Japan - Liechtenstein Tax Treaty

1

AGREEMENT

BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF JAPAN AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PRINCIPALITY OF LIECHTENSTEIN FOR THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO TAX MATTERS

The Government of Japan and the Government of the Principality of Liech- tenstein,

Desiring to conclude an Agreement for the exchange of information relat- ing to tax matters,

Have agreed as follows:

Article 1

OBJECT AND SCOPE

The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall provide
assis- tance through exchange of information that is foreseeably relevant to
the ad- ministration or enforcement of the laws of the Contracting Parties
concerning taxes covered by this Agreement. Such information shall include
information that is foreseeably relevant to the determination, assessment and collection of such taxes, the recovery and enforcement of tax claims, or the investigation or prosecution of tax matters. Information shall be obtained, exchanged and trea- ted as confidential pursuant to the provisions of the Agreement, subject to the laws of the respective Contracting Parties. When the Requested Party obtains

and provides information under the Agreement, the procedural rights and safe- guards secured to persons by the laws or administrative practice of
the Re- quested Party remain applicable, to the extent that they do not unduly prevent or delay effective exchange of information.

Article 2

JURISDICTION

The Requested Party is not obligated to provide information which is nei- ther held by its authorities nor in the possession or control of persons who are within its territorial jurisdiction.

Article 3

TAXES COVERED

1. This Agreement shall apply to the following taxes:

(a) in the case of Japan:

(i) the income tax;

(ii) the corporation tax;

(iii) the local inhabitant taxes;

(iv) the inheritance tax;

(v) the gift tax;

(vi) the consumption tax;

(vii) the special income tax for reconstruction; and

(viii) the special corporation tax for reconstruction; and

(b) in the case of the Principality of Liechtenstein:

(i) the personal income tax (Erwerbssteuer);

(ii) the corporate income tax (Ertragssteuer);

(iii) the real estate capital gains tax (Grundst¸cksgewinnsteuer);

(iv) the wealth tax (Vermˆgenssteuer);

(v) the coupon tax (Couponsteuer); and

(vi) the value added tax (Mehrwertsteuer).

2. This Agreement shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes that are imposed after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition to, or in place of, those referred to in paragraph 1. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall notify each other of any significant
   changes that have been made in their respective tax laws.

Article 4

DEFINITIONS

1. For the purposes of this Agreement:

(a) the term ìJapanî, when used in a geographical sense, means all the terri- tory of Japan, including its territorial sea, in which the laws relating to Japa- nese tax are in force, and all the area beyond its territorial sea, including the seabed and subsoil thereof, over which Japan has sovereign rights in accordance with international law and in which the laws relating to Japa- nese tax are in force;

(b) the term ìPrincipality of Liechtensteinî means, when used in a geographi- cal sense, the area of the sovereign territory of the Principality of Liechten- stein;

(c) the term ìContracting Partyî means Japan or the Principality of Liechten- stein as the context requires;

(d) the term ìcompetent authorityî means:

(i) in the case of Japan, the Minister of Finance or his authorised repre- sentative; and

(ii) in the case of the Principality of Liechtenstein, the Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein or its authorised representative;

(e) the term ìpersonî includes an individual, a company, a
dormant inheri- tance and any other body of persons;

(f) the term ìcompanyî means any body corporate or any entity that is trea- ted as a body corporate for tax purposes;

(g) the term ìnationalî means:

(i) in the case of Japan, any individual possessing the nationality of Ja- pan, any juridical person created or organised under the laws of Ja- pan and any organisation without juridical personality treated for the purposes of Japanese tax as a juridical person created or organised under the laws of Japan; and

(ii) in the case of the Principality of Liechtenstein, any individual possess- ing ìLandesb¸rgerrechteî according to the ìB¸rgerrechtsgesetzî (LGBl. 1960, No. 23) and any person other than an individual deriving its status as such from the laws in force in the Principality of Liech- tenstein;

(h) the term ìpublicly traded companyî means any company whose principal class of shares is listed on a recognised stock exchange provided its listed shares can be readily purchased or sold by the public. Shares can be readi- ly purchased or sold ìby the publicî if the purchase or sale of shares is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;

(i) the term ìprincipal class of sharesî means the class or
classes of shares representing a majority of the voting power and value of a company;

(j) the term ìrecognised stock exchangeî means:

(i) any stock exchange established by a Financial Instruments Exchange or an approved-type financial instruments firms association under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law (Law No. 25 of 1948) of Japan;

(ii) any stock exchange that fulfils the material requirements of Article 4 of the directive 2004/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004; and

(iii) any other stock exchange agreed upon by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties;

(k) the term ìcollective investment fund or schemeî means any
pooled in- vestment vehicle, irrespective of legal form. The term ìpublic collective in- vestment fund or schemeî means any collective investment fund or sche- me provided the units, shares or other interests in the fund or scheme can be readily purchased, sold or redeemed by the public. Units, shares or o- ther interests in the fund or scheme can be readily purchased, sold or re- deemed ìby the publicî if the purchase, sale or redemption is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;

(l) the term ìtaxî means any tax to which the Agreement applies;

(m) the term ìApplicant Partyî means the Contracting Party requesting
infor- mation;

(n) the term ìRequested Partyî means the Contracting Party requested to pro- vide information;

(o) the term ìinformation gathering measuresî means laws and administrative or judicial procedures that enable a Contracting Party to obtain and
pro- vide the information requested; and

(p) the term ìinformationî means any fact, statement or record in
any form whatever.

2. As regards the application of this Agreement at any time by a Contract- ing Party, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context
   otherwise re- quires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the laws of that Contract- ing Party, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that
   Contracting Party prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that Contracting Party.

Article 5

EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION UPON REQUEST

(a) The competent authority of the Requested Party shall obtain and provide upon request information for the purposes referred to in Article 1.
Such information shall include:

(i) information held by banks, other financial institutions, and any per- son acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity including nominees and trustees; and

(ii) information regarding the ownership of companies, partnerships, trusts, foundations and other persons, including, within the con- straints of Article 2, ownership information on all such persons in an ownership chain; in the case of trusts, information on settlors, trus- tees and beneficiaries; and in the case of foundations, information on founders, members of the foundation council and beneficiaries.

(b) The information referred to in subparagraph (a) shall be provided without regard to whether the Requested Party needs such information for its own tax purposes or whether the conduct under examination would constitute a crime under the laws of the Requested Party if such conduct occurred in the Requested Party.

2. If the information in the possession of the competent authority of
   the Requested Party is not sufficient to enable it to comply with the request for in- formation, the Requested Party shall use all relevant information gathering mea- sures to provide the Applicant Party with the information requested,
   notwith- standing that the Requested Party may not need such information for its own tax purposes.

3. If specifically requested by the competent authority of the Applicant Par- ty, the competent authority of the Requested Party shall provide
   information under this Article, to the extent allowable under its laws, in the form of authenti- cated copies of original records.

4.This Agreement does not create an obligation on the Contracting Parties to obtain or provide ownership information with respect to publicly traded com- panies or public collective investment funds or schemes unless such information can be obtained without giving rise to disproportionate difficulties.

5. The competent authority of the Applicant Party shall provide the follo- wing information in writing to the competent authority of the Requested Party when making a request for information under this Agreement to
   demonstrate the foreseeable relevance of the information sought to the request:

(a) the identity of the person under examination;

(b) with respect to taxes levied on the basis of a taxable year, the taxable year to which the request relates;

(c) a statement of the information requested including its nature and the form in which the Applicant Party wishes to receive the information from
the Requested Party;

(d) the tax purposes for which the information requested is sought;

(e) the reason for believing that the information requested is foreseeably rele- vant to the administration or enforcement of the laws of the Applicant Par- ty with regard to the person specified in subparagraph (a);

(f) grounds for believing that the information requested is held
by the Re- quested Party or is in the possession or control of a person who is within the territorial jurisdiction of the Requested Party;

(g) to the extent known, the name and address of any person believed to be in possession or control of the information requested;

(h) a statement that the request is in conformity with the laws and administra- tive practice of the Applicant Party, that if the information requested was

within the territorial jurisdiction of the Applicant Party then the competent authority of the Applicant Party would be able to obtain the
information under the laws or in the normal course of administrative practice of the Applicant Party and that the request is in conformity with the Agreement; and

(i) a statement that the Applicant Party has pursued all means available within its territorial jurisdiction to obtain the information requested, except those that would give rise to disproportionate difficulties.

6. The competent authority of the Requested Party shall forward the
   in- formation requested as promptly as possible to the Applicant Party. To ensure a prompt response, the competent authority of the Requested Party shall:

(a) confirm receipt of a request in writing to the competent authority of the Applicant Party and shall notify the competent authority of the Applicant Party of deficiencies in the request, if any, within sixty days of the receipt of the request; and

(b) if the competent authority of the Requested Party has been unable to ob- tain and provide the information within ninety days of the receipt of the request, including if it encounters obstacles in furnishing the information or it refuses to furnish the information, immediately inform the competent authority of the Applicant Party, explaining the reason for its inability, the nature of the obstacles or the reasons for its refusal.

Article 6

TAX EXAMINATIONS ABROAD

1. At the request of the competent authority of the Applicant Party, the competent authority of the Requested Party may allow representatives
   of the

competent authority of the Applicant Party to be present at the appropriate part of a tax examination in the Requested Party.

2.If the request referred to in paragraph 1 is acceded to, the competent au- thority of the Requested Party conducting the examination shall, as soon as pos- sible, notify the competent authority of the Applicant Party about the time and place of the examination, the authority or official designated to
carry out the examination and the procedures and conditions required by the Requested Party for the conduct of the examination. All decisions with respect to the conduct of the examination shall be made by the Requested Party conducting the examina- tion.

Article 7

POSSIBILITY OF DECLINING A REQUEST

1. The competent authority of the Requested Party may decline to assist:

(a) where the request is not made in conformity with this Agreement and, in particular, where the requirements referred to in paragraph 5 of Article 5 are not met; or

(b) where the disclosure of the information requested would be
contrary to public policy (ordre public) of the Requested Party.

2. The Requested Party shall not be required to obtain or provide informa- tion that, if the information requested was within the territorial
   jurisdiction of the Applicant Party, then the competent authority of the Applicant Party would not be able to obtain under the laws or in the normal course of administrative practice of the Applicant Party.

3. This Agreement shall not impose on a Contracting Party the obligation to supply information which would disclose any trade, business,
   industrial, com- mercial or professional secret or trade process. Such information
   includes in- formation relating to communications between attorneys, solicitors or
   other admitted legal representatives in their role as such and their clients to the extent that the communications are protected from disclosure under the laws of each Contracting Party. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentences, information of the type referred to in subparagraph 1(a) of Article 5 shall not be treated as such a secret or trade process merely because it meets the criteria in that subpara- graph.

4. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground that the tax claim giving rise to the request is disputed.

5. The Requested Party may decline a request for information if the infor- mation is requested by the Applicant Party to administer or enforce any provi- sion of the tax laws of the Applicant Party, or any requirement connected there- with, which discriminates against a national of the Requested Party as compared with a national of the Applicant Party in the same circumstances.

Article 8

CONFIDENTIALITY

1. All information provided and received by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties under this Agreement shall be kept confidential.

2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 may be disclosed only to per- sons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) in the Contract- ing Parties concerned with the purposes referred to in Article 1,
   and used by

such persons or authorities only for such purposes. For these purposes, the in- formation may be disclosed in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.

3. The information referred to in paragraph 1 may not be used for any pur- pose other than for the purposes referred to in Article 1 without
   the express written consent of the competent authority of the Requested Party.

4. The information referred to in paragraph 1 may not be disclosed to per- sons or authorities in non-Contracting Parties.

Article 9

COSTS

Incidence of costs incurred in providing assistance shall be agreed by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties.

Article 10

MUTUAL AGREEMENT PROCEDURES

1. Where difficulties or doubts arise between the Contracting Parties
   re- garding the implementation or interpretation of this Agreement, the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall endeavour to resolve the
   matter by mutual agreement.

2. In addition to the agreements referred to in paragraph 1, the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may mutually agree on the procedures to be used under Articles 5 and 6.

3. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may communicate with each other directly for the purpose of reaching an agreement
   under this Article.

Article 11

HEADINGS

The headings of the Articles of this Agreement are inserted for convenience of reference only and shall not affect the interpretation of the Agreement.

Article 12

ENTRY INTO FORCE

1. The Contracting Parties shall notify each other, in writing, of the comple- tion of their respective internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement. The Agreement shall enter into force on the thirtieth day after the latter of the dates of receipt of the notifications.

2. This Agreement shall be applicable:

(a) with respect to taxes levied on the basis of a taxable year, for taxes for any taxable years beginning on or after 1 January in the calendar year next fol- lowing that in which the Agreement enters into force; and

(b) with respect to taxes not levied on the basis of a taxable
year, for taxes levied on or after 1 January in the calendar year next following
that in which the Agreement enters into force.

Article 13

TERMINATION

1. This Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by a Contracting Party. Either Contracting Party may terminate the Agreement, through diploma- tic channels, by giving written notice of termination at least six months before the end of any calendar year beginning after the expiry of three years from the date of entry into force of the Agreement.

2. Upon receipt of the written notice of termination referred to in
   para- graph 1, this Agreement shall cease to have effect on 1 January in the calendar year next following that in which the notice is given.

3. If this Agreement is terminated, each Contracting Party shall
   remain bound by Article 8 with respect to any information provided and received by the Contracting Party under the Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.

DONE in duplicate at Vaduz this 5 day of July, 2012, in the English language.

For the Government For the Government

of Japan: of the Principality

of Liechtenstein: