TIEA agreement between Bahamas and Monaco

8/7/2019 TIEA agreement between Bahamas and Monaco

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AGREEMENTBETWEEN

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PRINCIPALITY OF MONACOAND

THE GOVERNMENT OFTHE COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS

FOR THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO TAX MATTERS

The Government of the Principality of Monaco and the Government of the Commonwealth ofThe Bahamas, wishing to establish the tenns and conditions governing the exchange ofinfonnation relating to taxes, have agreed as follows:

Article 1Object and scope of the agreement

The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall provide assistancethrough exchange of infonnation that is foreseeably relevant to the administration andenforcement of the domestic laws of the Contracting Parties concerning taxes covered by thisAgreement. Such information shall include infonnation that is foreseeably relevant to thedetermination, assessment and collection of such taxes, the recovery and enforcement of taxdaims, or the investigation or prosecution of tax matters. Infonnation shall be exchanged inaccordance with the provisions of this Agreement and shall he treated as confidential in themanner provided in Article 8. The rights and safeguards secured to persons by the laws oradministrative practice of the requested Party remain applicable. The requested Party shall use itsbest endeavours to ensure that any such rights and safeguards are not applied in a manner thatunduly prevents or delays effective exchange of infonnation.

Article 2Jurisdiction

A requested Party is not obligated to provide infonnation which is neither held byits authorities nor in the possession or control of persons who are within its territorial jurisdiction.

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g) the term "public\y traded company" means any company whose principal c\ass ofshares is listed on a recognised stock exchange provided its listed shares can be readily purchasedor sold by the public. Shares can he purchased or sold "by the public" if the purchase or sale ofshares is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;

h) the term "principal class of shares" means the c\ass or classes of sharesrepresenting a majority of the voting power and value of the company;

i) the term "recognised stock exchange" means any stock exchange agreed upon bythe competent authorities of the Contracting Parties;

j) the term "collective investrnent fund or scheme" means any pooled investrnentvehic\e, irrespective of legal form. The term "public collective investrnent fund or scheme"means any collective investment fund or scheme provided the units, shares or other interests inthe fund or scheme can be readily purchased, sold or redeemed by the public. Units, shares orother interests in the fund or scheme can he readily purchased, sold or redeemed "by the public"if the purchase, sale or redemption is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a lirnited group ofinvestors;

information;

k) the term "tax" means any tax to which the Agreement applies;1) the terrn "applicant Party" means the Contracting Party requesting information;m) the term "requested Party" means the Contracting Party requested to provide

n) the term "information gathering measures" means laws and administrative orjudicial procedures that enable a Contracting Party to obtain and provide the requestedinformation;

0) the terrn "information" means any fact, statement or record in any formwhatever;

p) the terrn "criminal tax matters" means tax matters involving intentional conductwhich is liable to prosecution under the crirninallaws of the applicant party;

q) the term "crirninal laws" means all crirninal laws designated as such underdomestic law irrespective of whether contained in the tax laws, the crirninal code or otherstatutes.

r) the term "national", in relation to a Contracting Party, means:(i) any individual possessing the nationality of that Contracting Party; or(ii) any legal person, partnership, association or other entity deriving its status as

such from the laws in force in that Contracting Party.

2. As regards the application of this Agreement at any time by a Contracting Party,any terrn not defmed herein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that ithas at that time under the law of that Contracting Party, any meaning under the applicable taxlaws of that Contracting Party prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws ofthat Contracting Party.

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Article 5Exchange ofInformation Upon Reqnest

1. The competent authority of the requested Party shaH provide upon requestinformation for the purposes referred to in Article 1. Such information shaH be exchangedwithout regard to whether the conduct being investigated would constitute a crime under the lawsof the requested Party if such conduct occurred in the requested Party.

2. If the information in the possession of the competent authority of the requestedParty is not sufficient to enable it to comply with the request for information, that Party shaH useail relevant information gathering measures to provide the applicant Party with the informationrequested, notwithstanding !hat the requested Party may not need such information for its own taxpurposes.

3. If specificaHy requested by the competent authority of an applicant Party, thecompetent authority of the requested Party shaH provide information under this Article, to theextent allowable under its domestic laws, in the form of depositions of witnesses imdauthenticated copies oforiginal records.

4. Each Contracting Party shall ensure that its competent authorities for thepurposes specified in Article 1 of the Agreement, have the authority to obtain and provide uponrequest:

a) information held by banks, other financial institutions, and any person acting inan agency or fiduciary capacity including nominees and trustees ;

b) information regarding the ownership of companies, partnerships, trusts,foundations and other persons, including, within the constraints of Article 2, ownershipinformation on ail such persons in an ownership chain; in the case of trusts, information onsettlors, trustees and beneficiaries; and in the case of foundations, information on founders,members of the foundation council and beneficiaries. Further, this Agreement does not create anobligation on the Contracting Parties to obtain or provide ownership information with respect topublicly traded companies or public collective investrnent funds or schemes unless suchinformation can be obtained without giving rise to disproportionate difficulties.

5. The competent authority of the applicant Party shaH formulate a request forinformation under this Agreement with the greatest possible detail and shall provide the followinginformation in writing to the competent authority of the requested Party to demonstrate theforeseeable relevance of the information to the request:

(a) the identity of the taxpayer under exarnination or investigation;(b) the identity of the person in respect of whom information is requested, if that

person is not a/so the taxpayer in subparagraph (a) of this paragraph;(c) the tax period for which the information is requested;

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3. If the request referred to in paragraph 2 is acceded to, the competent authority ofthe Contracting Party conducting the examination shaIl, as soon as possible, notify the competentauthority of the other Party about the time and place of the examination, the authority or officialdesignated to cany out the examination and the procedures and conditions required by the first-mentioned Party for the conduct of the examination. AIl decisions with respect to the conduct ofthe tax examination sha11 he made by the Party conducting the examination.

Article 7Possibility ofDeclining a Request

1. The requested Party shaIl not he required to obtain or provide information that theapplicant Party would not be able to obtain under its own laws for purposes of the administrationor enforcement of its own tax laws. The competent authority of the requested Party may declineto assist where the request is not made in conformity with this Agreement.

2. The provisions of this Agreement shaIl not impose on a Contracting Party theobligation to supply information subject to legal privilege or supply information which woulddisclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process.Notwithstanding the foregoing, information of the type referred to in Article 5, paragraph 4 sha11not he treated as such a secret or trade process merely because it meets the criteria in thatparagraph.

3. The requested Party may decline a request for information if the disclosure of theinformation would be contrary to national security or public policy (ordre public).

4. A request for information shaH not he refused on the ground that the tax claimgiving rise to the request is disputed.

5. The requested Party may decline a request for information if the information isrequested by the applicant Party to adrninister or enforce a provision of the tax law of theapplicant Party, or any requirement connected therewith, which discriminates against a nationalof the requested Party as compared with a national of the applicant Party in the samecircumstances.

Article 8Confidentiality

1. Any information received by a Contracting Party under this Agreement shaIl hetreated as confidential and may he disclosed only to persons or authorities (incJuding courts and

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administrative bodies) in the jurisdiction of the Contracting Party concemed with the assessmentor collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the determination of appeals inrelation to, the taxes imposed by a Contracting Party. Such persons or authorities shall use suchinformation only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public courtproceedings or in judicial decisions. The information may not he disclosed to any other person orentity or authority or any other jurisdiction (including a foreign Govemment) without the expresswritten consent of the competent authority of the requested Party.

2. Where information provided pursuant to this Agreement for a crirninal tax purpose is,subsequently, to he used for a non-criminal tax purpose (and vice versa), the CompetentAuthority which supplied the information shall be notified of this change in use, if not before,then within a reasonable time of the change in use occurring.

Article 9Prejudicial or Restrictive Measures

1. Neither of the Contracting Parties shall apply prejudicial or restrictive measures basedon harmful tax practices to residents, nationals or transactions of either Contracting Party so longas this Agreement is in force and effective.

2. A "prejudicial or restrictive measure based on harmful tax practices" is a measureapplied by one Contracting Party to residents, nationals or transactions of either Contracting Partyon the basis that the other Contracting Party does not engage in effective exchange of informationand/or because it lacks transparency in the operation of its laws, regulations or administrativepractices, or on the basis of no or nominal taxes and one of the preceding criteria.

3. Without limiting the generality of paragraph 2 of this Article, the term "prejudicial orrestrictive measure" includes:

(a) the introduction of any tax law or administrative arrangements that specifically andadversely target taxpayers of one Contracting Party conducting business activities orinvesting in the other Contracting Party; or

(b) the denial of a deduction, credit or exemption, the imposition of a tax, charge or levy,or special reporting requirements.

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Article 10Convention Tax Treatment

Expenses incurred by a resident of a Contracting Party with respect to anyconvention (including any serninar, meeting, congress or other function of a similar nature) heldin the other Contracting Party shaH, for the purposes of taxation in the frrst-mentionedContracting Party, be deductible to the same extent that such expenses wou/d be deductible if theconvention were held in the first-mentioned Contracting Party.

Article 11Dialogue on Further Cooperation

The Contracting Parties agree to continue the dialogue on further cooperation in thetax area, including negotiations for a Double Taxation Convention.

Article 12Costs

Incidence of costs incurred in providing assistance shaH he agreed by theContracting Parties.

Article 13Other international agreements or arrangements

The possibilities of assistance provided by this Agreement do not limit, nor are they limited by,those contained in existing international agreements or other arrangements hetween theContracting Parties which relate to co-operation in tax matters.

Article 14Implementation Legislation

The Contracting Parties shaH enact any legislation necessary to comply with, and give effect to,the terrns of the Agreement.

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Article 15Mutual agreement procedure

1. Where difficulties or doubts arise between the Parties regarding theimplementation or interpretation of !bis Agreement, the respective competent authorities shaHendeavour ta resolve the matter by mutual agreement.

2. In addition ta the agreements referred ta in paragraph 1, the competent authoritiesof the Contracting Parties may mutuaHy agree on the procedures to be used under thisAgreement.

3. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may comrnunicate with eachother directly for purposes of reaching agreement under this Article.

4. The Contracting Parties may agree on other forms of dispute resolution.

Article 16Entry into Force

1. Each of the Parties shaH notify the other, through diplomatic channels, of thecompletion of the procedures required by its law for the entry into force of this Agreement.

2. The Agreement shaH enter into force on the thirtieth day after the receipt of the later ofthese notifications and shaH thereupon have effect, for all matters covered in Article 1, for taxableperiods beginning on or after the first day of January of the year next foHowing the date on whichthe Agreement enters into force, or where there is no taxable period, for all charges to tax arisingon or after the first day of January of the year next foHowing the date on which the Agreemententers into force.

Article 17Termination

1. This Agreement shaH remain in force until terminated by a Party. Either Party mayterminate the Agreement by giving written notice of termination through diplomatic channels tathe other Party. In such case, the Agreement shaH cease ta have effect on the fust day of themonth foHowing the end of the period of six months after the date of receipt of notice oftermination by the other Party.

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2. ln the event of termination, both Parties shaH remain bound by the provisions ofArticle8 with respect to any information obtained under the Agreement.

In witness whereofthe undersigned being duly authorised thereto have signed the Agreement.

Done at Nassau, The Bahamas this . \ I"f.day of ~ f . o k . ( 2009, in the English and Frenchlanguages .

." ... ~ ... ...... .. ....For t h ~ Governmentof the ~ r i n c i p a l i t y ofMonaco

For thevovernmentof the Commonwealth ofThe Bahamas

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TIEA agreement between Bahamas and Monaco

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