). The US does not give these benefits to its own citizens or green card holders (1(5)(b)), and visiting professors and researchers have a separate two-year rule in 20(1)." }, "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "note": "The portfolio dividend rate is 15% in both directions; the 1989 text's extra 5 point cut on German dividends was deleted by the 2006 Protocol. The 0% dividend rate is for 80% owned corporate subsidiaries that pass limitation-on-benefits tests and for pension funds, never for individual investors. Social Security is taxed only where the recipient lives, even for a US citizen living in Germany, but the US can still tax a private pension paid to a US citizen living in Germany. Germany treats a US citizen or green card holder as a US resident only if that person has a substantial presence, permanent home or habitual abode in the US (Protocol paragraph 2(a)).", "corrections": [ { "field": "students.summary", "was": "trainees staying up to one year are exempt on up to $10,000 paid by their home employer", "now": "an employee from the other country here up to one year to gain work experience is exempt on pay from the home employer only if that pay is no more than $10,000 in total (above that, none of it is exempt)", "evidence": "Article 20(5) of the 1989 Convention (exempt \"if such compensation does not exceed $10,000\"); the 1989 Treasury Technical Explanation says this exemption, unlike paragraph 4, does not apply at all if the compensation exceeds $10,000. It is a cliff, not a cap." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends.note", "was": "Protocol paragraph 8(a) ... switches off the pension-fund 0% rate for dividends paid by German tax-exempt real estate investment companies if Germany introduces such a regime", "now": "Protocol paragraph 8(a) says the pension fund 0% rate shall not apply if Germany introduces a tax exemption for real estate investment companies, and Treasury's technical explanation reads this as limited to dividends paid by such a German company", "evidence": "Article XVI of the 2006 Protocol, new Protocol paragraph 8(a), carries no limiting words (\"subparagraph b) of paragraph 3 of Article 10 shall not apply\"); the narrower scope comes from the 2006 Protocol Technical Explanation, discussion of Article 10(4). The note now attributes each reading to its source." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends.note", "was": "A US REIT dividend gets the 15% rate only if ... otherwise no treaty reduction (implying 15% is the best rate on REIT dividends)", "now": "adds that Treasury and IRS Table 1 read the pension fund 0% rate as available on REIT dividends when one of the same conditions is met", "evidence": "Article 10(4) excludes only 10(2)(a) and 10(3)(a) for REITs, leaving 10(3)(b) in play; 2006 Protocol Technical Explanation on paragraph 4; IRS Table 1 footnote dd." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends (schema)", "was": "general 15 / reduced 0 / reducedCondition naming only the 80% parent and pension fund, with the 5% tier only in note", "now": "general 15 at 10(2)(b) plus three tiers: 5% at 10(2)(a), 0% for 80% parents at 10(3)(a), 0% for pension funds at 10(3)(b)", "evidence": "Contract amendment 2026-09-15 (second); rates and conditions re-read in Article 10 as replaced by Article IV of the 2006 Protocol." }, { "field": "tieBreaker.tests[3], tieBreaker.tests[4]", "was": "nationality / mutual agreement between the two tax authorities", "now": "each step now states when it is reached (habitual abode in both or neither; national of both or neither)", "evidence": "Article 4(2)(c) and (d) of the 1989 Convention, unchanged by the 2006 Protocol (Article II replaced only paragraph 1)." } ], "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "Collector open question 1: exact exchange of ratification dates and whether the 2006 Protocol withholding changes applied before 2008.", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. No rate in this record depends on the protocol start date, and the documentsRead inForce years match IRS Table 3 (Convention Jan. 1, 1990; Protocol Jan. 1, 2008). Protocol Article XVII(2)(a) makes withholding changes effective from January 1 of the year of entry into force, and XVII(5) allowed a 12-month election to keep the old treaty, but both are historical.", "evidence": "2006 Protocol Article XVII(2) and (5); IRS Table 3 Germany rows." }, { "question": "Collector open question 2: the Technical Explanation says the REIT 15% rate is available to an individual or a pension fund holding not more than 10%, while the treaty text says only an individual.", "resolution": "Settled by recording the treaty text for the 15% rate and attributing the pension fund reading to Treasury and IRS Table 1. The published note does not state that a pension fund gets 15% under condition (a); it says Treasury and IRS read the pension fund 0% rate as available on REIT dividends when one of the conditions is met, which is how the explanation and Table 1 footnotes dd and mm frame it.", "evidence": "2006 Protocol Article IV, new Article 10(4)(a); 2006 Protocol Technical Explanation, paragraph 4; IRS Table 1 footnotes dd and mm." }, { "question": "Collector open question 3: whether Germany has introduced the tax-exempt real estate investment company regime that triggers Protocol paragraph 8(a).", "resolution": "Not settled from the treaty documents, and not needed for the published tiers. The note states paragraph 8(a) conditionally and names no current status of German law. Under Treasury's reading it reaches only dividends paid by such a German company to a US pension fund, and IRS Table 1 (Rev. May 2023) still lists the pension fund exemption for Germany on US-source dividends, so the 10(3)(b) tier stands as published.", "evidence": "2006 Protocol Article XVI, Protocol paragraph 8(a); 2006 Protocol Technical Explanation, discussion of Article 10(4); IRS Table 1 Germany row, footnote dd." }, { "question": "Verifier check: does the saving clause let US citizens living in Germany use the pensions and social security rules?", "resolution": "Social security yes, private pensions no. 1(5)(a) lists 18(3), 18(4) and 18(5) but not 18(1) or 18(2), so the US still taxes a citizen living in Germany on a private pension but gives up tax on US Social Security paid to a citizen who is a treaty resident of Germany. Protocol paragraph 2(a) means Germany treats a US citizen as a US resident only with a substantial presence, permanent home or habitual abode in the US.", "evidence": "2006 Protocol Article I (new 1(4) and 1(5)), Article VIII (new 18(5)), Article XVI (Protocol paragraph 2(a)); 1989 Technical Explanation, Article 18 (paragraphs 1 and 2 are subject to the saving clause)." }, { "question": "Verifier check: did the 2006 Protocol keep the rule that overstaying the two-year or four-year limits in Article 20 makes the whole visit taxable?", "resolution": "No. That rule was 1989 Protocol paragraph 18, and Article XVI of the 2006 Protocol deleted paragraphs 1 through 28 and replaced them without it; the 2006 Technical Explanation confirms a professor who stays longer keeps the exemption for the first two years. The students summary does not mention the old rule.", "evidence": "2006 Protocol Article XVI (new paragraphs 17 and 18 cover Articles 20(2) and 21(2) only); 2006 Protocol Technical Explanation, Article XI." }, { "question": "Verifier check: interest and royalties rates and the $9,000 student figure after the protocol.", "resolution": "Confirmed. Articles 11(1) and 12(1) remain residence-only (0% at source); the protocol only added 11(6) and removed fixed base wording. Article XI(b) raised the 20(4) amount from $5,000 to $9,000, and Article XV replaced Deutsche Mark with Euro in 20(4) and 20(5). The 1989 Technical Explanation says only the excess over the paragraph 4 amount is taxable.", "evidence": "1989 Convention Articles 11, 12, 20; 2006 Protocol Articles V, VII, XI, XV; 1989 Technical Explanation, Article 20." }, { "question": "Verifier check: claims added to the interest, royalties and dividends notes beyond the collection (Article 28(5) 15% ceiling, 10(7), the broadcasting exclusion in 12(2), the 8-of-15-year long-term resident definition).", "resolution": "Each confirmed in the text. 28(5) (as replaced by the 2006 Protocol) denies treaty benefits to an enterprise's income attributable to a permanent establishment in a third jurisdiction when combined tax is under 60% of home-country tax, and caps dividends, interest and royalties so affected at 15%; it concerns businesses, not individual investors. 10(7) sends dividends on holdings of a permanent establishment in the paying country to Article 7. 12(2) excludes cinematographic films and works for radio or television broadcasting from royalties. Protocol paragraph 1 defines a long-term resident as a lawful permanent resident in 8 or more of the preceding 15 taxable years.", "evidence": "2006 Protocol Article XIV (new 28(5)), Article IV (new 10(7)), Article XVI (Protocol paragraph 1); 1989 Convention Article 12(2)." }, { "question": "tie-breaker steps rewritten to house style", "resolution": "re-read Article 4 and confirmed order and conditions", "evidence": "Article 4(2) of the 1989 Convention (irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/germany.pdf); Article II of the 2006 protocol replaces only Article 4(1)." } ], "collectedAt": "2026-09-15" } }, { "country": "Greece", "slug": "greece", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/greece-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1953", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Hungary", "slug": "hungary", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/hungary-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1980", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p515.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "Terminated. The United States notified Hungary on 2022-07-08 that it would end the 1979 treaty, and termination took effect 2023-01-08. For taxes withheld at source the treaty stopped applying on 2024-01-01, and from that date a withholding agent must withhold at the statutory 30% rate on payments that used to qualify for a treaty rate (IRS Publication 515, Reminders). IRS Table 3 shows its effective period as ending 2023-12-31 and the IRS treaty index marks it Treaty Terminated. No rate from this treaty applies today.", "governedBy": null, "status": "terminated", "articles": null, "effectiveUntil": "2023" }, { "country": "Iceland", "slug": "iceland", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/iceland-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2009", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "India", "slug": "india", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/india-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1991", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Indonesia", "slug": "indonesia", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/indonesia-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1990", "latestProtocolEffective": "1997", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Ireland", "slug": "ireland", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/ireland-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1998", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Israel", "slug": "israel", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/israel-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1995", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Italy", "slug": "italy", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/italy-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2010", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": { "documentsRead": [ { "title": "IRS Italy tax treaty documents page", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/italy-tax-treaty-documents", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Convention (signed 25 August 1999) with Protocol signed the same day, integral part of the Convention", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Italy-8-24-1999.pdf", "inForce": "2009" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 1999 Convention and Protocol", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Italy-TE-10-22-1999.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Same 1999 Technical Explanation as hosted by IRS (the IRS page labels this file 1984, but its text is the 1999 explanation)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/italypro.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Prior Convention with Protocol and Exchange of Notes (signed 17 April 1984), replaced; read only to confirm what changed", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/italy.pdf", "inForce": "1985" }, { "title": "Treasury press release TG-454, entry into force of the Italy treaty (16 December 2009)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/tg454", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 1, Tax Rates on Income Other Than Personal Service Income (Rev. May 2023), cross-check only, footnotes read", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/tax-treaty-table-1.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties (updated through 26 September 2025), lists no later Italy protocol", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "inForce": null } ], "withholding": { "dividends": { "general": 15, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "a company that has owned at least 25 percent of the voting stock of the company paying the dividend for a 12-month period ending on the date the dividend is declared", "article": "10(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a qualified governmental entity of the other country (a governing body of that country or of its subdivisions or local authorities, an entity wholly owned by one that does no commercial business, or a government-service pension fund of either that does no commercial business, plus named bodies such as the central banks), holding directly or indirectly less than 25 percent of the voting stock of the company paying the dividend", "article": "10(8)" } ], "article": "10(2)(b)", "setBy": "1999 Convention, Article 10(2) and 10(8). The Protocol signed the same day does not change these rates, and IRS Table 3 (updated through 26 September 2025) lists no later Italy protocol.", "note": "Individuals always get 15%; the 5% rate is for companies only. The Treasury Technical Explanation says indirect ownership through other corporations and non-voting shares do not count toward the 25%. The 1984 treaty used different thresholds (5% above 50% ownership, 10% at 10% or more), so older material quoting those is out of date. US RIC dividends never get 5% and are capped at 15%; US REIT dividends get the 15% cap only if the owner is an individual holding not more than 10% of the REIT, or holds not more than 5% of a publicly traded class, or holds not more than 10% of a diversified REIT, and otherwise get no treaty cap (10(9)). The branch profits tax is capped at 5% (10(6) and 10(7)). A main-purpose anti-abuse test (10(10)) and the limitation on benefits in Protocol Article 2 also apply. Rates are the same in both directions, but Protocol Article 5 lets tax be withheld at the full domestic rate and refunded on request with an official residency certificate; the 1999 Technical Explanation describes that as Italy's practice at the time and says either country may change its method." }, "interest": { "general": 10, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 0, "who": "a qualified governmental entity of the other country (a governing body of that country or of its subdivisions or local authorities, an entity wholly owned by one that does no commercial business, or a government-service pension fund of either that does no commercial business, plus named bodies such as the central banks), holding directly or indirectly less than 25 percent of the capital of the payer", "article": "11(3)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a resident of the other country receiving interest on a debt guaranteed or insured by a qualified governmental entity of either country", "article": "11(3)(b)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "interest on a sale on credit of goods, merchandise or services by one enterprise to another", "article": "11(3)(c)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "interest on a sale on credit of industrial, commercial or scientific equipment (the Technical Explanation notes this one need not be between enterprises)", "article": "11(3)(d)" } ], "article": "11(2)", "setBy": "1999 Convention, Article 11(2) and 11(3). The Protocol signed the same day adds only the REMIC carve-out in Protocol Article 1(11); IRS Table 3 lists no later protocol.", "note": "Excess-inclusion interest from a US REMIC residual interest may be taxed by each country under its own law with no treaty cap (Protocol Article 1(11)). Branch-level excess interest deemed to arise in the US is capped at 10% (11(8)). Protocol Article 3(1) says the treaty never takes away a more favorable exemption under either country's own law. Main-purpose anti-abuse test in 11(9)." }, "royalties": { "general": null, "byType": true, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "royalties for the use of, or right to use, computer software or industrial, commercial or scientific equipment", "article": "12(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 8, "who": "all other royalties, including patents, trademarks, designs, secret formulas or processes, know-how, and films and TV or radio broadcasting material", "article": "12(2)(b)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "royalties for a copyright of a literary, artistic or scientific work, excluding software, films and broadcasting material; taxable only in the owner's country of residence", "article": "12(3)" } ], "article": "12(2) and 12(3)", "setBy": "1999 Convention, Article 12(2) and 12(3). The Protocol signed the same day does not change these rates, and IRS Table 3 lists no later protocol.", "note": "There is no single ordinary royalty rate: it depends on what is licensed. Rent for industrial, commercial or scientific equipment counts as a royalty under this treaty (12(4)). Main-purpose anti-abuse test in 12(8)." } }, "tieBreaker": { "article": "4(2)", "tests": [ "where you have a permanent home available to you", "if you have a permanent home in both countries, where your personal and economic ties are closer (your centre of vital interests)", "if that centre cannot be determined, or you have no permanent home in either country, where you have a habitual abode", "if you have a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, the country you are a national of", "if you are a national of both countries or of neither, the two tax authorities settle it by mutual agreement" ] }, "savingClause": { "article": "1(2)", "summary": "Each country may tax its own residents (as decided under Article 4) and its citizens as if the treaty did not exist, and Protocol Article 1(1) extends this, for 10 years, to a former US citizen or long-term resident for whom avoiding tax was one of the principal purposes of giving up that status.", "exceptions": "Article 1(3)(a) keeps, for everyone, correlative transfer-pricing adjustments (9(2)), alimony and child support (18(5)), cross-border pension contributions (18(6)), foreign tax credit relief (23), non-discrimination (24) and mutual agreement (25); Article 1(3)(b) keeps government service (19), professors and teachers (20), students and trainees (21) and diplomats (27) only for people who are neither citizens of, nor have immigrant status (a green card, in the US) in, the taxing country; Protocol Article 1(2) also keeps the social security rule in 18(2) for a resident of the other country who is a national of that country even if also a national of the paying country, and the partner credit in Protocol Article 4." }, "pensions": { "article": "18(1)", "summary": "A private pension or similar payment for past employment is taxable only in the country where the recipient lives, except that a lump-sum or severance payment received after moving, for work done in the old country while living there, is taxable only in the old country (18(3)); government-service pensions follow Article 19(2) instead. The saving clause still lets the US tax a US citizen living in Italy on a pension." }, "socialSecurity": { "article": "18(2)", "summary": "Social security paid by one country to a resident of the other is taxable only in the country where the recipient lives (Treasury's explanation says this includes US tier 1 Railroad Retirement). The saving clause still lets the US tax US social security paid to a US citizen living in Italy, unless that person is also an Italian citizen, in which case only Italy may tax it (Protocol Article 1(2)(a))." }, "students": { "article": "21", "summary": "A student or business trainee who was resident in the other country immediately before the visit and is in the host country only for education at a recognized school or for training is not taxed by the host country on payments for maintenance, education or training that come from outside the host country; in the US the school must be accredited (Protocol Article 1(17))." }, "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "note": "The treaty in force is the 1999 Convention and its same-day Protocol, in force 16 December 2009 and effective for tax withheld on amounts paid from 1 February 2010 (other taxes from 1 January 2010). It replaced the 1984 treaty, whose dividend tiers were different. Readers most often miss four things: the 5% dividend rate needs a company holding at least 25% of the voting stock for 12 months, not the 10% common elsewhere; royalties have three rates (0, 5 and 8) depending on what is licensed; US social security paid to a US citizen living in Italy stays taxable by the US unless that person is also an Italian citizen; and the treaty allows tax to be withheld at the full domestic rate first, with the investor claiming a refund using an official residency certificate. IRS Table 1 (Rev. May 2023) prints rates that match the treaty (15 and 5 dividends, 10 interest, 5 equipment and 8 other royalties, 0 copyrights, 0 pensions, 0 social security), but differs in places: it cites interest as Article 12(2) (the treaty is 11(2)) and the royalty exemption as 12(2) (it is 12(3)); its general footnote b says direct dividend rates generally need 10% ownership, while Italy requires 25% for 12 months; and its footnote h says 'industrial, commercial, or scientific property' where the treaty says equipment. The IRS documents page also labels italypro.pdf as the 1984 technical explanation, but it is the 1999 one.", "corrections": [ { "field": "withholding.dividends (reduced / reducedCondition)", "was": "reduced 0 for qualified governmental entities, with the 5% corporate rate only in the note", "now": "tiers: 5% for a company with 25% of the voting stock for 12 months (10(2)(a)), then 0% for a qualified governmental entity under 25% (10(8)); article now 10(2)(b) only", "evidence": "Treaty Article 10(2)(a), 10(2)(b), 10(8); second amendment of the contract replaces reduced/reducedCondition with tiers." }, { "field": "withholding.interest (reduced / reducedCondition)", "was": "one reduced 0 with four categories in a single condition", "now": "four separate 0% tiers, 11(3)(a) to 11(3)(d); article now 11(2) only", "evidence": "Treaty Article 11(2) and 11(3)(a)-(d)." }, { "field": "withholding.royalties.general", "was": "8", "now": "null, byType true, with tiers 5% (12(2)(a)), 8% (12(2)(b)) and 0% (12(3))", "evidence": "Article 12(2)-(3): the ceiling depends entirely on what is licensed (software and equipment 5, copyrights 0, everything else 8); an ordinary individual has no single rate. Contract second amendment: byType true where the rate depends on what is paid for." }, { "field": "savingClause.summary", "was": "former US citizen or long-term resident who gave up that status mainly to avoid tax", "now": "for whom avoiding tax was one of the principal purposes of giving up that status", "evidence": "Protocol Article 1(1): 'whose loss of such status had as one of its principal purposes the avoidance of tax'. 'Mainly' was narrower than the text." }, { "field": "savingClause.exceptions", "was": "people who are neither citizens nor green card holders of the taxing country", "now": "people who are neither citizens of, nor have immigrant status (a green card, in the US) in, the taxing country", "evidence": "Article 1(3)(b) says 'neither citizens of, nor have immigrant status in, that State'; the rule applies to Italy too, where 'green card' has no meaning." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends.note", "was": "Protocol Article 5 allows withholding at the full domestic rate and refund, which the Technical Explanation says is Italy's existing practice", "now": "the 1999 Technical Explanation describes that as Italy's practice at the time and says either country may change its method", "evidence": "TE on Protocol Article 5: 'This article simply confirms Italy's existing practice. It does not prevent either Contracting State from changing its method.' Existing practice was as of 1999, not verified as current." }, { "field": "socialSecurity.summary", "was": "stated tier 1 Railroad Retirement as if in the treaty text", "now": "attributes the Railroad Retirement point to Treasury's Technical Explanation", "evidence": "Article 18(2) says only 'social security or similar legislation'; the TE says 'similar legislation' is intended to refer to US tier 1 Railroad Retirement benefits." } ], "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "Collector Q1: the Memorandum of Understanding and any notes exchanged at ratification were not read.", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. The Technical Explanation's only substantive references to the Memorandum of Understanding concern arbitration procedure under Article 25(5), which is not published. The Treasury press release TG-454 on entry into force (16 December 2009) restates the same dividend (5/15), interest (0/10) and royalty (0/5/8) limits, and IRS Table 3 lists no Italy protocol, so nothing exchanged at ratification changed a published rate.", "evidence": "1999 TE introduction and Article 25 discussion ('The Memorandum of Understanding elaborates on the circumstances under which an...' arbitration); TG-454; IRS Table 3 Italy row (TIAS, Jan. 1, 2010, no protocol row)." }, { "question": "Collector Q2: whether 'reduced' should hold the 0% governmental tier or the 5% corporate tier.", "resolution": "Settled by the contract's second amendment: both rates are now tiers with their own conditions and articles, and no bare lowest rate is published.", "evidence": "Treaty Article 10(2)(a) and 10(8); contract section 'Amendment 2026-09-15 (second)'." }, { "question": "Collector Q3: drafting slips in the Technical Explanation.", "resolution": "Confirmed, and the treaty text governs; no published field relies on the slipped passages. The TE's Article 10 discussion once says the lower rate applies when a company's share 'meets the 10 percent voting stock threshold' (the treaty and the TE's own earlier paragraph say 25 percent); its Article 18 discussion cites 'the saving clause of paragraph 4 of Article 1' (it is 1(2)); its Article 4 discussion says non-individual dual residents are 'addressed by paragraph 4' under the heading Paragraph 3 (the treaty's rule is 4(3)).", "evidence": "Treaty Articles 1(2), 4(3), 10(2)(a); 1999 TE Articles 4, 10 and 18." }, { "question": "Verifier check: does anything come from the superseded 1984 treaty?", "resolution": "No. Every rate, tier and article was re-read in the 1999 Convention and Protocol (Treasury PDF). The 1984 text was opened only to confirm its different dividend tiers (5% above 50% voting stock, 10% at 10% or more, each for 12 months), which the note mentions as out of date.", "evidence": "1984 Convention Article 10(2)(a)(i)-(ii) (irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/italy.pdf); 1999 Convention Article 28(3)-(4) terminates the prior Convention." }, { "question": "Verifier check: can a US citizen living in Italy use the pension and social security rules?", "resolution": "Pensions (18(1)), social security (18(2)), lump sums (18(3)) and annuities (18(4)) are not in the Article 1(3) exceptions, so the US may still tax its citizens on them. The only carve-out is Protocol Article 1(2)(a) for social security paid to a resident of Italy who is also an Italian national. The Technical Explanation confirms both points, with its own example that only Italy can tax a US social security payment to a dual US-Italian citizen living in Italy.", "evidence": "Treaty Article 1(2)-(3); Protocol Article 1(2)(a); 1999 TE Article 1 paragraph 3 and Article 18 'Relationship to other Articles'." }, { "question": "Verifier check: in-force and effective dates in the note.", "resolution": "Confirmed. TG-454 says the treaty entered into force on 16 December 2009 and applies to tax withheld on amounts paid or credited on or after 1 February 2010 and to other taxes for taxable years from 1 January 2010, matching Article 28(2). IRS Table 3 shows general effective date Jan. 1, 2010.", "evidence": "Treasury press release TG-454; Convention Article 28(2); IRS Table 3." }, { "question": "tie-breaker steps rewritten to house style", "resolution": "re-read Article 4 and confirmed order and conditions", "evidence": "Article 4(2) of the 1999 Convention (home.treasury.gov Treaty-Italy-8-24-1999.pdf); the Protocol signed the same day does not touch Article 4." } ], "collectedAt": "2026-09-15" } }, { "country": "Jamaica", "slug": "jamaica", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/jamaica-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1982", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Japan", "slug": "japan", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/japan-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2005", "latestProtocolEffective": "2020", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": { "documentsRead": [ { "title": "IRS Japan tax treaty documents page", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/japan-tax-treaty-documents", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Convention (signed November 6, 2003)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Japan-11-6-2003.pdf", "inForce": "2004" }, { "title": "Protocol signed with the Convention (November 6, 2003), integral part of the Convention", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Japan-Protocol-11-10-2003.pdf", "inForce": "2004" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 2003 Convention and Protocol", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/japante04.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Protocol Amending the Convention (signed January 24, 2013)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Japan-Pr2-1-24-2013.pdf", "inForce": "2019" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 2013 Protocol", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Japan-Pr2-TE-10-29-2015.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Treasury press release sm763, August 30, 2019: the 2013 Protocol entered into force that day on exchange of instruments of ratification in Tokyo", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm763", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Treasury press release js1275, March 29, 2004: the 2003 Convention entered into force March 30, 2004; under Article 30(2) US withholding provisions apply from July 1, 2004", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/js1275", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 1, Tax Rates on Income Other Than Personal Service Income (Rev. May 2023), cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/tax-treaty-table-1.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties (updated through September 26, 2025), cross-check only: Japan general effective date Jan. 1, 2005, Protocol Jan. 1, 2020", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "inForce": null } ], "withholding": { "dividends": { "general": 10, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "a company that owns, directly or indirectly, at least 10% of the voting stock of the paying company on the date entitlement to the dividend is determined", "article": "10(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a company that has owned, directly or indirectly through residents of either country, at least 50% of the voting stock of the paying company for the six months ending on the date entitlement to the dividend is determined, and that also passes one of the extra anti-treaty-shopping tests in Article 22 (a listed-company test, an ownership and base-erosion test plus an active-business test, or a competent authority determination)", "article": "10(3)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a pension fund resident in the other country, on dividends not derived from a business the fund carries on directly or indirectly", "article": "10(3)(b)" } ], "article": "10(2)(b)", "setBy": "2003 Convention Article 10(2) for the 10% and 5% rates and Article 10(3)(b) for pension funds, unchanged since; the 0% company tier is Article 10(3)(a) as amended by Article III(1) of the 2013 Protocol (in force August 30, 2019, effective for withholding from November 1, 2019), which lowered the test from more than 50% for twelve months to at least 50% for six months", "note": "The 5% and 0% company tiers never apply to dividends from a US RIC or REIT, or from a Japanese company that deducts dividends paid (Article 10(4) and 10(5)). RIC dividends still get the 10% rate, or 0% for a qualifying pension fund. REIT dividends (and dividends from a Japanese dividend-deducting company that is mostly Japanese real property) get the 10% or pension-fund 0% rate only for an individual or pension fund holding not more than 10%, a holder of not more than 5% of a publicly traded class, or a holder of not more than 10% of a diversified entity; otherwise no treaty cap applies. For a dividend from a Japanese company, the Treasury Technical Explanation says the entitlement date is understood to be the end of the accounting period for which profits are distributed (2003 Exchange of Notes, paragraph 4). The rates are symmetrical. Under Article 4(5), if the recipient's country taxes the income only when remitted, the reduction applies only to the amount remitted. IRS Table 1 (Rev. May 2023) still describes the 0% company tier as needing more than 50% ownership, which is the pre-2019 text." }, "interest": { "general": 0, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 10, "who": "contingent interest, meaning interest measured by the debtor's (or a related person's) receipts, sales, income, profits or other cash flow, change in property value, or dividends and similar payments", "article": "11(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 5, "who": "the part of interest between related parties that exceeds an arm's-length amount, taxed on that excess only", "article": "11(6)" } ], "article": "11(1)", "setBy": "Article IV of the 2013 Protocol, which replaced Article 11 entirely; the new withholding rules apply to amounts paid or credited on or after the first day of the third month after entry into force (Protocol Article XV(2)(a)), which with entry into force on August 30, 2019 is November 1, 2019", "note": "Interest paid on ownership interests in a securitization vehicle (such as a REMIC residual interest) may be taxed under domestic law with no treaty cap, to the extent it exceeds the return on comparable debt, Article 11(2)(b). Anti-conduit rule in Article 11(7). Before November 1, 2019 the 2003 text allowed 10% at source, with exemptions for governments, banks and similar financial institutions, pension funds and sales on credit; IRS Table 1 (Rev. May 2023) still shows that 10% rate under Article 11(2)." }, "royalties": { "general": 0, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "the part of a royalty between related parties that exceeds an arm's-length amount, taxed on that excess only", "article": "12(4)" } ], "article": "12(1)", "setBy": "2003 Convention Article 12, not amended by the 2013 Protocol", "note": "Anti-conduit rule in Article 12(5)." } }, "tieBreaker": { "article": "4(3)", "tests": [ "where you have a permanent home available to you", "if you have a permanent home in both countries, where your personal and economic ties are closer (your centre of vital interests)", "if that centre cannot be determined, or you have no permanent home in either country, where you have a habitual abode", "if you have a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, the country you are a national of", "if you are a national of both countries or of neither, the two tax authorities settle it by mutual agreement" ] }, "savingClause": { "article": "1(4)", "summary": "Each country keeps the right to tax its own residents, and the United States its citizens, as if the treaty did not exist, and for ten years the United States may also tax a former citizen or long-term resident who gave up that status with tax avoidance as a principal purpose (Article 1(4)(b)).", "exceptions": "Article 1(5), as amended by Article I of the 2013 Protocol, keeps the correlative adjustment and time-limit rules of Article 9(2) and 9(3), the support-payment rule of Article 17(3), and Articles 23 (double tax relief), 24 (non-discrimination), 25 (mutual agreement) and 28 (diplomats) working despite the saving clause; government service (Article 18) and student (Article 19) benefits also survive, except that benefits the United States grants under those two articles go only to people who are neither US citizens nor green card holders." }, "pensions": { "article": "17(1)", "summary": "Private pensions and similar payments, periodic or lump-sum, are taxable only in the country where the owner lives, and annuities likewise (Article 17(2)); but the saving clause lets the United States still tax a US citizen living in Japan on them, and pensions for government service fall instead under Article 18(2), taxable only by the paying government unless the recipient is both a resident and a national of the other country." }, "socialSecurity": { "article": "17(1)", "summary": "Social security benefits are taxable only in the country where the recipient lives, so US Social Security paid to a resident of Japan is taxable only in Japan; the saving clause overrides this for US citizens, whom the United States still taxes on their benefits wherever they live, and a Japanese pension paid for Japanese government service falls under Article 18(2) instead." }, "students": { "article": "19", "summary": "A student or business apprentice who is, or was just before the visit, a resident of the other country and is present mainly for education or training pays no host-country tax on payments from outside that country for maintenance, education or training, with the apprentice exemption limited to one year from the start of training." }, "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "corrections": [ { "field": "withholding.dividends.note", "was": "RIC dividends get 10%, and REIT dividends get 10% only for an individual or pension fund holding not more than 10 percent, ...", "now": "RIC dividends get 10%, or 0% for a qualifying pension fund; qualifying REIT dividends likewise get 10% or the pension-fund 0% rate", "evidence": "Convention Article 10(4): subparagraph (b) of paragraph 2 AND subparagraph (b) of paragraph 3 apply to RIC dividends and, under the holding limits, to REIT dividends; 10(5) mirrors this for Japanese dividend-deducting companies" }, { "field": "socialSecurity.summary", "was": "... and Japanese public pension paid to a US resident only in the United States", "now": "removed the blanket Japanese public pension claim; added that a Japanese pension paid for Japanese government service falls under Article 18(2)", "evidence": "Article 17(1) opens 'Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 18'; the social security carve-out in Article 18(2)(a) covers only 'payments made by the United States under provisions of the social security or similar legislation', so a Japanese government-service pension stays under 18(2)" }, { "field": "students.summary", "was": "who was a resident of the other country immediately before the visit", "now": "who is, or was just before the visit, a resident of the other country", "evidence": "Convention Article 19: 'who is, or was immediately before visiting a Contracting State, a resident of the other Contracting State'" }, { "field": "savingClause.exceptions", "was": "listed the US-only limit on Articles 18 and 19 without saying the general preservation of those articles", "now": "states that Article 18 and 19 benefits survive the saving clause, with the citizen and green card limit applying only to benefits the United States grants", "evidence": "Article 1(5) as replaced by 2013 Protocol Article I; 2003 Technical Explanation, Article 1: 'The exception to the saving clause applies without limitation to the benefits conferred by Japan'" }, { "field": "note", "was": "Article 4(2) described with two conditions (not a Japanese resident; substantial presence, permanent home or habitual abode in the US); 'not the 15% most US treaties use'", "now": "added the third condition (not resident of a third country under a Japanese treaty with it) and that the 4(3) tie-breaker covers only other individuals; comparison now attributed to IRS Table 1", "evidence": "Convention Article 4(2)(c) and the opening words of 4(3) ('an individual not described in paragraph 2'); IRS Table 1 (Rev. May 2023) general dividend column" } ], "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "(1) data/tax-treaties.json dates for Japan versus entry-into-force years", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field of this record. The dataset keys are effectiveSince 2005 and latestProtocolEffective 2020, which match IRS Table 3 general effective dates exactly (Jan. 1, 2005 and Jan. 1, 2020). Entry into force was March 30, 2004 (Convention) and August 30, 2019 (Protocol); withholding effect July 1, 2004 and November 1, 2019. The page should label effective versus in-force dates.", "evidence": "IRS Table 3 (through Sept. 26, 2025); Treasury press releases js1275 and sm763; Convention Article 30(2)(b); 2013 Protocol Article XV(1)-(2)" }, { "question": "(2) The 2003 and 2013 Exchanges of Notes were not opened", "resolution": "Does not affect any published rate, article or summary. The 2013 Technical Explanation cites only paragraphs 3 to 10 of the 2013 Notes, for Articles 15, 25, 26, 27 and tax definitions, and none in its Article III (dividends) or Article IV (interest) discussion. Of the 2003 Notes, the Technical Explanation cites paragraph 4 (for a Japanese paying company, the dividend entitlement date is the end of the accounting period) and paragraph 5 (meaning of bonds under the old Article 11); the first is added to the dividend note attributed to the Technical Explanation, and does not change any rate or threshold.", "evidence": "2013 Technical Explanation, Articles III, IV, VI and XII-XIV; 2003 Technical Explanation, Article 10 paragraph 2 and Article 11 paragraph 3" }, { "question": "(3) Article 20 (teachers and researchers) was deleted by the 2013 Protocol", "resolution": "Confirmed. Article VII of the 2013 Protocol replaces Article 20 with 'ARTICLE 20 (Deleted)'; Article XV(5) keeps the benefit only for people already entitled on August 30, 2019, until they would have lost it, and the old exemption ran at most two years from arrival, so it has expired. The Protocol did not renumber anything: students remain Article 19. No teacher field is published.", "evidence": "2013 Protocol Articles I, VII and XV(5); 2003 Convention Article 20(1)" }, { "question": "(4) Signing date of the 2013 Protocol: January 14 or January 24", "resolution": "January 24, 2013. The Protocol's own closing lines say it was done at Washington on the 24th day of January, 2013, and the Technical Explanation's body says January 24; January 14 on its title page is a typo. Does not affect a published field.", "evidence": "2013 Protocol signature block; 2013 Technical Explanation, first paragraph" }, { "question": "Verifier check: does the saving clause let US citizens living in Japan use the pension and Social Security rules?", "resolution": "No. Article 17(1) and 17(2) are not in the Article 1(5) exception list, so the United States still taxes its citizens resident in Japan on pensions, Social Security and annuities; only the support-payment rule of 17(3) is excepted.", "evidence": "Article 1(5) as amended by 2013 Protocol Article I; 2003 Technical Explanation, Article 17, Relation to other Articles" }, { "question": "Verifier check: IRS Table 1 versus the treaty text", "resolution": "Table 1 (Rev. May 2023) shows Japan interest at 10% under 11(2) and a footnote saying more than 50% ownership is needed for the 0% dividend rate; both are the pre-2019 text. The treaty as amended governs and is what this record publishes.", "evidence": "IRS Table 1 Japan row and footnotes; 2013 Protocol Articles III(1) and IV" }, { "question": "tie-breaker steps rewritten to house style", "resolution": "re-read Article 4 and confirmed order and conditions", "evidence": "Article 4(3) of the 2003 Convention (home.treasury.gov Treaty-Japan-11-6-2003.pdf); Article II of the 2013 protocol replaces only Article 4(4), which covers persons other than individuals." } ], "note": "Three things a reader gets wrong. First, IRS Table 1 (Rev. May 2023) is out of date for Japan: it still shows interest at 10% and says the 0% dividend tier needs more than 50% ownership, but the 2013 Protocol, in force August 30, 2019 and effective for withholding from November 1, 2019, made most interest exempt at source and lowered the 0% dividend test to at least 50% for six months. Second, the ordinary dividend rate is 10%, below the 15% that Table 1 shows for most US treaty partners, and there are four dividend rates (10%, 5%, 0% for 50%-owned subsidiaries that pass extra anti-treaty-shopping tests, 0% for pension funds). Third, Social Security is taxed only where the recipient lives under Article 17(1), but the saving clause means a US citizen living in Japan is still taxed by the United States on US Social Security and on private pensions. US citizens and green card holders also face a special residence rule in Article 4(2): they count as US residents for the treaty only if they are not Japanese residents, have a substantial presence, permanent home or habitual abode in the United States, and are not treated as resident of a third country under a Japanese treaty with it; the Article 4(3) tie-breaker covers only other individuals.", "collectedAt": "2026-09-15" } }, { "country": "Kazakhstan", "slug": "kazakhstan", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/kazakhstan-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1996", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Korea", "slug": "korea", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/korea-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1980", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Kyrgyzstan", "slug": "kyrgyzstan", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/kyrgyzstan-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1987", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "Kyrgyzstan has no treaty of its own. The U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty, in force since 1987, applies (IRS Table 3, footnote 6).", "governedBy": "U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty", "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Latvia", "slug": "latvia", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/latvia-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2000", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Lithuania", "slug": "lithuania", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/lithuania-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2000", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Luxembourg", "slug": "luxembourg", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/luxembourg-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2001", "latestProtocolEffective": "2009", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Malta", "slug": "malta", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/malta-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2011", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Mexico", "slug": "mexico", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/mexico-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1994", "latestProtocolEffective": "2004", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": { "documentsRead": [ { "title": "IRS treaty-documents page, Mexico (links the 1992 treaty, the 1992 Technical Explanation, and the 2002 protocol)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/mexico-tax-treaty-documents", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Convention signed at Washington 1992-09-18, with Protocol of the same date (IRS combined text; entered into force 1993-12-28, general effective date 1994-01-01 under Article 29)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/mexico.pdf", "inForce": "1993" }, { "title": "Additional Protocol signed at Mexico City 1994-09-08, replacing Article 27 (Exchange of Information) only (in the same IRS combined text; IRS Table 3 gives its effective date as Oct. 26, 1995)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/mexico.pdf", "inForce": "1995" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 1992 Convention and Protocol", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/mexicotech.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Second Additional Protocol (2002), replacing Articles 1 and 10, adding Article 11A(3), replacing Articles 13(4) and 24(3), replacing Protocol paragraph 8 and amending the cross-reference in Protocol paragraph 9 (English text as presented for signature; IRS Table 3 gives its general effective date as Jan. 1, 2004)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Mexico-Pr2-10-26-2002.pdf", "inForce": "2004" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 2002 Second Additional Protocol", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Mexico-Pr2-TE-3-5-2003.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties, cross-check only (Mexico rows: Jan. 1, 1994; protocols Oct. 26, 1995 and Jan. 1, 2004)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 1 (Rev. May 2023), cross-check only (Mexico rows and footnote hh)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/tax-treaty-table-1.pdf", "inForce": null } ], "withholding": { "dividends": { "general": 10, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "a company resident in the other country that directly owns at least 10% of the voting stock of the paying company (not available on dividends from a RIC or REIT)", "article": "10(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a company resident in the other country that has owned 80% or more of the voting stock of the paying company for the 12 months ending on the date the dividend is declared, and that also either owned 80% or more before 1 October 1998, is a listed company or a wholly owned subsidiary of a listed company of its own country under Article 17(1)(d)(i) or (ii), qualifies under the derivative benefits test of Article 17(1)(g), or has a competent authority determination under Article 17(2) (not available on dividends from a RIC or REIT)", "article": "10(3)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a tax-exempt pension or employee benefit trust, company or organization resident in the other country, as long as the dividends are not derived from it carrying on a business, directly or indirectly", "article": "10(3)(b)" } ], "article": "10(2)(b)", "setBy": "2002 Second Additional Protocol, Article II(a), which replaced Article 10 in full. The 10% and 5% rates match the original 1992 text, which had a temporary 15% rate in place of 10% for the first five years (1992 Article 10(3)) and no 0% rate.", "note": "Dividends from a RIC get the 10% rate, or 0% for a qualifying pension fund (10(4)(b)). Dividends from a REIT get those rates only if the owner is an individual or pension fund holding not more than 10% of the REIT, or holds not more than 5% of any class of its stock and the dividend is on a publicly traded class, or holds not more than 10% of a REIT whose largest single real property interest is not more than 10% of its real property; otherwise the treaty sets no rate (10(4)(c)). Dividends attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base in the paying country are taxed as business or independent-service income (10(5)). Symmetrical." }, "interest": { "general": 15, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 4.9, "who": "a bank (including an investment or savings bank) or insurance company owning interest on a loan granted by a bank or insurance company (per the 1992 Technical Explanation, the rate follows the owner, not the original lender)", "article": "11(2)(a)(i)" }, { "rate": 4.9, "who": "anyone resident in the other country, including an individual, owning interest on bonds or securities that are regularly and substantially traded on a recognized securities market (the exchanges listed in 1992 Protocol paragraph 15(b))", "article": "11(2)(a)(ii)" }, { "rate": 10, "who": "an owner not covered by the 4.9% rate, on interest paid by a bank (including an investment or savings bank)", "article": "11(2)(b)(i)" }, { "rate": 10, "who": "the original seller of machinery and equipment, on interest the buyer pays on a sale on credit; if the seller transfers the debt, the new owner's own rate applies (1992 Protocol paragraph 10(b))", "article": "11(2)(b)(ii)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "either government, or a political subdivision or local authority, as owner of the interest", "article": "11(4)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "anyone resident in the other country, including an individual, on interest paid by either government or a political subdivision or local authority", "article": "11(4)(b)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a tax-exempt pension, retirement or employee benefit trust, company or organization resident in the other country", "article": "11(4)(c)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "interest on a loan or credit of at least three years made, guaranteed or insured by Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior or Nacional Financiera (US-source interest) or by the Export-Import Bank or the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Mexico-source interest)", "article": "11(4)(d) and 11(4)(e)" } ], "article": "11(2)(c)", "setBy": "1992 Convention, Article 11; not amended by the 1994 or 2002 protocols. The five-year transitional rates in 11(3) (10% in place of 4.9%, and 15% in place of 10%) no longer apply.", "note": "The 15% rate is the treaty's rate for all other cases, such as a private loan made by an individual. What an individual actually faces depends on the debt: 4.9% on traded bonds, 10% on interest paid by a bank, 0% on government bonds. The treaty rates do not apply to interest on back-to-back loans, which is taxed under the paying country's own law (11(2)), or to excess inclusions on a REMIC residual interest (1992 Protocol paragraph 10(a)). The rates are ceilings: the treaty never takes away a lower result under either country's own law (1(2)), and the 1992 Technical Explanation notes the US statutory exemption for portfolio interest. Interest attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base in the paying country is taxed as business or independent-service income (11(6)). Symmetrical apart from the named export-credit institutions, which mirror each other." }, "royalties": { "general": 10, "byType": false, "tiers": [], "article": "12(2)", "setBy": "1992 Convention, Article 12; not amended by the 1994 or 2002 protocols.", "note": "One rate for every kind of royalty. The definition includes payments for the use of industrial, commercial or scientific equipment and gains on selling a right or property that depend on its productivity, use or disposition (12(3)), so equipment rentals are royalties under this treaty. Royalties attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base in the paying country are taxed as business or independent-service income (12(4)). Symmetrical." } }, "tieBreaker": { "article": "4(2)", "tests": [ "where you have a permanent home available to you", "if you have a permanent home in both countries, where your personal and economic ties are closer (your centre of vital interests)", "if that centre cannot be determined, or you have no permanent home in either country, where you have a habitual abode", "if you have a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, the country you are a national of", "in any other case, the two tax authorities settle it by mutual agreement" ] }, "savingClause": { "article": "1(4)", "summary": "Each country may tax its own residents (as decided under Article 4) and its own citizens as if the treaty did not exist, and a former citizen or long-term resident who gave up that status with tax avoidance as one of the principal purposes is treated as a citizen for 10 years on income from that country's sources (1(6)).", "exceptions": "Under Article 1(5) as replaced by the 2002 protocol, everyone keeps Articles 9(2), 19(1)(b) (social security and public pensions), 19(3) (alimony and child support), 22, 24, 25 and 26; people who are neither citizens nor green card holders of the taxing country also keep Articles 20 (government service), 21 (students) and 28 (diplomats)." }, "pensions": { "article": "19(1)(a)", "summary": "A pension for past employment (other than a government-service pension, which follows Article 20(2), or social security) is taxable only in the country where the owner lives, and annuities are treated the same way under 19(2). This rule is not an exception to the saving clause, so the United States still taxes its citizens living in Mexico on their pensions." }, "socialSecurity": { "article": "19(1)(b)", "summary": "Social security benefits and other public pensions are taxable only by the country that pays them, when paid to a resident of the other country or to a US citizen. Because this is an exception to the saving clause, the United States may not tax Mexican social security even for a US citizen, and Mexico may not tax US Social Security paid to someone living in Mexico." }, "students": { "article": "21", "summary": "A student or business apprentice who is, or was just before the visit, a resident of the other country and is in the host country only for education or training is not taxed there on payments for maintenance, education or training that come from outside the host country. The article sets no time limit; pay for work and grants from inside the host country are not covered (1992 Technical Explanation), and the rule does not help a citizen or green card holder of the host country." }, "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "corrections": [ { "field": "savingClause.summary", "was": "a former citizen or long-term resident who gave up that status mainly to avoid tax is treated as a citizen for 10 years", "now": "a former citizen or long-term resident who gave up that status with tax avoidance as one of the principal purposes is treated as a citizen for 10 years", "evidence": "Article 1(6)(a) as replaced by the 2002 protocol, Article I: loss of status that 'had as one of its principal purposes the avoidance of tax'. 'Mainly' is a stronger test than the text sets." }, { "field": "socialSecurity.summary", "was": "US Social Security paid to a Mexican resident stays taxable by the United States (IRS Table 1 lists the 30 percent statutory rate, applied to 85 percent of the benefit)", "now": "the United States may not tax Mexican social security even for a US citizen, and Mexico may not tax US Social Security paid to someone living in Mexico; the 30% and 85% figures are removed", "evidence": "Article 19(1)(b) makes these benefits taxable only in the paying country when paid to a resident of the other country or a US citizen, and Article 1(5)(a) exempts 19(1)(b) from the saving clause, so Mexico cannot tax its own residents on US Social Security. The 30% and 85% figures are US domestic-law withholding figures read only in IRS Table 1, not in the treaty, and they describe a nonresident's withholding, which would mislead the likeliest reader, a US citizen living in Mexico." }, { "field": "note", "was": "Mexico treats a US citizen or green card holder as a US resident only if the person has a substantial presence in the United States or would be a US resident under the permanent home and vital interests tests", "now": "only if the person has a substantial presence in the United States, or has a permanent home, center of vital interests or habitual abode there rather than in a third country", "evidence": "1992 Protocol paragraph 2(a) refers to subparagraphs (a) and (b) of Article 4(2), and 4(2)(b) is the habitual abode test. The 1992 Technical Explanation, Article 4, reads it as permanent home, personal and economic relations, or habitual abode in the United States and not in a third country." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends 0% corporate tier (collector reducedCondition/note)", "was": "is publicly traded under Article 17(1)(d)(i) or (ii)", "now": "is a listed company or a wholly owned subsidiary of a listed company of its own country under Article 17(1)(d)(i) or (ii)", "evidence": "Article 10(3)(a)(ii) as replaced by the 2002 protocol refers to clauses (i) and (ii) of Article 17(1)(d); clause (ii) covers a company wholly owned by a resident listed company, not only a company that is itself traded. 2002 Technical Explanation, Article 10(3): 'a publicly-traded company or a subsidiary of a publicly-traded company'." }, { "field": "withholding.interest 10% bank-paid tier (collector note)", "was": "interest paid by a bank to a beneficial owner that is not a bank or insurer", "now": "an owner not covered by the 4.9% rate, on interest paid by a bank", "evidence": "Article 11(2)(b) applies 'if the beneficial owner is not a person described in subparagraph (a)', and subparagraph (a) covers traded bonds as well as bank and insurer loans; the collector's paraphrase omitted the traded-bond case." }, { "field": "withholding.interest tiers", "was": "government-paid interest exemption for individuals appeared only inside a combined reducedCondition", "now": "separate 0% tier for anyone resident in the other country, including an individual, on interest paid by either government or a political subdivision or local authority", "evidence": "Article 11(4)(b): interest 'paid by any of the persons mentioned in subparagraph (a)' is taxable only in the owner's residence country, with no condition on who the owner is. IRS Table 1 footnote hh omits this case, so a reader relying on Table 1 would miss it." }, { "field": "pensions.summary", "was": "the United States still taxes its own citizens and residents on these pensions", "now": "the United States still taxes its citizens living in Mexico on their pensions", "evidence": "Under Article 4 and the saving clause (1(4)), a person who is a treaty resident of Mexico is not a US resident for the saving clause (1992 and 2002 Technical Explanations, Article 1), so only citizenship keeps the US taxing right over a Mexico-resident pensioner. 'and residents' overstated it." }, { "field": "documentsRead (2002 protocol title)", "was": "replacing Articles 1 and 10, adding Article 11A(3), replacing Articles 13(4) and 24(3) and Protocol paragraph 8", "now": "also amends the cross-reference in Protocol paragraph 9", "evidence": "2002 protocol Article II(c) substitutes 'paragraph 6 of Article 10' for 'paragraph 4 of Article 10' in Protocol paragraph 9. Does not affect a published rate." } ], "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "Collector open question 1: the entry-into-force date of the 2002 Second Additional Protocol, and so the exact date the 10/5/0 dividend rates began", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. The published fields are the current rates, which the protocol text fixes; the historical start date is not published. IRS Table 3 gives the protocol's general effective date as Jan. 1, 2004, and protocol Article VI(b)(i) starts the dividend rates on the first day of the second month after entry into force.", "evidence": "2002 protocol Article VI; 2002 Technical Explanation, Article VI; IRS Table 3 Mexico rows." }, { "question": "Collector open question 2: the 2002 protocol signing date differs across sources (Treasury file name 2002-10-26, PDF header 'presented for signature' 2002-11-25, Technical Explanation 'signed on November 26, 2002')", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. The signing date is not published. The linked protocol PDF is the English text presented for signature with the place and date blank; its Article 10 text matches the Technical Explanation's description of every rate and condition.", "evidence": "Treaty-Mexico-Pr2-10-26-2002.pdf cover note and signature block; Treaty-Mexico-Pr2-TE-3-5-2003.pdf title page and Article 10 discussion." }, { "question": "Did the 1994 or 2002 protocol change Article 11 (interest) or Article 12 (royalties)?", "resolution": "No. The 1994 protocol replaces only Article 27. The 2002 protocol touches Articles 1, 10, 11A(3), 13(4), 24(3) and Protocol paragraphs 8 and 9, and nothing in Articles 11 or 12. The 11A(3) addition concerns the branch profits tax, not interest withholding.", "evidence": "1994 Additional Protocol Article I; 2002 Second Additional Protocol Articles I to V." }, { "question": "Does an individual holding publicly traded bonds get the 4.9% rate?", "resolution": "Yes. Article 11(2)(a)(ii) attaches the 4.9% rate to the interest (bonds or securities regularly and substantially traded on a recognized securities market) with no condition on the type of owner; individuals qualify for treaty benefits under Article 17(1)(a). Whether a given bond meets the trading test is factual and not assessed here. By contrast, the 11(2)(a)(i) loan tier is read by the 1992 Technical Explanation as available only when a bank or insurance company owns the interest.", "evidence": "Article 11(2)(a); 1992 Protocol paragraph 15(b); Article 17(1)(a); 1992 Technical Explanation, Article 11." }, { "question": "Is 15% the right 'general' interest rate, given that an individual's rate depends on the kind of debt?", "resolution": "Kept at 15% with byType false. The article itself sets 15% 'in all other cases' (11(2)(c)), which is the rate for an individual's ordinary private loan, and IRS Table 1 prints 15 for Mexico. Every lower rate an individual can reach (4.9% traded bonds, 10% bank-paid interest, 0% government-paid interest) is a separate tier with its own article, and the note says so, so the index must mark that tiers exist.", "evidence": "Article 11(2)(a) to (c) and 11(4); 1992 Technical Explanation, Article 11 ('depending upon the type of debt involved and on the identity of its holder'); IRS Table 1 Mexico row." }, { "question": "Do the saving-clause exceptions let a US citizen living in Mexico use the pension, social security and student rules?", "resolution": "Social security and public pensions (19(1)(b)) and alimony and child support (19(3)): yes, for everyone. Private pensions and annuities (19(1)(a), 19(2)): no, the US keeps taxing its citizens. Government service (20) and students (21): only for people who are neither citizens nor green card holders of the country granting the benefit.", "evidence": "Article 1(4) and 1(5) as replaced by 2002 protocol Article I; 2002 Technical Explanation, Article 1(5); 1992 Technical Explanation, Articles 19, 20 and 21." }, { "question": "Were the pre-2002 dividend rates the collector described (10% general, 5% for a 10% corporate holding, 15% for the first five years, no 0% rate) accurate?", "resolution": "Yes. 1992 Article 10(2) set 5% and 10%, 10(3) substituted 15% for the 10% rate for five years, and there was no 0% rate. Article 10 as replaced in 2002 governs today.", "evidence": "1992 Convention Article 10(2) and 10(3) in the IRS combined text; 2002 protocol Article II(a)." }, { "question": "tie-breaker steps rewritten to house style", "resolution": "re-read Article 4 and confirmed order and conditions", "evidence": "Article 4(2) of the 1992 Convention (irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/mexico.pdf); neither the 1994 nor the 2002 additional protocol amends Article 4. Sub-paragraph (d) reads \"in any other case\", not the usual national-of-both-or-neither condition." } ], "note": "The dividend rate an individual faces is 10%, not the 15% common in other US treaties. Interest is not one rate: it runs 15%, 10%, 4.9% or 0% depending on the kind of debt and who owns it, and an individual gets 4.9% on regularly traded bonds and 0% on government bonds. Mexico treats a US citizen or green card holder as a US resident only if the person has a substantial presence in the United States, or has a permanent home, center of vital interests or habitual abode there rather than in a third country (1992 Protocol paragraph 2(a)). A US citizen living in Mexico is still taxed by the United States on a private pension because of the saving clause, but not on Mexican social security.", "collectedAt": "2026-09-15" } }, { "country": "Moldova", "slug": "moldova", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/moldova-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1987", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "Moldova has no treaty of its own. The U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty, in force since 1987, applies (IRS Table 3, footnote 6).", "governedBy": "U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty", "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Morocco", "slug": "morocco", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/morocco-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1981", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Netherlands", "slug": "netherlands", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/netherlands-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1994", "latestProtocolEffective": "2005", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "New Zealand", "slug": "new-zealand", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/new-zealand-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1984", "latestProtocolEffective": "2011", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Norway", "slug": "norway", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/norway-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1971", "latestProtocolEffective": "1982", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Pakistan", "slug": "pakistan", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/pakistan-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1960", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Philippines", "slug": "philippines", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/philippines-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1983", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Poland", "slug": "poland", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/poland-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1974", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Portugal", "slug": "portugal", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/portugal-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1996", "latestProtocolEffective": "1996", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": { "documentsRead": [ { "title": "Convention between the United States and the Portuguese Republic, signed September 6, 1994, with the Protocol signed the same day (an integral part of the Convention); general effective date January 1, 1996", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/portugal.pdf", "inForce": "1996" }, { "title": "Treasury Department Technical Explanation of the Convention and Protocol signed September 6, 1994", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Portugal-TE-9-6-1994.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Portugal tax treaty documents page (links only the 1994 Convention and its Technical Explanation; no later protocol)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/portugal-tax-treaty-documents", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 1, Tax Rates on Income Other Than Personal Service Income (Rev. May 2023), Portugal rows and footnotes; cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/tax-treaty-table-1.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties: Portugal Convention and Protocol (TIAS 95-1218), both effective January 1, 1996; cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Publication 901, U.S. Tax Treaties (Rev. September 2024), Portugal entries; cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p901.pdf", "inForce": null } ], "withholding": { "dividends": { "general": 15, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "a company resident in the other country that has directly owned at least 25% of the paying company's capital for an unbroken 2 years before the dividend. The cap is whatever rate Portugal may apply to such dividends paid to European Union residents, and it never drops below 5%. It limits withholding by both countries, not only by Portugal", "article": "10(3)(b)", "floor": true } ], "article": "10(2)", "setBy": "1994 Convention; the same-day Protocol does not change dividend rates, and no later protocol exists", "note": "The corporate tier is not a number written into the treaty. For dividends paid after 1999, Article 10(3)(b) sets the cap at whatever rate Portugal may apply to such dividends paid to EU residents, with 5% as the minimum. The Technical Explanation says that cap applies to each country's withholding, so it also limits US tax on dividends a US subsidiary pays its Portuguese parent. The 5% shown here is that floor, and it is the figure IRS Table 1 lists. If Portugal's rate for EU parent companies were ever higher, the cap would follow it. For this tier, 'capital' means voting power when the payer is a US company, and nominal paid-in share capital when the payer is a Portuguese company (Technical Explanation). The corporate tier never applies to dividends from a US regulated investment company (RIC) or real estate investment trust (REIT), under Article 10(4). RIC dividends get 15%. REIT dividends get 15% only when the owner is an individual holding less than 25% of the REIT, and otherwise US domestic law applies. Portugal's separate substitute gift and inheritance tax on certain dividends sits outside the treaty. Protocol paragraph 8 only stops any later increase in its rate from applying to US residents." }, "interest": { "general": 10, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 0, "who": "interest paid by the government of the country where it arises, or by one of its political or administrative subdivisions or local authorities", "article": "11(3)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "interest paid to the government of the other country, one of its subdivisions or local authorities, or an institution or organization (including a financial institution) wholly owned by them", "article": "11(3)(b)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "interest on a loan of 5 years or more made by a bank or other financial institution resident in the other country", "article": "11(3)(c)" }, { "rate": 15, "who": "interest figured by reference to the profits of the issuer or a related enterprise (contingent interest), which is capped at the Article 10(2) dividend rate instead of 10%", "article": "11(4)" } ], "article": "11(2)", "setBy": "1994 Convention, with Protocol paragraph 9; no later protocol", "note": "US tax on an excess inclusion from a residual interest in a real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC) gets neither the 10% cap nor the exemptions and is taxed at the US domestic rate (Protocol paragraph 9). That rule applies only to US tax; otherwise the article works the same in both directions." }, "royalties": { "general": 10, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 0, "who": "royalties for the use of, or right to use, containers in international traffic, which only the recipient's country of residence may tax (the Technical Explanation says this includes related equipment such as cranes and trailers)", "article": "Protocol paragraph 11" } ], "article": "13(2)", "setBy": "1994 Convention, with Protocol paragraph 11; no later protocol", "note": "The 10% cap covers every kind of royalty in Article 13(3), including rent for industrial, commercial or scientific equipment and payments for related technical assistance performed in the paying country. Container rental counts as a royalty under this treaty (Technical Explanation, Article 8 discussion), which is why its exemption sits here." } }, "tieBreaker": { "article": "4(2)", "tests": [ "where you have a permanent home available to you", "if you have a permanent home available to you in both countries, where your personal and economic ties are closer (your center of vital interests)", "if that center cannot be determined, or you have no permanent home in either country, where you have a habitual abode", "if you have a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, the country you are a national of", "if you are a national of both countries or of neither, the two tax authorities settle it by mutual agreement" ] }, "savingClause": { "article": "Protocol paragraph 1(b)", "summary": "Each country may tax its own residents as if the treaty did not exist, and the United States may tax its citizens the same way. For this purpose a former citizen who gave up citizenship mainly to avoid tax still counts as a citizen, for 10 years after the loss.", "exceptions": "Some benefits survive the saving clause, and Protocol paragraph 1(c) lists them. Everyone keeps Articles 9(2) (corresponding adjustments), 20(1)(b) (social security and public pensions), 20(4) (child support), 25 (double tax relief), 26 (non-discrimination) and 27 (mutual agreement). A second group is kept only by people who are neither citizens of, nor hold immigrant status in, the country doing the taxing: Articles 21 (government service), 22 (teachers and researchers), 23 (students and trainees) and 29 (diplomats)." }, "pensions": { "article": "20(1)(a)", "summary": "A private pension for past employment is taxable only in the country where you live, and so is an annuity under 20(2). The saving clause still lets the United States tax its own citizens and residents on it. For a US citizen living in Portugal, Article 25(2) is what relieves the double tax. Government-service pensions work differently. Under Article 21(2) they are taxable only by the country that pays them, unless you are both a resident and a national of the other country. The saving clause preserves that rule only for people who are neither citizens of, nor hold immigrant status in, the country doing the taxing." }, "socialSecurity": { "article": "20(1)(b)", "summary": "Social security and other public pensions paid by one country to a resident of the other country, or to a US citizen, may be taxed by the country paying them. That is not an exclusive right, unlike the private pension rule. The Technical Explanation says both countries may tax the payment, and the country where you live gives relief under Article 25." }, "students": { "article": "23", "summary": "A student, professional trainee or grant-funded researcher who is temporarily in the other country is exempt there for up to 5 years on three things: money from abroad for maintenance and study, the grant itself, and up to 5,000 US dollars a year of work income. A separate rule covers someone who visits as an employee or contractor of a home-country business to gain experience or study. That person is exempt for 12 consecutive months on up to 8,000 US dollars of work income. Neither rule covers research done mainly for private benefit. A US citizen or green card holder cannot use this article against US tax." }, "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "corrections": [ { "field": "withholding.dividends (reduced / reducedCondition)", "was": "reduced: 5, with the EU-rate peg described only in reducedCondition; article \"10(2) general; 10(3)(b) reduced\"", "now": "general 15 at 10(2); one tier at 10(3)(b) whose rate cell is the 5% floor and whose who text says it is a floor, that the cap is the rate Portugal may apply to EU residents but never below 5%, and that it limits both countries' withholding", "evidence": "Convention Article 10(3)(b); Technical Explanation, Article 10: 'the rate for each of the Contracting states will be the rate Portugal may apply to such dividends paid to residents of European Union member states'" }, { "field": "withholding.interest", "was": "reduced: 0 with the three 11(3) conditions merged into one sentence; contingent interest only in note", "now": "three separate 0% tiers at 11(3)(a), (b), (c) and a 15% tier for contingent interest at 11(4); REMIC excess inclusion stays in note because it has no treaty rate", "evidence": "Convention Article 11(2), 11(3), 11(4); Protocol paragraph 9" }, { "field": "withholding.royalties", "was": "reduced: 0 for containers; article \"13(2) general; Protocol paragraph 11 for containers\"", "now": "general 10 at 13(2); one 0% container tier at Protocol paragraph 11 (confirmed a royalty under this treaty, not a shipping-profits item)", "evidence": "Protocol paragraph 11; Technical Explanation, Article 8: container rental 'treated as royalties'" }, { "field": "note (US government pensions)", "was": "\"US government pensions are the exception: Article 21(2) keeps them US-only for a US national living in Portugal\"", "now": "21(2) gives the United States the exclusive right, but Protocol 1(c)(ii) preserves Article 21 against Portugal's saving clause only for residents who are neither Portuguese citizens nor have immigrant status in Portugal, a term the treaty does not define", "evidence": "Protocol paragraph 1(b) and 1(c)(ii); Convention Article 21(2)" }, { "field": "pensions.summary", "was": "stated the Technical Explanation's example that a US national retiring to Portugal is taxed only by the United States on a US government pension, without the saving clause limit", "now": "states 21(2) with the Protocol 1(c)(ii) limit", "evidence": "Protocol paragraph 1(c)(ii)" }, { "field": "pensions.article", "was": "\"20(1)(a); 20(2) annuities; 21(2) government pensions\"", "now": "\"20(1)(a)\", with 20(2) and 21(2) named in the summary", "evidence": "Convention Articles 20 and 21" }, { "field": "socialSecurity.summary", "was": "included \"IRS Table 1 lists the US rate under 20(1)(b) as the statutory 30 percent, applied to 85 percent of the benefit\"", "now": "removed; that figure is US domestic law read from a cross-check table (Table 1 column footnote qq), not treaty text", "evidence": "IRS Table 1, Portugal row and footnote qq; Convention Article 20(1)(b) states no rate" } ], "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "The corporate dividend tier is not a fixed number; no irs.gov or treasury.gov document states Portugal's current rate for EU parent companies.", "resolution": "Affects a published field and is handled by representation, not by guessing. The tier carries 5% explicitly labeled as the treaty floor, its who text quotes the peg, and the note says the cap follows Portugal's EU rate if that is higher. 5% matches IRS Table 1. Read word for word, 10(3)(b) needs a company beneficial owner resident in the other country, direct ownership of at least 25% of the payer's capital for an uninterrupted 2 years before payment, and the Technical Explanation confirms the cap binds both countries, not only Portugal. If the reviewer judges a 5% rate cell misleading even with the label, drop the tier and keep the note.", "evidence": "Convention Article 10(3)(b); Technical Explanation, Article 10; IRS Table 1 Portugal row" }, { "question": "The Technical Explanation's saving clause section calls 20(1)(b) an 'exemption from U.S. tax of social security benefits paid by Portugal', while the treaty and the Technical Explanation's Article 20 section say only that the paying country 'may' tax.", "resolution": "Settled for what publishes. Article 20(1)(a) says 'taxable only' and 20(1)(b), in the same paragraph, says 'may be taxed', so 20(1)(b) is not exclusive; the Technical Explanation's own Article 20 discussion says social security 'may be taxable in both Contracting States' with residence-country relief under Article 25, and IRS Table 1 lists US tax on US social security paid to Portugal residents under 20(1)(b). The published summary states only that. How the United States treats Portuguese social security received by US citizens or residents is not settled by these documents and is not published; the note says the page does not state it.", "evidence": "Convention Article 20(1)(a) and (b); Technical Explanation, Article 20 and Protocol paragraph 1(c) discussion; IRS Table 1" }, { "question": "The Technical Explanation's list of saving clause exceptions includes Article 14(3), which the Protocol text does not.", "resolution": "Settled: the Protocol paragraph 1(c)(i) text was re-read and names Articles 9(2), 20(1)(b), 20(4), 25, 26 and 27 only. The published exceptions follow the treaty text. Article 14 does not otherwise publish.", "evidence": "Protocol paragraph 1(c)(i)" }, { "question": "Whether IRAs, 401(k) plans or lump sums count as 'pensions and other similar remuneration' under 20(1)(a).", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. The pensions summary names only private pensions for past employment and annuities as the treaty defines them and makes no claim about IRAs, 401(k) plans or lump sums.", "evidence": "Convention Article 20(1)(a) and 20(2); IRS Table 1 footnote d" }, { "question": "(Verifier) Does the Technical Explanation's statement that the United States alone taxes a US national retired in Portugal on a US government pension hold against the saving clause?", "resolution": "Only partly. Article 21(2)(a) gives the paying country the exclusive right, but Protocol 1(b) lets Portugal tax its residents as if the treaty did not exist, and 1(c)(ii) restores Article 21 only for individuals who are neither citizens of, nor have immigrant status in, Portugal. The treaty does not define immigrant status in Portugal, so the page states the conditional rule and does not promise US-only taxation.", "evidence": "Convention Article 21(2); Protocol paragraph 1(b) and 1(c)(ii); Technical Explanation, Article 21" }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of note", "resolution": "Split one stacked block into six paragraphs, one point each, rather than the four the editor suggested, because the Protocol 3(c) residence rule, the Madeira and Santa Maria exclusion and the social security silence are three separate points. Re-read each governing text: 20(1)(a) taxes a private pension only in the residence country; Protocol 1(b) preserves US tax on citizens and 1(c)(i) does not list 20(1)(a); 21(2); Protocol 1(c)(ii); 10(3)(b); Protocol 3(c); Article 17(6). One wording change: the old note called Article 25(2) a credit. Read word for word, 25(2) resources income taxed by the US solely by reason of citizenship so that it is deemed to arise in Portugal, provided US tax is not less than it would be for a non-citizen. The plain version says it treats the income as arising in Portugal so double tax can be relieved, which is what the paragraph does. Article 17(6) denies benefits to a person 'entitled to income tax benefits' under the tax-free zone rules, so the plain version says 'entitled to income tax benefits' rather than 'entitled to the benefits'. No rate, percentage, holding period or article reference changed.", "evidence": "Convention Articles 10(3)(b), 17(6), 20(1)(a), 21(2), 25(2); Protocol paragraphs 1(b), 1(c)(i), 1(c)(ii), 3(c); Technical Explanation, Articles 10 and 21" }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of pensions.summary", "resolution": "Broke a 46-word opening sentence into three and split the government-pension half into three more. Re-read 20(1)(a) ('taxable only in that State'), 20(2) annuities, 21(2)(a) (taxable only in the paying State) and 21(2)(b) (taxable only in the other State if the individual is a resident and national of that State), plus Protocol 1(b) and 1(c)(ii). Both conditions in 21(2)(b) survive as 'both a resident and a national', and the 1(c)(ii) limit is stated in the treaty's own terms. No article reference added or removed.", "evidence": "Convention Articles 20(1)(a), 20(2), 21(2); Protocol paragraphs 1(b) and 1(c)(ii)" }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of socialSecurity.summary", "resolution": "Split one long sentence into three; content unchanged. Re-read 20(1)(b), which says such payments 'may be taxed' in the paying State, against 20(1)(a), which says 'taxable only', confirming the non-exclusive reading the summary states, and re-read the Technical Explanation's Article 20 discussion for the both-countries point and Article 25 relief.", "evidence": "Convention Article 20(1)(a) and 20(1)(b); Technical Explanation, Article 20" }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of savingClause.summary", "resolution": "Pulled the 10-year former-citizen rule out of a parenthesis into its own sentence. Re-read Protocol 1(b): a Contracting State may tax its residents and the United States may tax its citizens as if the Convention had not come into effect, and 'citizen' includes a former citizen whose loss of citizenship had as one of its principal purposes the avoidance of tax, for 10 years following the loss. The 10 years and the 'mainly to avoid tax' condition both survive.", "evidence": "Protocol paragraph 1(b)" }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of savingClause.exceptions", "resolution": "Led with what the list is, then gave the two groups as separate sentences. Re-read Protocol 1(c) word for word: 1(c)(i) names Articles 9(2), 20(1)(b), 20(4), 25, 26 and 27; 1(c)(ii) names Articles 21, 22, 23 and 29 for individuals who are neither citizens of, nor have immigrant status in, that State. Same six articles, same four articles, same condition.", "evidence": "Protocol paragraph 1(c)(i) and 1(c)(ii)" }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of students.summary", "resolution": "Split one semicolon sentence into five. Re-read Article 23: paragraph 1 gives up to 5 years for a student, a person securing training to qualify for a profession, or a grant recipient studying or doing research, covering payments from abroad, the grant, and personal service income up to 5,000 United States dollars per taxable year; paragraph 2 gives 12 consecutive months and 8,000 United States dollars to an employee of, or person under contract with, a resident of the home country; paragraph 3 excludes research primarily for private benefit. All four figures unchanged. The closing US citizen and green card sentence rests on Protocol 1(c)(ii) and is unchanged.", "evidence": "Convention Article 23(1), 23(2), 23(3); Protocol paragraph 1(c)(ii)" }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of withholding.dividends.tiers[0].who", "resolution": "Split one run-on into three sentences for a table cell. Re-read Article 10(3): the beneficial owner must be a company resident in the other State that, for an uninterrupted period of 2 years prior to the payment, owns directly at least 25 percent of the capital of the payer, and 10(3)(b) sets the rate Portugal may apply to such dividends paid to residents of EU member states, not less than 5 percent. The Technical Explanation confirms the rate applies 'for each of the Contracting States', which is the both-countries sentence. 25%, 2 years and 5% unchanged.", "evidence": "Convention Article 10(3) and 10(3)(b); Technical Explanation, Article 10" }, { "question": "plain-English rewrite of withholding.dividends.note", "resolution": "Broke five long sentences into eleven short ones; nothing added or dropped. Re-read 10(3)(b) for the post-1999 EU peg and the 5 percent minimum, the Technical Explanation for the each-State reading and for 'capital' meaning voting power in the US case and social capital, the nominal paid-in value of the shares, in the Portuguese case, 10(4) for the RIC and REIT carve-out and the individual holding a less than 25 percent interest, and Protocol paragraph 8 for the substitute gift and inheritance tax. Every figure, 1999, 5%, 15% and 25%, is unchanged.", "evidence": "Convention Article 10(3)(b) and 10(4); Protocol paragraph 8; Technical Explanation, Article 10; IRS Table 1 Portugal row" }, { "question": "tie-breaker steps rewritten to house style", "resolution": "re-read Article 4 and confirmed order and conditions. Every condition was already right, so the changes are wording, not substance. Steps 1 and 2 now carry 'available to you', which is the treaty's own test in 4(2)(a) ('a permanent home available to him') and is narrower than merely having a home. Steps 3 and 4 now say 'habitual abode', the treaty's term in 4(2)(b) and (c), in place of 'where you habitually live'. Step 3's condition matches 4(2)(b) word for word: the centre cannot be determined, or there is no permanent home available in either State. Step 2 correctly carries only the 'both countries' branch, because unlike Canada, Portugal's 4(2)(a) routes only the both-States case to the centre of vital interests and leaves the neither case to 4(2)(b). Step 5 says 'settle it by mutual agreement', matching 4(2)(d). 'National' is kept throughout, per 4(2)(c) and (d), and 'center' keeps the treaty's own spelling. Order and step count are unchanged at five.", "evidence": "Convention Article 4(2)(a) to (d), signed September 6, 1994 (irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/portugal.pdf). The same-day Protocol refers to Article 4 only at paragraph 3, which qualifies Article 4(1) (pass-through entities, not-for-profits, pension trusts, and Portugal's treatment of US citizens and green card holders). It does not amend 4(2). No later protocol exists." } ], "note": [ "The mistake Americans retiring to Portugal most often make is reading Article 20 as an exemption. Under 20(1)(a) Portugal alone may tax a private pension, but the saving clause keeps US tax on US citizens. Relief comes through Article 25(2), which treats that income as arising in Portugal so that the double tax can be relieved. It is relief, not an exemption.", "US government pensions are not a clean exception either. The Technical Explanation says the United States alone taxes a US national retired in Portugal under Article 21(2). But the saving clause lets Portugal tax its own residents on Article 21 income unless they are neither Portuguese citizens nor hold immigrant status in Portugal, and the treaty never defines immigrant status.", "The corporate dividend rate is not simply 5%. It needs a direct holding of at least 25% of the payer's capital for 2 years, and the cap tracks the rate Portugal may apply to EU parent companies, with 5% as the floor.", "Portugal treats a US citizen or green card holder as a US resident only if that person has a substantial presence in the United States, or has ties that would make that person a resident of the United States and not of a third country (Protocol paragraph 3(c)).", "Anyone entitled to income tax benefits under the Madeira or Santa Maria Island tax-free zone rules gets no benefits from this treaty at all (Article 17(6)).", "The treaty does not say how the United States treats Portuguese social security received by its own citizens or residents, and this page does not state it." ], "collectedAt": "2026-09-15" } }, { "country": "Romania", "slug": "romania", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/romania-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1974", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Russia", "slug": "russia", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/russia-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1994", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "Partly suspended, and the suspension covers every article that sets a rate. On 2024-07-01 the United States gave notice suspending Article 1(4), Articles 5 to 21 and Article 23 of the US-Russia treaty and its Protocol by mutual agreement, effective 2024-08-16 for taxes withheld at source and other taxes, continuing until the two governments decide otherwise (IRS Table 3, footnote 8; the IRS treaty index marks it Treaty Partially Suspended). No withholding rate from this treaty should be presented as available.", "governedBy": null, "status": "partially-suspended", "articles": null, "suspensionScope": "every article that sets a withholding rate" }, { "country": "Slovak Republic", "slug": "slovak-republic", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/slovak-republic-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1993", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Slovenia", "slug": "slovenia", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/slovenia-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2002", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "South Africa", "slug": "south-africa", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/south-africa-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1998", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Spain", "slug": "spain", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/spain-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1991", "latestProtocolEffective": "2019", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": { "documentsRead": [ { "title": "Convention and Protocol signed at Madrid 1990-02-22 (IRS text; general effective date 1991-01-01 per IRS Table 3)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/spain.pdf", "inForce": "1991" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 1990 Convention", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/spain-te-1990.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Protocol signed 2013-01-14 amending the Convention, with Memorandum of Understanding (TIAS 19-1127; general effective date 2019-11-27 per IRS Table 3)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Spain-Protocol-1-14-2013.pdf", "inForce": "2019" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 2013 Protocol (2014)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-Spain-Protocol-TE-6-19-2014.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties (updated through 2025-09-26), for protocol effective date", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 1, Tax Rates on Income Other Than Personal Service Income (Rev. May 2023), cross-check only", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/tax-treaty-table-1.pdf", "inForce": null } ], "withholding": { "dividends": { "general": 15, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "a company that directly owns at least 10 percent of the voting stock of the company paying the dividends", "article": "10(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a company that has owned 80 percent or more of the voting stock of the payer, directly or through residents of either country, for the 12 months ending on the date entitlement to the dividend is determined, and that also passes one of the anti-abuse (limitation on benefits) tests listed in the article or gets a competent authority determination", "article": "10(3)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a pension fund resident in the other country that is generally exempt from tax or taxed at zero, on dividends not earned from a trade or business carried on by the fund or through an associated enterprise", "article": "10(4)" } ], "article": "10(2)(b)", "setBy": "2013 Protocol Article IV, which replaced Article 10 in full; effective for dividends paid or credited on or after 2019-11-27 (Protocol Article XV(2)(a); date per IRS Table 3). Before that the 1990 text set 15 percent generally and 10 percent for a company holding 25 percent of the voting stock.", "note": "The 5 percent rate never applies to dividends from a US RIC or REIT, a Spanish SOCIMI, or a Spanish collective investment institution (1990 Protocol paragraph 7 as replaced by 2013 Protocol Article XIV(2)). RIC dividends get 15 percent, or 0 for a qualifying pension fund. REIT dividends get those rates only if the owner is an individual or pension fund holding 10 percent or less of the REIT, or holds 5 percent or less of any class of a publicly traded REIT stock, or holds 10 percent or less of a diversified REIT; otherwise the treaty's 15 percent limit does not apply. SOCIMI dividends get 15 percent (or the pension fund exemption) only if the owner holds 10 percent or less of the SOCIMI's capital. The Memorandum of Understanding (paragraph 3(a)) lists US 401(a) and 401(k) trusts, 403(b) plans, IRAs, Roth IRAs and the Thrift Savings Fund among US pension funds. Separately, Article 17(6) caps source tax at 15 percent on dividends attributable to a low-taxed permanent establishment in a third country. The rates are symmetrical." }, "interest": { "general": 0, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 10, "who": "a Spanish resident receiving US-source contingent interest of a type that does not qualify as portfolio interest under US law (applies only to interest arising in the US)", "article": "11(2)(a)" } ], "article": "11(1)", "setBy": "2013 Protocol Article V, which replaced Article 11 in full; effective for interest paid or credited on or after 2019-11-27. The 1990 text allowed source tax of up to 10 percent, with exemptions for government, long-term bank loans and equipment credit sales.", "note": "Asymmetric: the contingent interest rate and the REMIC rule apply only to interest arising in the United States. Interest that is an excess inclusion on a residual interest in a REMIC may be taxed by the US under its domestic law with no treaty limit (11(2)(b)). Article 17(6) caps source tax at 15 percent on interest attributable to a low-taxed permanent establishment in a third country." }, "royalties": { "general": 0, "byType": false, "tiers": [], "article": "12(1)", "setBy": "2013 Protocol Article VI, which replaced Article 12 in full; effective for royalties paid or credited on or after 2019-11-27. The 1990 text had source rates of 5, 8 and 10 percent depending on what was licensed.", "note": "The 2013 definition in 12(2) no longer includes payments for the use of industrial, commercial or scientific equipment, which the 1990 text taxed at 8 percent. Article 17(6) caps source tax at 15 percent on royalties attributable to a low-taxed permanent establishment in a third country, unless the intangible was produced or developed by that permanent establishment. Symmetrical." } }, "tieBreaker": { "article": "4(2)", "tests": [ "where you have a permanent home available to you", "if you have a permanent home in both countries, where your personal and economic ties are closer (your centre of vital interests)", "if that centre cannot be determined, or you have no permanent home in either country, where you have a habitual abode", "if you have a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, the country you are a national of", "if you are a national of both countries or of neither, the two tax authorities settle it by mutual agreement" ] }, "savingClause": { "article": "1(3)", "summary": "Each country may tax its own residents (as decided under Article 4) and its own citizens as if the treaty did not exist, and for this purpose the US counts a former citizen for 10 years if avoiding tax was one of the principal purposes of giving up citizenship (1990 Protocol paragraph 1).", "exceptions": "Article 1(4)(a) keeps these benefits for everyone: correlative adjustments (9(2)), child support (20(4)), double tax relief (24), non-discrimination (25) and mutual agreement (26); Article 1(4)(b) keeps government service (21), student and trainee (22) and diplomat (28) benefits only for people who are neither citizens of the taxing country nor hold immigrant status there (in the US, a green card)." }, "pensions": { "article": "20(1)(a)", "summary": "A private pension for past employment is taxable only in the country where the retiree lives, although the saving clause still lets the US tax its own citizens living in Spain; a pension for government service is generally taxable only by the paying government, unless the retiree is both a resident and a national of the other country (21(2)). Under 20(5), added in 2013, the country where a person lives may not tax the growth inside a pension fund based in the other country until money is paid out." }, "socialSecurity": { "article": "20(1)(b)", "summary": "Social security benefits, including publicly run non-government pensions such as US Railroad Retirement (1990 Protocol paragraph 15), may be taxed by the paying country when paid to a resident of the other country or to a US citizen. That right is not exclusive, so the country where the recipient lives may tax them too and gives relief under Article 24, and the US keeps the right to tax its own citizens in any case." }, "students": { "article": "22", "summary": "A visiting student, professional trainee or grant-funded student or researcher is exempt in the host country for up to five years on payments from abroad, the grant itself, and up to 5,000 US dollars a year of local earnings (22(1)); an employee of, or contractor for, a home-country business who visits to study or gain experience is exempt on up to 8,000 US dollars of earnings for 12 consecutive months (22(2)). Both caps count amounts already excluded under domestic law (1990 Protocol paragraph 16), and the host country need not give this relief to its own citizens or green card holders (1(4)(b))." }, "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "note": "Most published Spain rates predate the 2013 Protocol, which took effect only for payments on or after 2019-11-27. It cut interest and royalties to 0 (from up to 10 percent), cut the corporate dividend rate to 5 percent at a 10 percent holding (from 10 percent at 25 percent) and added 0 percent for 80 percent parents and pension funds, while the individual dividend rate stayed at 15 percent. A US citizen or green card holder counts as a US resident under this treaty only with a substantial presence in the US, or if the permanent home, vital interests and habitual abode tests of 4(2)(a) and (b) would make them a US resident rather than a resident of another country (1990 Protocol paragraph 5(a), kept by the 2013 Protocol). IRS Table 1 (May 2023) agrees with the treaty text on the dividend, interest and royalty rates.", "corrections": [ { "field": "pensions.summary", "was": "the saving clause still lets the US tax its citizens and green card holders living in Spain", "now": "the saving clause still lets the US tax its own citizens living in Spain", "evidence": "Article 1(3) reserves tax on residents 'as determined under Article 4 (Residence)' and on citizens. 1990 Protocol paragraph 5(a) makes a green card holder a US resident only with substantial US presence or under the 4(2)(a)-(b) tests, and the 1990 Technical Explanation (Article 1) says the saving clause cannot be applied to a person the tie-breaker makes a resident of the other country. A green card holder resident in Spain under Article 4 is not reached by the saving clause." }, { "field": "savingClause.summary", "was": "a former citizen who gave up citizenship mainly to avoid tax", "now": "a former citizen for 10 years if avoiding tax was one of the principal purposes of giving up citizenship", "evidence": "1990 Protocol paragraph 1: a former citizen 'whose loss of citizenship has as one of its principal purposes the avoidance of tax, but only for a period of 10 years'. 'Mainly' is narrower than the text." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends.note (REIT limit)", "was": "otherwise US domestic rates apply", "now": "otherwise the treaty's 15 percent limit does not apply", "evidence": "2013 Protocol Article XIV(2), replacing 1990 Protocol paragraph 7(b): 10(2)(b) and 10(4) 'shall apply only if' one of three holding tests is met. Unlike the 1990 text, it does not state which rate applies otherwise." }, { "field": "withholding.interest (tier structure)", "was": "no tiers; the 10 percent contingent interest rate appeared only in note", "now": "10 percent contingent interest rate recorded as a tier at 11(2)(a), US-source only", "evidence": "2013 Protocol Article V, new Article 11(2)(a). The verified schema requires every other rate the article sets to be a tier." } ], "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "The 2014 Technical Explanation says Article I of the 2013 Protocol revises Article 1 'by deleting references to Article 20', but the Protocol text only adds paragraphs 5 and 6. Is child support (20(4)) still a saving clause exception?", "resolution": "Yes. The Protocol text governs and does not touch Article 1(4), which still lists paragraph 4 of Article 20. The Technical Explanation's Article I discussion covers only new paragraphs 5 and 6, and that document has other evident drafting slips (it calls the 1990 Protocol 'signed at Washington on November 6, 2003' and refers to 'the saving clause of paragraph 4' when the saving clause is paragraph 3). The Technical Explanation ties the Exchange of Notes only to the Memorandum of Understanding's pension fund list, not to Article 1.", "evidence": "2013 Protocol Article I (adds 1(5) and 1(6) only); 1990 Convention Article 1(4)(a); 2014 Technical Explanation pages 1 to 3 and its description of MOU paragraph 3(a) 'as corrected by the Exchange of Notes'." }, { "question": "The Exchange of Notes dated 2013-07-23 is not linked from the IRS or Treasury Spain pages and was not read. Did it change anything published?", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. The Technical Explanation describes it only as correcting Memorandum of Understanding paragraph 3(a), the list of US pension funds. The only published mention of that list (IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(a)/401(k) trusts, 403(b) plans, Thrift Savings Fund, in the dividends note) appears identically in both the signed MOU text and the Technical Explanation's description of the corrected list; the only wording difference visible between the two concerns the group trust sentence, which is not published.", "evidence": "2013 MOU paragraph 3(a); 2014 Technical Explanation discussion of Article 3(1)(j)." }, { "question": "Did the 2013 Protocol renumber or change the students, pensions, social security or tie-breaker articles?", "resolution": "No renumbering. The Protocol replaces Articles 10, 11, 12, 17 and 27, deletes Article 14 (keeping its number as 'Deleted'), amends Articles 1, 3, 5, 13, 25 and 26, adds 20(5), and amends 1990 Protocol paragraphs 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19 and adds 21. Articles 4, 20(1), 21 and 22 and 1990 Protocol paragraphs 1, 5(a), 15 and 16 are untouched; students remain Article 22.", "evidence": "2013 Protocol Articles I to XIV, read in full." }, { "question": "Social security under 20(1)(b) and the saving clause for US citizens.", "resolution": "20(1)(b) gives the paying country a non-exclusive right to tax, so the residence country may also tax and gives relief under Article 24; the US can tax its citizens regardless through 1(3). The 1990 Technical Explanation states both countries may tax and the residence country allows relief.", "evidence": "1990 Convention Article 20(1)(b), Article 24; 1990 Protocol paragraph 15; 1990 Technical Explanation, Article 20." }, { "question": "tie-breaker steps rewritten to house style", "resolution": "re-read Article 4 and confirmed order and conditions", "evidence": "Article 4(2) of the 1990 Convention (irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/spain.pdf); the 2013 protocol and its Memorandum of Understanding leave Article 4(2) unchanged." } ], "collectedAt": "2026-09-15" } }, { "country": "Sri Lanka", "slug": "sri-lanka", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/sri-lanka-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2004", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Sweden", "slug": "sweden", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/sweden-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1996", "latestProtocolEffective": "2007", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Switzerland", "slug": "switzerland", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/switzerland-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1998", "latestProtocolEffective": "2020", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Tajikistan", "slug": "tajikistan", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/tajikistan-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1987", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "Tajikistan has no treaty of its own. The U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty, in force since 1987, applies (IRS Table 3, footnote 6).", "governedBy": "U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty", "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Thailand", "slug": "thailand", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/thailand-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1998", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": { "documentsRead": [ { "title": "IRS Thailand tax treaty documents page (links only the 1996 Convention and the Treasury Technical Explanation; no protocol)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/thailand-tax-treaty-documents", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Convention (signed Bangkok, November 26, 1996), with Letter of Submittal, Letter of Transmittal and exchange of notes", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/thailand.pdf", "inForce": "1998" }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the 1996 Convention", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/thaitech.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 1, Tax Rates on Income Other Than Personal Service Income (Rev. May 2023), cross-check only; Thailand rows and footnotes f, g, w, z, qq and bbb read", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/tax-treaty-table-1.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties (updated through September 26, 2025), source of the entry-into-force year above (general effective date) and of in-effect status with no protocol", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "inForce": null } ], "withholding": { "dividends": { "general": 15, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 10, "who": "a company resident in the other country that controls at least 10% of the voting power of the company paying the dividend (the Technical Explanation says indirect holdings and non-voting shares do not count)", "article": "10(2)(a)" } ], "article": "10(2)(b)", "setBy": "base treaty (1996 Convention); no protocol exists", "note": "An individual can never use the 10% rate; it is for companies only. Dividends from a US regulated investment company (RIC) are capped at 15% and never get 10% (10(3)). Dividends from a US real estate investment trust (REIT) never get 10%, and get 15% only if the owner is an individual holding less than a 25% interest in the REIT; otherwise the full US domestic rate applies, which the Technical Explanation describes as the 30% statutory rate (10(3)). The same RIC and REIT limits reach Thai companies only once the two tax authorities agree a Thai company is similar. Rates are symmetrical." }, "interest": { "general": 15, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 10, "who": "interest beneficially owned by any financial institution, including an insurance company", "article": "11(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 10, "who": "interest on a debt arising from a sale on credit of equipment, merchandise or services by a resident of the other country, unless buyer and seller were not dealing at arm's length", "article": "11(2)(b)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "interest paid to the government of the other country, or to a resident of the other country on a debt guaranteed or insured by that other country's government (for Thailand this includes the Bank of Thailand, the Export-Import Bank of Thailand, local authorities and agreed wholly government-owned financial institutions; for the United States, the Federal Reserve Banks, the Export-Import Bank, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, states and local authorities, and agreed wholly government-owned financial institutions)", "article": "11(3)" } ], "article": "11(2)(c)", "setBy": "base treaty (1996 Convention); no protocol exists", "note": "The 0% rate turns on the lender's or guarantor's government, meaning the government of the country where the recipient lives; it is not an exemption for all interest on government bonds, whatever the Letter of Submittal's shorthand suggests. None of these limits applies to an excess inclusion on a residual interest in a US real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC) (11(8)). Rates are symmetrical." }, "royalties": { "general": null, "byType": true, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "payments for the use of, or right to use, a copyright of a literary, artistic or scientific work, including software, and motion pictures and works on film, tape or other media for radio or television broadcasting", "article": "12(2)(a), 12(3)(a)" }, { "rate": 8, "who": "payments for the use of, or right to use, industrial, commercial or scientific equipment", "article": "12(2)(b), 12(3)(b)" }, { "rate": 15, "who": "payments for the use of, or right to use, a patent, trademark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process, or for information about industrial, commercial or scientific experience (know-how)", "article": "12(2)(c), 12(3)(c)" } ], "article": "12(2)", "setBy": "base treaty (1996 Convention); no protocol exists", "note": "The rate depends on what is licensed, not on who receives the payment, so there is no single rate for an individual. Most US treaties treat equipment rental as business profits; this one treats it as a royalty at 8% (Technical Explanation to 12(2)(b)). The Technical Explanation also says a software payment can be a royalty or a sale depending on the facts, and payments for shrink-wrap software are business profits. Royalties include gains on selling such a right when the price depends on its productivity, use or disposition (12(3)). Rates are symmetrical." } }, "tieBreaker": { "article": "4(2)", "tests": [ "where you have a permanent home available to you", "if you have a permanent home in both countries, where your personal and economic ties are closer (your centre of vital interests)", "if that centre cannot be determined, or you have no permanent home in either country, where you have a habitual abode", "if you have a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, the country you are a national of", "if you are a national of both countries or of neither, the two tax authorities settle it by mutual agreement" ] }, "savingClause": { "article": "1(2)", "summary": "Each country may tax its own residents, and tax its citizens, as if the treaty did not exist; this reaches a former citizen whose loss of citizenship had tax avoidance as one of its principal purposes, and for the United States a former long-term lawful resident with the same purpose, for 10 years after the loss.", "exceptions": "For everyone, including US citizens (1(3)(a)): correlative transfer-pricing adjustments (9(2)), social security and child support taxed only by the paying country (20(2) and 20(5)), relief from double taxation (25), non-discrimination (26) and mutual agreement (27). Only for individuals who are neither citizens nor immigrants of the taxing country (1(3)(b)): government service (21), students and trainees (22), teachers (23) and diplomats (29)." }, "pensions": { "article": "20(1)", "summary": "A private pension or similar payment for past employment, paid to a resident of either country, is taxable only in the country where the recipient lives; the Technical Explanation says US plans covered include 401(a), IRA, SEP, 403(a), 403(b) and non-discriminatory 457 plans, but only for distributions meeting its age, service and timing conditions. Because 20(1) is not an exception to the saving clause, the United States still taxes a US citizen living in Thailand on a US pension, and government-service pensions follow 21(2) instead: taxable only by the paying government unless the retiree is both a resident and a national of the other country." }, "socialSecurity": { "article": "20(2)", "summary": "Social security and similar public pensions (including US tier 1 Railroad Retirement) paid by one country to a resident of the other country or to a US citizen are taxable only by the paying country, and this overrides the saving clause: US Social Security received by a resident of Thailand is taxable only by the United States, and Thai social security received by a US resident or a US citizen is taxable only by Thailand." }, "students": { "article": "22", "summary": "A student, professional trainee or grant-funded researcher visiting from the other country is exempt in the host country on gifts from abroad, on the grant, and on up to 3,000 US dollars a year of local pay, for up to five tax years from arrival, counting any time under Article 23 (22(1), 22(4)); an employee or contractor of a home-country resident visiting to gain experience from someone other than the employer, or to study, is exempt on up to 7,500 US dollars a year of pay for up to 12 consecutive months (22(2)), and a participant in a host-government program lasting up to one year is exempt on up to 10,000 US dollars a year of related pay (22(3)). None of this helps a US citizen or green card holder in the United States (1(3)(b))." }, "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "note": "There is one document and no protocol, so every rate is still the 1996 text. Three things a reader would most likely get wrong. First, Thailand's rates are higher and more tiered than the US model treaty: dividends 15% (10% only for a company controlling 10% of the voting power), interest 15% (10% for financial institutions and arm's-length credit sales, 0% for a government lender or government-guaranteed debt), and royalties that depend on what is licensed: 5% copyright including software, 8% equipment rental, 15% patents, trademarks and know-how. Second, for Americans retired in Thailand, US Social Security is taxable only by the United States (20(2)), while a qualifying private US pension or IRA is assigned to Thailand by 20(1) but the United States still taxes its citizens on it under the saving clause. Third, under 4(1) a US citizen or green card holder who is not a Thai resident counts as a US resident for treaty purposes only with a substantial presence, permanent home or habitual abode in the United States; one who is also a Thai resident goes to the 4(2) tie-breaker. Separately, the treaty's own 18(6) says that where the country of residence taxes income only by reference to the amount remitted to or received in it, the other country's treaty relief covers only the amount remitted in the calendar year the income accrues or the next year; IRS Table 1 footnote bbb flags this for Thailand. IRS Table 1 agrees with the treaty text on every rate and article checked.", "corrections": [ { "field": "withholding.royalties", "was": "general 15 recorded as the highest ceiling, reduced 5 for copyright, 8% and 15% only in note", "now": "general null, byType true, tiers 5% (12(2)(a)), 8% (12(2)(b)) and 15% (12(2)(c)) each with its licensed-item condition", "evidence": "12(2) sets the ceiling by the class of royalty defined in 12(3)(a), (b) and (c), not by type of recipient; the second amendment requires byType true with general null in this case." }, { "field": "withholding.royalties.note", "was": "an individual author or software licensor would normally face the 5% copyright tier", "now": "removed; adds the Technical Explanation's point that software payments can be a royalty or a sale depending on the facts, and shrink-wrap software is business profits", "evidence": "Technical Explanation to 12(2) and (3): consideration for software 'is treated either as royalties or as income from the alienation of tangible personal property, depending on the facts and circumstances'. The text does not say which tier an individual 'normally' faces." }, { "field": "withholding.dividends and withholding.interest", "was": "general / reduced / reducedCondition with further tiers in note", "now": "general with every other rate as a tier (dividends 10% at 10(2)(a); interest 10% at 11(2)(a), 10% at 11(2)(b), 0% at 11(3)); general article moved to 10(2)(b) and 11(2)(c)", "evidence": "Schema change only (second amendment). Rates and conditions re-read in 10(2), 10(3), 11(2), 11(3) and matched the collection." }, { "field": "savingClause.summary", "was": "Each country keeps the right to tax its own residents, and the United States its citizens", "now": "Each country may tax its own residents, and tax its citizens; former citizen rule applies to either country, former long-term resident rule to the United States only", "evidence": "1(2): 'a Contracting State may tax its residents ... and by reason of citizenship may tax its citizens'; the former long-term lawful resident sentence opens 'In the case of the United States'. The text says 'one of its principal purposes'." }, { "field": "pensions.summary", "was": "lists 401(a) plans, IRAs, SEPs, 403(b) and non-discriminatory 457 plans as covered without qualification", "now": "adds 403(a) plans and states that only distributions meeting the Technical Explanation's age, service and timing conditions qualify", "evidence": "Technical Explanation to 20(1) lists 401(a), individual retirement plans including SEP and 408(p) accounts, non-discriminatory 457, 403(a) and 403(b), then: 'certain distribution requirements must be met before distributions from these plans would fall under paragraph 1' (five years with the same employer or age 62, plus death or disability, substantially equal payments, or age 55, and separation from service or age 65)." }, { "field": "students.summary", "was": "employee or contractor of a home-country resident visiting to gain experience or study; no saving clause limit; no link to Article 23", "now": "experience must come from someone other than the employer; five-year limit counts Article 23 time; US citizens and green card holders get no US benefit", "evidence": "22(2)(a): 'acquiring technical, professional, or business experience from a person other than that resident of the first-mentioned Contracting State'; 22(4) combines Article 23 and 22(1) within 5 taxable years; 1(3)(b) limits Article 22 to individuals who are neither citizens of nor immigrants to the taxing country." }, { "field": "note", "was": "Thailand's rates are higher and more tiered than most US treaties", "now": "higher and more tiered than the US model treaty", "evidence": "The Letter of Submittal compares the dividend and royalty rates only with 'the U.S. model treaty' and 'many recent conventions with OECD countries'; no primary document read compares them with most US treaties." } ], "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "Article 31(2) would have terminated the whole treaty on January 1 of the sixth year after entry into force unless Thailand sent the information-exchange diplomatic note by June 30 of the fifth year; no linked document shows the note. Is the treaty still in effect?", "resolution": "Settled: in effect. IRS Table 3, updated through September 26, 2025, lists Thailand among treaties in effect with a general effective date of January 1, 1998 and no protocol. No contrary primary evidence was found on the IRS Thailand page or in the documents it links.", "evidence": "Treaty 31(2) and 28(3); Technical Explanation to 31(2) ('If the Convention enters into force in 1997, the Convention will terminate on January 1, 2003 unless the diplomatic note is received by June 30, 2002'); IRS Table 3 (through 2025-09-26), Thailand row." }, { "question": "The exact entry-into-force date is not printed in any document read.", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. documentsRead.inForce records the general effective year from Table 3 (1998), the same convention used in the other verified records. Article 30(2) with a January 1, 1998 effective date for both withholding and other taxes implies entry into force during 1997, consistent with the Technical Explanation's 1997 example.", "evidence": "Treaty 30(2); IRS Table 3 Thailand row 'Jan. 1, 1998'; Technical Explanation to 31(2)." }, { "question": "The royalty 'general' field has no natural value because the rate varies by type of right.", "resolution": "Settled by the second amendment: general null, byType true, all three rates published as tiers with their conditions.", "evidence": "Treaty 12(2) and 12(3); contract, 'Amendment 2026-09-15 (second)'." }, { "question": "Does the social security rule in 20(2) hold for US citizens despite the saving clause?", "resolution": "Yes. 20(2) is listed in 1(3)(a), so it applies to citizens and residents alike, and 20(2) itself names US citizens as recipients. The Technical Explanation says this denies the United States the right to tax its citizens and residents on social security paid by Thailand. IRS Table 1 shows the US taxing Social Security paid to a Thai resident (30% on 85% of the benefit, footnote qq), consistent with paying-country-only taxation.", "evidence": "Treaty 1(3)(a), 20(2); Technical Explanation to 1(3) and 20(2); IRS Table 1 Thailand social security column, 20(2), footnote qq." }, { "question": "Private pensions under 20(1): does the saving clause let the United States tax a US citizen living in Thailand?", "resolution": "Yes. 20(1) is not listed in 1(3); the Technical Explanation states paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of Article 20 are subject to the saving clause and a US citizen resident in Thailand may be taxed by the US on a US pension.", "evidence": "Treaty 1(2), 1(3); Technical Explanation to Article 20, 'Relation to Other Articles'." }, { "question": "The Technical Explanation to 10(3) says in one place that REIT dividends keep the 15% rate for individuals holding less than 25%, and in another less than 10%.", "resolution": "The treaty text governs: 'less than a 25 percent interest'. IRS Table 1 footnote w also gives 25% for Thailand. The page uses 25%.", "evidence": "Treaty 10(3); Technical Explanation to 10(3); IRS Table 1 footnote w." }, { "question": "Is the 18(6) remittance rule something the treaty itself says, as opposed to a gloss from Table 1?", "resolution": "It is treaty text. Table 1 footnote bbb describes it as applying to a 'resident but not a domiciliary'; 18(6) contains no domicile condition and also allows the calendar year of accrual or the next year, so the note follows 18(6). Thai domestic rules on remitted income were deliberately not assessed.", "evidence": "Treaty 18(6); IRS Table 1 footnote bbb." }, { "question": "tie-breaker steps rewritten to house style", "resolution": "re-read Article 4 and confirmed order and conditions", "evidence": "Article 4(2) of the 1996 Convention (irs.gov/pub/irs-trty/thailand.pdf); there is no protocol." } ], "collectedAt": "2026-09-15" } }, { "country": "Trinidad", "slug": "trinidad", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/trinidad-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1970", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Tunisia", "slug": "tunisia", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/tunisia-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1990", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Turkey", "slug": "turkey", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/turkey-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1998", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Turkmenistan", "slug": "turkmenistan", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/turkmenistan-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1987", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "Turkmenistan has no treaty of its own. The U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty, in force since 1987, applies (IRS Table 3, footnote 6).", "governedBy": "U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty", "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Ukraine", "slug": "ukraine", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/ukraine-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2001", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)", "slug": "union-of-soviet-socialist-republics-ussr", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/union-of-soviet-socialist-republics-ussr-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1987", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "The U.S.-U.S.S.R. treaty remains in force and governs nine successor states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. None of those nine has its own US treaty.", "status": "in-force", "governedBy": null, "articles": null }, { "country": "United Kingdom", "slug": "united-kingdom", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/united-kingdom-uk-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2004", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": { "documentsRead": [ { "title": "IRS treaty-documents page, United Kingdom (UK)", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/united-kingdom-uk-tax-treaty-documents", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Convention (signed London, 24 July 2001)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-UK-7-24-2001.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Protocol amending the Convention (signed Washington, 19 July 2002)", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-UK-Protocol-7-19-2002.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Exchange of Notes (24 July 2001), in force at the same time as the Convention", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-UK-Notes-7-24-2001.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "Treasury Technical Explanation of the Convention and the Protocol", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Treaty-UK-Protocol-TE-7-22-2002.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Tax Treaty Table 1 (Rev. May 2023), cross-check only, footnotes read", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/tax-treaty-table-1.pdf", "inForce": null }, { "title": "IRS Table 3, List of Tax Treaties (updated through 26 September 2025), general effective date 1 January 2004", "url": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "inForce": null } ], "withholding": { "dividends": { "general": 15, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 5, "who": "a company that owns shares carrying at least 10% of the voting power of the paying company, directly or indirectly", "article": "10(2)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a company that has owned shares carrying 80% or more of the voting power of the paying company for the 12 months ending on the date the dividend is declared, and that also either owned at least 80% (directly or indirectly) before 1 October 1998, meets the listed-company test in Article 23(2)(c), or is entitled to benefits for the dividend under Article 23(3) or 23(6)", "article": "10(3)(a)" }, { "rate": 0, "who": "a pension scheme resident in the other country, as long as the dividends do not come from a business the scheme carries on, directly or indirectly", "article": "10(3)(b)" } ], "article": "10(2)(b)", "setBy": "2001 convention, Article 10(2) and 10(3); the 2002 protocol replaced Article 10(4) (investment funds and REITs) but did not change the 15%, 5% or 0% rates", "note": "Dividends from a pooled investment vehicle, such as a US regulated investment company or REIT, never get the 5% rate or the 80% subsidiary 0% rate. A vehicle holding mainly shares, securities or currencies can pay at 15%, or 0% to a pension scheme. For other vehicles, such as a REIT, the 15% rate applies only if the owner is an individual holding not more than 10%, holds not more than 5% of a publicly traded class, or holds not more than 10% of a diversified vehicle, and a pension scheme gets 0% if it holds not more than 10% (10(4) as replaced by the 2002 protocol). The branch profits tax is capped at 5% (10(7) and 10(8)), and no treaty rate applies to a dividend paid under a conduit arrangement (10(9)). The article works the same way in both directions." }, "interest": { "general": 0, "byType": false, "tiers": [ { "rate": 15, "who": "contingent interest: interest figured by reference to the payer's or a related person's receipts, sales, income, profits or cash flow, a change in the value of their property, or a dividend or distribution paid to a related person", "article": "11(5)(a)" } ], "article": "11(1)", "setBy": "2001 convention, Article 11; not amended by the 2002 protocol", "note": "Interest is taxable only in the country where the owner lives, apart from the contingent interest tier. Interest is not contingent merely because the rate steps down as the payer's figures improve or up as they worsen (11(5)(b)). Interest on an ownership interest in a mortgage or asset securitisation vehicle, to the extent it exceeds the return on comparable debt, may be taxed under domestic law (11(6)). Interest tied to a permanent establishment in the paying country is taxed as business profits (11(3)), and no treaty rate applies under a conduit arrangement (11(7)). The article works the same way in both directions." }, "royalties": { "general": 0, "byType": false, "tiers": [], "article": "12(1)", "setBy": "2001 convention, Article 12; not amended by the 2002 protocol", "note": "Royalties are taxable only in the country where the owner lives. They include a gain on selling a covered right or property to the extent the gain depends on its productivity, use or disposition (12(2)(b)). Royalties tied to a permanent establishment in the paying country are taxed as business profits (12(3)), and no treaty rate applies under a conduit arrangement (12(5)). The article works the same way in both directions." } }, "tieBreaker": { "article": "4(4)", "tests": [ "where you have a permanent home available to you", "if you have a permanent home in both countries, where your personal and economic ties are closer (your centre of vital interests)", "if that centre cannot be determined, or you have no permanent home in either country, where you have a habitual abode", "if you have a habitual abode in both countries or in neither, the country you are a national of", "if you are a national of both countries or of neither, the two tax authorities try to settle it by mutual agreement" ] }, "savingClause": { "article": "1(4)", "summary": "Each country may tax its own residents (as decided under Article 4) and its own citizens as if the treaty did not exist, and a former citizen or long-term resident who gave up that status with tax avoidance as one of the principal purposes is treated as a citizen for 10 years, on income from that country's sources only (1(6)).", "exceptions": "Under Article 1(5) as replaced by the 2002 protocol, everyone keeps the benefits of Articles 9(2), 17(1)(b), 17(3), 17(5), 18(1), 18(5), 24, 25 and 26, and people who are neither citizens nor green-card holders of the taxing country also keep Articles 18(2), 19, 20, 20A and 28." }, "pensions": { "article": "17(1) and 17(2)", "summary": "A pension from a pension scheme is taxable only in the country where the recipient lives (17(1)(a)), but that country must exempt any part that would be tax-free to a resident of the country where the scheme is set up, which the Treasury technical explanation illustrates with a Roth IRA distribution (17(1)(b)); a lump sum from a pension scheme is taxable only in the country where the scheme is set up (17(2)). The saving clause still lets the US tax a US citizen living in the UK on a pension and a lump sum, although under 17(1)(b) the technical explanation says such a citizen is taxed by the US only on the part of a UK scheme pension that is taxable in the UK; government-service pensions follow Article 19(2) instead." }, "socialSecurity": { "article": "17(3)", "summary": "Social security benefits paid by one country to a resident of the other are taxable only in the country where the recipient lives, and the Treasury technical explanation says this covers US Tier 1 Railroad Retirement. Because 17(3) is an exception to the saving clause, a US citizen who is a UK resident under the treaty is not taxed by the US on US Social Security." }, "students": { "article": "20", "summary": "A student in full-time education at a university, college or similar recognised institution, or a business apprentice in full-time training (apprentices for one year at most), who is or was just before arriving a resident of the other country, is not taxed by the host country on payments from outside the host country for maintenance, education or training. Article 20A, added by the 2002 protocol, separately exempts a visiting professor or teacher's pay for teaching or public-interest research for up to two years; neither article protects someone from the country where they are a citizen or green-card holder." }, "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "corrections": [ { "field": "withholding.dividends (schema)", "was": "general 15, reduced 0, reducedCondition, article \"10(2), 10(3)\"", "now": "general 15 at 10(2)(b); tiers 5% at 10(2)(a), 0% at 10(3)(a), 0% at 10(3)(b)", "evidence": "Convention Article 10(2) and 10(3); verified schema per contract amendment 2026-09-15 (second)" }, { "field": "withholding.interest.tiers", "was": "contingent interest rate held only in note, reduced null", "now": "tier: 15% contingent interest at 11(5)(a)", "evidence": "Convention Article 11(5)(a), rate by reference to Article 10(2)(b)" }, { "field": "documentsRead[].inForce", "was": "\"2004\" on the convention, protocol and notes", "now": "null", "evidence": "No document read states the date instruments of ratification were exchanged; 1 January 2004 is Table 3's general effective date, not an entry-into-force year" }, { "field": "savingClause.summary", "was": "the United States may tax its citizens", "now": "each country may tax its own residents and its own citizens; tax avoidance 'as one of the principal purposes'", "evidence": "Convention Article 1(4) is reciprocal ('by reason of citizenship may tax its citizens'); Article 1(6) says 'one of its principal purposes', not 'mainly'" }, { "field": "pensions.summary", "was": "Roth IRA claim stated as treaty rule; no saving-clause statement; government pensions 'taxable only in the paying country'", "now": "Roth IRA attributed to the technical explanation's example; saving-clause effect on US citizens in the UK stated with its source; government pensions pointed to Article 19(2)", "evidence": "Convention 17(1)(b); Technical Explanation, Article 17, 'Relation to other Articles'; Convention 1(5)(b) limits the Article 19 exception to non-citizens and non-green-card holders" }, { "field": "students.summary", "was": "who was a resident of the other country immediately before the visit; 'visiting teacher or researcher'", "now": "who is or was just before arriving a resident of the other country; 'visiting professor or teacher'; citizen and green-card limit added", "evidence": "Convention Article 20 ('is, or was immediately before visiting'); Protocol Article III, new Article 20A(1) ('A professor or teacher'); Protocol Article I, new 1(5)(b)" }, { "field": "socialSecurity.summary", "was": "a US citizen living in the UK", "now": "a US citizen who is a UK resident under the treaty", "evidence": "Article 17(3) applies to a 'resident of the other Contracting State' as determined under Article 4, including 4(2) and 4(4)" }, { "field": "note", "was": "saving-clause carve-out keeps a UK-exempt portion of a UK pension out of US tax (stated as treaty text)", "now": "attributed to the Treasury technical explanation's reading of 17(1)(b)", "evidence": "Convention 17(1)(b) text addresses the residence country; the US-citizen result is stated in the Technical Explanation, Article 17, 'Relation to other Articles'" } ], "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "Entry-into-force date and whether latestProtocol should be null for the UK", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. No document read gives the ratification exchange date, so documentsRead inForce values are set to null rather than carrying Table 3's general effective date. IRS Table 3 lists the UK treaty with a general effective date of 1 January 2004 and no separate protocol row; the 2002 protocol provides it enters into force on exchange of ratification and has effect under Convention Article 29. Whether latestProtocolEffective should name the 2002 protocol is an assembly decision.", "evidence": "Table 3 (updated through 2025-09-26), UK row; Protocol Article VI" }, { "question": "Protocol signing date: 19 July 2002 (protocol text) or 22 July 2002 (technical explanation)", "resolution": "The protocol itself reads 'DONE at Washington ... this 19th day of July, 2002'. The instrument governs; the technical explanation's date is not used.", "evidence": "Protocol, signature block" }, { "question": "Which current UK pension scheme types qualify as a 'pension scheme'", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. No summary names a UK scheme type. The Exchange of Notes lists schemes approved under the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 and 'identical or substantially similar' later schemes; the general definition is Article 3(1)(o).", "evidence": "Exchange of Notes, on Article 3(1)(o); Convention Article 3(1)(o)" }, { "question": "Remittance basis and Article 1(7)", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. Article 1(7) limits relief to the amount taxed in the residence country where that country taxes by reference to amounts remitted; whether the UK currently operates such a basis is UK domestic law and is deliberately not stated. Summaries do not depend on it.", "evidence": "Convention Article 1(7); IRS Table 1 footnote bbb" }, { "question": "Technical explanation of Article 19 cites 'paragraph 2 of Article 17' for social security", "resolution": "Settled: the convention places social security in Article 17(3) and the technical explanation's own Article 17 commentary discusses social security under Paragraph 3. The Article 19 reference is a drafting slip. socialSecurity.article stays 17(3).", "evidence": "Convention Article 17(3); Technical Explanation, Article 17 Paragraph 3 and Article 19 Paragraph 2" }, { "question": "Cross-check against IRS Table 1", "resolution": "Table 1 UK rows match the treaty: interest 0 at 11(1) (footnote jj, contingent interest 15%), dividends 15 and 5 at 10(2) with footnote oo for the 80% exemption, pensions 0 at 17(1) with the lump-sum exception (footnote ii), social security 0 at 17(3), royalties 0 at 12(1). Table 1 does not show the pension-scheme 0% dividend rate in 10(3)(b).", "evidence": "IRS Table 1 (Rev. May 2023), UK rows and footnotes bbb, g, ii, jj, mm, oo" }, { "question": "Can a pension scheme holding more than 10% of a REIT still get 0% under the publicly traded or diversified tests?", "resolution": "Not published. The replaced Article 10(4) applies tests (b) and (c) to any person, which on its face could reach a pension scheme, but the Treasury technical explanation describes the pension-scheme 0% rate on REIT dividends only with the not-more-than-10% condition. The record states only the condition both documents agree on, as a sufficient condition.", "evidence": "Protocol Article II (new 10(4)); Technical Explanation, Article 10 paragraph 4, third sentence" }, { "question": "tie-breaker steps rewritten to house style", "resolution": "re-read Article 4 and confirmed order and conditions", "evidence": "Article 4(4) of the 2001 Convention (home.treasury.gov Treaty-UK-7-24-2001.pdf); the 2002 protocol does not amend Article 4. Sub-paragraph (d) says the authorities \"shall endeavour to settle\", not \"shall settle\"." } ], "note": "The saving clause is the trap. The US still taxes a US citizen living in the UK on a UK pension and a UK pension lump sum as if the treaty did not exist, because only 17(1)(b), 17(3) and 17(5) of that article are carved out; the Treasury technical explanation reads the 17(1)(b) carve-out as limiting US tax to the part of a UK scheme pension that is taxable in the UK, and 17(3) keeps US Social Security taxable only by the UK for a treaty UK resident. A lump sum from a pension scheme is not treated like a regular pension: it is taxable only in the country where the scheme is set up (17(2)). Article 18 separately lets the country of residence wait to tax a foreign scheme's investment income until it is paid out (18(1)), lets someone already in a scheme before moving to work in the other country deduct contributions there, capped at local relief and subject to the tax authority agreeing the scheme corresponds (18(2) to 18(4)), and lets a US citizen working in the UK for a UK employer deduct or exclude UK scheme contributions on the US return, capped at what a corresponding US plan would allow (18(5)). Before the tie-breaker, Article 4(2) says a US citizen or green-card holder counts as a US resident for the treaty only with a substantial presence, permanent home or habitual abode in the US, and only if not a resident of a third country under that country's treaty with the UK. On dividends, 15% is the rate for individuals; 5% and 0% need corporate ownership or pension-scheme status.", "collectedAt": "2026-09-15" } }, { "country": "Uzbekistan", "slug": "uzbekistan", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/uzbekistan-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "1987", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": "Uzbekistan has no treaty of its own. The U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty, in force since 1987, applies (IRS Table 3, footnote 6).", "governedBy": "U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty", "status": "in-force", "articles": null }, { "country": "Venezuela", "slug": "venezuela", "irsTreatyDocsUrl": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/venezuela-tax-treaty-documents", "effectiveSince": "2000", "latestProtocolEffective": null, "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf", "confidence": "P", "note": null, "governedBy": null, "status": "in-force", "articles": null } ], "sources": { "aToZ": "https://www.irs.gov/businesses/international-businesses/united-states-income-tax-treaties-a-to-z", "table3": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-lbi/table-3-list-of-tax-treaties.pdf" }, "table3UpdatedThrough": "2025-09-26", "articlesCollected": 11, "shared": { "statutoryRate": { "value": 30, "summary": "Most types of US-source income paid to a foreign person, including a nonresident alien individual, are subject to US tax of 30%, generally withheld from the payment (chapter 3 withholding, reported on Form 1042-S). A reduced rate, including exemption, may apply under the Internal Revenue Code or an income tax treaty. A withholding agent must withhold 30% from the gross amount paid to a foreign payee unless the payment can be reliably associated with valid documentation (for an individual, Form W-8BEN) establishing a lower rate.", "sourceNote": "Publication 515 (For use in 2026), 'Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities', introduction and 'Documentation for Chapter 3'; confirmed on the IRS NRA withholding page.", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p515.pdf", "sourceAlt": "https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nra-withholding" }, "form8833": { "summary": "A taxpayer who takes a treaty-based return position (maintaining that a treaty overrules or modifies the Internal Revenue Code and so reduces, or might reduce, their tax) must disclose it on Form 8833 attached to the return, one form per position, unless reporting is waived under Regulations section 301.6114-1(c). Dual-resident individuals who claim to be resident in the other country under a treaty tie-breaker must also disclose on Form 8833 under Regulations section 301.7701(b)-7. If no return would otherwise be required, one must be filed to make the disclosure. Per Publication 519, an individual does NOT have to file Form 8833 when: (1) claiming a reduced treaty rate of withholding on interest, dividends, rent, royalties, or other FDAP income ordinarily subject to the 30% rate; (2) claiming treaty relief on income from dependent personal services, pensions, annuities, social security and other public pensions, or income of artists, athletes, students, trainees, or teachers (including taxable scholarships and fellowships); (3) claiming relief under a Social Security (totalization) agreement or a Diplomatic or Consular Agreement; (4) a partnership, estate, or trust already reports the position; (5) the payments or income items otherwise required to be disclosed total no more than $10,000; or (6) the amounts are reported on Form 1042-S and received as a related party from a 25% foreign-owned reporting corporation or as a direct account holder of a US financial institution or qualified intermediary. Failure to disclose may result in a penalty of $1,000 per failure for an individual ($10,000 for a C corporation), under section 6712.", "penaltyIndividual": 1000, "penaltyCCorporation": 10000, "smallAmountWaiverThreshold": 10000, "sourceNote": "Form 8833 (Rev. December 2022) with its instructions (the instructions are printed in the form PDF; there is no separate i8833.pdf): penalty, who must file, exceptions, dual-resident taxpayer. Publication 519 (2025), chapter 9, 'Reporting Treaty Benefits Claimed': individual-focused filing requirement list, exceptions 1 to 6, $10,000 and $100,000 figures, and '$1,000 for each failure'.", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8833.pdf", "sourceAlt": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf" }, "dualResidentReturn": { "summary": "A dual-resident taxpayer is someone who is a resident of both the United States and another country under each country's own tax laws. If the treaty with that country has a tie-breaker rule and the person determines under it that they are a resident of the other country, they may claim treaty benefits as a resident of that country. To do so they must file Form 1040-NR (the nonresident alien return) with Form 8833 attached and compute their US income tax as a nonresident alien for the part of the year they are a dual-resident taxpayer. For purposes other than figuring US income tax, they are still treated as a US resident (Regulations section 301.7701(b)-7(a)(3)); for example, the residency time periods are not affected. A long-term resident (a lawful permanent resident, meaning green card holder, in at least 8 of the last 15 tax years) who makes this claim is deemed to have terminated US residency and may be subject to the section 877A expatriation tax, and must file Form 8854. A dual-resident taxpayer may also be eligible for US competent authority assistance (Rev. Proc. 2015-40). Separately, the Form 8802 instructions say a dual resident who has made, or intends to make, a tie-breaker determination that they are not a US resident is generally not eligible for Form 6166 residency certification.", "ltrYearsThreshold": 8, "ltrLookbackYears": 15, "sourceNote": "Publication 519 (2025), chapter 1, 'Effect of Tax Treaties'; Form 8833 (Rev. December 2022) instructions, 'Dual-resident taxpayer' and 'Termination of U.S. Residency'; Instructions for Form 8802 (Rev. October 2024), 'Who Is Not Eligible for Form 6166'.", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf", "sourceAlt": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8833.pdf" }, "w8ben": { "summary": "A nonresident alien individual claims a reduced treaty withholding rate by completing Form W-8BEN and giving it to the withholding agent or payer (not to the IRS), before the payment is made, credited, or allocated. Without it, the payer may have to withhold at the 30% rate. Part II ('Claim of Tax Treaty Benefits'): line 9 names the treaty country where the person claims to be resident for treaty purposes, with residency determined as the treaty requires; line 10 is used only when the treaty benefit carries extra conditions (for example royalties with different rates by type, students and researchers, business profits not attributable to a permanent establishment, remittance-basis claims) and generally not for interest or ordinary dividends. To claim treaty benefits the individual generally must give a US taxpayer identification number (SSN or ITIN) on line 5 or a foreign tax identifying number from their country of residence on line 6, although no ITIN is needed for treaty claims on dividends and interest from actively traded stocks and debt, mutual fund dividends, certain publicly offered unit investment trust income, and loans of those securities. Generally a separate form goes to each withholding agent. A W-8BEN generally stays in effect from the date signed through the last day of the third following calendar year, unless a change in circumstances makes it incorrect. A related-party recipient whose aggregate amount subject to withholding exceeds $500,000 in the calendar year is generally required to file Form 8833.", "validityRule": "signing date through December 31 of the third succeeding calendar year", "relatedPartyForm8833Threshold": 500000, "sourceNote": "Instructions for Form W-8BEN (Rev. October 2021): 'Giving Form W-8BEN', 'Expiration of Form W-8BEN', 'Taxpayer identification number', Part II lines 9 and 10, line 6a caution; Form W-8BEN (Rev. October 2021).", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw8ben.pdf" }, "residencyCertificate": { "summary": "Form 6166 is a letter on US Treasury stationery certifying that the listed individuals or entities are residents of the United States for purposes of US income tax law. Many treaty partners require it before granting treaty benefits (it can also support a foreign VAT exemption). It is requested by filing Form 8802, Application for United States Residency Certification, which is mandatory. It cannot be used to show that US taxes were paid for a foreign tax credit. The nonrefundable user fee is $85 per Form 8802 for an individual applicant (a US citizen or resident under section 7701(b)(1)(A)), regardless of how many countries or tax years are requested; it is $185 per Form 8802 for each nonindividual applicant, and a partnership, S corporation, grantor trust, or other fiscally transparent entity pays a single $185 fee per application. A custodian pays $85 or $185 per account holder TIN depending on whether that holder is an individual. The IRS advises applying, with the fee, at least 45 days before Form 6166 is needed. A person who filed as a nonresident (for example on Form 1040-NR), did not file a required return, or is a dual resident who claimed treaty residence in the other country is generally not eligible.", "userFee": 85, "userFeeNonindividual": 185, "sourceNote": "Instructions for Form 8802 (Rev. October 2024, for use with the November 2018 Form 8802), 'User Fee' and 'Who Is Not Eligible for Form 6166'; IRS page 'Form 6166, Certification of U.S. tax residency'; IRS 'About Form 8802' page (no fee change listed under Recent developments as of 2026-09-15).", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8802.pdf", "sourceAlt": "https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/form-6166-certification-of-us-tax-residency" }, "substantialPresenceTest": { "summary": "A non-citizen is a US resident for tax purposes for a calendar year if physically present in the United States on at least 31 days during that year and on at least 183 days during the 3-year period made up of that year and the 2 years before it, counting all days in the current year, one third of the days in the first prior year, and one sixth of the days in the second prior year. Days excluded include regular commuting from Canada or Mexico, transit of less than 24 hours between two foreign points, days as a crew member of a foreign vessel, days unable to leave because of a medical condition that arose in the US, and days as an exempt individual (certain A or G visa holders, J or Q teachers and trainees, F, J, M, or Q students, and athletes at charitable events). Excluding exempt-individual or medical days requires Form 8843.", "currentYearMinDays": 31, "threeYearDays": 183, "priorYearFraction": "1/3", "secondPriorYearFraction": "1/6", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/substantial-presence-test" }, "closerConnection": { "summary": "Someone who meets the substantial presence test can still be treated as a nonresident if, for the year, they were present in the United States on fewer than 183 days, kept a tax home in one foreign country for the entire year (or, under conditions, in two foreign countries), had a closer connection to that foreign country than to the United States, and had not taken steps toward, or had pending, an application for lawful permanent resident (green card) status. Closer connection is judged by where the person's permanent home, family, belongings, social and business ties, driver's license, and voting are. It is claimed on Form 8840, Closer Connection Exception Statement for Aliens, attached to the US return or, if no return is required, sent to the IRS by the return due date. Without a timely Form 8840 the exception cannot be claimed, unless the person shows by clear and convincing evidence they took reasonable steps to learn and meet the requirement.", "maxDaysPresent": 183, "maxDaysPresentNote": "the IRS page says 'less than 183 days during the year'", "source": "https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/closer-connection-exception-to-the-substantial-presence-test" }, "collectedOn": "2026-09-15", "confidence": "P", "openQuestions": null, "reviewNotes": [ { "question": "Form 8833 exceptions: the Form 8833 instructions phrase the FDAP waiver for individuals as applying when 'the beneficial owner is an individual or governmental entity', while Publication 519 lists 'a reduced rate of withholding tax ... on FDAP income ordinarily subject to the 30% rate' as exception 1. Both are irs.gov and consistent in effect, but copy should cite the Pub 519 phrasing for individuals and not over-generalize (the exceptions do not cover real property gains or positions specifically required by the Form 8833 instructions).", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. Pages state only that a dual resident claiming treaty residence abroad files Form 1040-NR with Form 8833, and that claiming a reduced withholding rate from a payer is done on Form W-8BEN. They do not restate the list of Form 8833 exceptions.", "evidence": "Publication 519 (2025) chapter 1 and chapter 9" }, { "question": "Publication 519 lists the $100,000 threshold for 'determine your country of residence under a treaty' as a Form 8833 trigger, yet Pub 519 chapter 1 and the Form 8833 instructions say any dual-resident taxpayer claiming treaty benefits must file Form 1040-NR with Form 8833. The two may refer to different regulations (301.6114-1 vs 301.7701(b)-7). Until Regulations section 301.6114-1(c) and 301.7701(b)-7 are read, pages should state the Form 1040-NR plus Form 8833 requirement for tie-breaker claims without attaching the $100,000 threshold to it.", "resolution": "Does not affect a published field. The $100,000 figure is removed from the dataset and from the summary. Pages attach no threshold to the Form 8833 requirement for tie-breaker claims.", "evidence": "Publication 519 (2025) chapter 1, 'Effect of Tax Treaties'; Form 8833 instructions, 'Dual-resident taxpayer'" }, { "question": "Form 8833 is Rev. December 2022, W-8BEN instructions Rev. October 2021, Form 8802 instructions Rev. October 2024 (fees set by Rev. Proc. 2018-50). These were the current revisions on irs.gov on 2026-09-15; recheck at each annual refresh, especially the $85 and $185 user fees.", "resolution": "Not an open question: a refresh instruction. Recorded as a knownChange-style note in data/_maintenance.json for the annual refresh.", "evidence": "Form revision dates as read 2026-09-15" } ] } }