DT5410 - DT: Cyprus: double taxation agreement, Article 11: Dividends

(1)

(a) Dividends derived from a company which is a resident of the United Kingdom by a resident of Cyprus may be taxed in Cyprus.
(b) Where a resident of Cyprus is entitled to a tax credit in respect of such a dividend under paragraph (2) of this Article tax may also be charged in the United Kingdom and according to the laws of the United Kingdom, on the aggregate of the amount or value of that dividend and the amount of that tax credit at a rate not exceeding 15 per cent.
(c) Except as aforesaid dividends derived from a company which is a resident of the United Kingdom and which are beneficially owned by a resident of Cyprus shall be exempt from any tax in the United Kingdom which is chargeable on dividends

(2) A resident of Cyprus who receives dividends from a company which is a resident of the United Kingdom shall, subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this Article and provided he is the beneficial owner of the dividends, be entitled to the tax credit in respect thereof to which an individual resident in the United Kingdom would have been entitled had he received those dividends, and to the payment of any excess of that tax credit over his liability to United Kingdom tax.

(3) Paragraph (2) of this Article shall not apply where the beneficial owner of the dividend is a company which either alone or together with one or more associated companies controls directly or indirectly at least 10 per cent of the voting power in the company paying the dividend. For the purposes of this paragraph two companies shall be deemed to be associated if one is controlled directly or indirectly by the other, or both are controlled directly or indirectly by a third company.

(4) Dividends derived from a company which is a resident of Cyprus and which are beneficially owned by a resident of the United Kingdom shall be exempt from any tax in Cyprus which is chargeable on dividends in addition to the tax chargeable in respect of the profits or income of the company.

(5) The term `dividends` as used in this Article means income from shares or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits, as well as income from other corporate rights assimilated to income from shares by the taxation law of the Contracting State of which the company making the distribution is a resident and also includes any other item (other than interest relieved from tax under the provisions of Article 12 of this Convention) which under the law of the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividend is a resident, is treated as a dividend or distribution of a company.

(6) If the beneficial owner of the dividends, being a resident of one of the Contracting States, owns 10 per cent or more of the class of shares in respect of which the dividends are paid then paragraphs (1) and (2) or, as the case may be, paragraph (4) of this Article shall not apply to the dividends to the extent that they can have been paid only out of profits which the company paying the dividends earned or other income which is received in a period ending 12 months or more before the relevant date. For the purposes of this paragraph the term `relevant date` means the date on which the beneficial owner of the dividends became the owner of 10 per cent or more of the class of shares in question. Provided that this paragraph shall apply only if the shares were acquired primarily for the purpose of securing the benefit of this Article and not for bona fide commercial reasons.

(7) The provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) or, as the case may be, paragraph (4) of this Article shall not apply where a resident of one of the Contracting States has in the other Contracting State a permanent establishment and the holding by virtue of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with a business carried on through that permanent establishment.

(8) Where a company which is a resident of one of the Contracting States derives profits or income from the other Contracting State, that other Contracting State may not impose any tax on the dividends paid by the company to persons who are not residents of that other Contracting State, or subject the company's undistributed profits to a tax on undistributed profits, even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in such other Contracting State.

(9) If the system of taxation applicable in either Contracting State to the profits or distributions of companies is altered the competent authorities of both Contracting States may consult each other in order to determine whether it is necessary for this reason to amend the provisions of this Article.