Estonia - Royalty

Article 12. Royalties

1.   Royalties arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2.   However, such royalties may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise and according to the laws of that State, but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the royalties, the tax so charged shall not exceed:

a)   5 per cent of the gross amount of the royalties paid for the use of industrial, commercial or scientific equipment;

b)  10 per cent of the gross amount of the royalties in all other cases.

3.   The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement settle the mode of application of paragraph 2.

4.   The term “royalties” as used in this Article means payments of any kind received as a consideration for the use of, or the right to use, any copyright of literary, artistic or scientific work including cinematograph films and films or tapes for television or radio broadcasting, any patent, trade mark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process, or for the use of, or the right to use, industrial, commercial or scientific equipment, or for information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience.

5.   The provisions of paragraph 1 and 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the royalties, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the royalties arise, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the right or property in respect of which the royalties are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such case the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as the case may be, shall apply.

6.   Royalties shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the royalties, whether he is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment or a fixed base in connection with which the liability to pay the royalties was incurred, and such royalties are borne by such permanent establishment or fixed base, then such royalties shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment or fixed base is situated.

7.   Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the royalties, having regard to the use, right or information for which they are paid, exceeds the amount which would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.

Protocol:

VIII. Ad Articles 10, 11 and 12

Where tax has been levied at source in excess of the amount of tax chargeable under the provisions of Articles 10, 11 or 12, applications for the refund of the excess amount of tax have to be lodged with the competent authority of the State having levied the tax, within a period of three years after the end of the calendar year in which the tax has been levied.

X. Ad Article 12

1.   Payments received as a consideration for technical services, including studies or surveys of a scientific, geological or technical nature, or for engineering contracts including blueprints related thereto, or for consultancy or supervisory services shall be deemed not to be payments received as a consideration for information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience, except to the extent that the amounts of such payments are based on production, sales, performance, profits or any other similar basis related to the use of the said information.

2.   It is understood that the term “royalties” shall be deemed not to include payments for the use of drilling rigs, or similar purpose equipment, used for the exploration for or the extraction of hydrocarbons.

3.   If in any Convention for the avoidance of double taxation concluded by Estonia with a third State, being a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at the date of signature of this Convention, Estonia after that date would agree to exclude any kind of rights or property from the definition contained in paragraph 4 of Article 12 or exempt royalties arising in Estonia from Estonian tax on royalties or to limit the rates of tax provided in paragraph 2 of Article 12, such definition or exemption or lower rate shall automatically apply as if it had been specified in said paragraph 4 or paragraph 2, respectively.