Poland - Grenada Tax Treaty

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND AND GRENADA FOR THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO TAX MATTERS

The Republic of Poland and Grenada, desiring to exchange information with

respect to taxes,

Have agreed as follows:

Article 1 Object and Scope of the Agreement

The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall provide assistance through exchange of information that is foreseeably relevant to the administration and enforcement of the domestic laws of the Contracting Parties concerning taxes covered by this Agreement, including information that is foreseeably relevant to the determination, assessment and collection of tax with respect to persons subject to such taxes, the recovery and enforcement of tax claims, or the investigation of tax matters or prosecution of criminal tax matters in relation to such persons. Information shall be exchanged in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and shall be

treated as confidential in the manner provided in Article 10.

The requested Party shall take all steps to ensure that any rights and

safeguards secured to persons by the laws or administrative practice of the

requested Party are not applied in a manner that unduly prevent or delay

effective exchange of information.

Article 2

Jurisdiction

A requested Party is not obligated to provide information which is neither

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 imposed by the Contracting Parties:

a) incase of Poland: i) the personal income tax; ii) the corporate income tax; in case of Grenada:

personal and corporate income tax.

This Agreement shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar

taxes imposed after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition to, or

in place of, the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall notify each other of any substantial changes in their laws which may effect the obligations of that Contracting Party pursuant to this

Agreement.

Article 4 Definitions

In this Agreement the term:

a) "Poland" means the Republic of Poland and, when used in a geographical sense, means the territory of the Republic of Poland, and any area adjacent to the territorial waters of the Republic of Poland within which, under the laws of Poland and in accordance with international law, the rights of Poland with respect to the exploration and exploitation of the natural

resources of the seabed and its sub-soil may be exercised;

b) “Grenada” means the State of Grenada; “Contracting Party” means Poland or Grenada, as the context requires; “competent authority” means:

i) in case of Poland, the Minister of Finance or his authorized

representative;

ii) in case of Grenada, the Minister of Finance or his authorized

representative;

e) “person” includes an individual, a company and any other body of

persons;

f) “company” means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as a

body corporate for tax purposes;

g) “publicly traded company” means any company whose principal class of shares is listed on a recognized stock exchange provided its listed shares can be readily purchased or sold by the public. Shares can be purchased or sold “by the public” if the purchase or sale of shares is not implicitly or

explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;

h) “principal class of shares” means the class or classes of shares

representing a majority of the voting power and value of the company;

i) “recognized stock exchange” means any stock exchange agreed upon

by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties;

j) “collective investment fund or scheme” means any pooled investment vehicle, irrespective of legal form. The term “public collective investment fund or scheme” means any collective investment fund or scheme 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 other interests in the fund or scheme can be readily purchased, sold or redeemed “by the public” if the purchase, sale or redemption is not implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;

k) “tax” means any tax to which the Agreement applies; !) “applicant Party” means the Contracting Party requesting information;

m) “requested Party” means the Contracting Party requested to provide

information;

n) “information gathering measures” means laws and administrative or

judicial procedures that enable a Contracting Party to obtain and provide the

requested information; 0) “information” means any fact, statement or record in any form whatever;

p) “criminal tax matters” means tax matters involving intentional conduct

which is liable to prosecution under the criminal laws of the applicant Party;

r) “criminal laws” means all criminal laws designated as such under domestic law irrespective of whether such are contained in the tax laws, the

criminal code or other statutes.

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

Article 5

Exchange of Information Upon Request

1. The competent authority of the requested Party shall provide upon request by the competent authority of the applicant Party information for the purposes referred to in Article 1. Such information shall be exchanged without regard to whether the requested Party needs such information for its own tax purposes or the conduct being investigated would constitute a crime under the laws of the requested Party if it had occurred in the territory of 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 information, that Party shall use all relevant information gathering measures to provide the competent authority of the applicant Party with the information requested, notwithstanding 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 Party, the competent authority of the requested Party shall provide

information under this Article, to the extent allowable under its domestic laws,

in the form of depositions of witnesses and authenticated copies of original

records.

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

a) information held by banks, other financial institutions, and any person,

including nominees and trustees, acting in an agency or fiduciary capacity;

b) information regarding the legal and beneficial ownership of companies,

partnerships, public collective investment schemes, trusts, foundations and

other persons, including information on all such persons in an ownership

chain, in particular:

i) in case of public collective investment funds or schemes, information on

shares, units and other interests;

ii) in case of foundations, information on founders, members of the

foundation council and beneficiaries:

iii) in case of trusts, information on settlors, trustees, protectors and

beneficiaries;

iv) in case of persons that are neither collective investment schemes, trusts or foundations, equivalent information to the information in subparagraphs |)

to iii).

5. This Agreement does not create any obligation for a Contracting Party to obtain or provide ownership information with respect to publicly traded companies or public collective investment funds or schemes, unless such

information can be obtained without giving rise to disproportionate difficulties.

6. Any request for information shall be formulated with the greatest possible detail and shall specify in writing:

a) _ the identity of the person under examination or investigation;

the period for which the information is requested; the nature of the information requested; the tax purpose for which the information is sought;

to the extent known, the name and address of any person believed to

be in possession of the requested information;

f) a statement that the request is in conformity with the law and administrative practices of the applicant Party, that if the requested information was within the jurisdiction of the applicant Party then the

competent authority of the applicant Party would be able to obtain the

information under the laws of the applicant Party or in the normal course of

administrative practice and that it is in conformity with this Agreement;

g) a-statement that the applicant Party has pursued all means available in its own territory to obtain the information, except those that would give rise to

disproportionate difficulties.

7. The competent authority of the requested Party shall forward the requested information as soon as reasonably possible to the applicant Party. To ensure a prompt response, the competent authority of the requested

Party shall:

a) confirm receipt of the request in writing to the competent authority of the applicant Party immediately and in any event in ten working days after receipt and shall notify the competent authority of the applicant Party of any deficiencies in the request within 60 days of receipt of the request, and |

b) if the competent authority of the requested Party has been unable to

obtain and provide the information within 120 days of receipt of the request, including if it encounters obstacles in furnishing the information or it refuses to furnish the information, it shall immediately inform the applicant Party, explaining the reason for its inability, the nature of the obstacles or the

reasons for its refusal.

Article 6

Automatic Exchange of Information

The competent authority of a Contracting Party shall, by automatic exchange, forward to the competent authority of the other Contracting Party, to the extent possible on the basis of control information and information available, information concerning individuals and legal entities necessary for the correct assessment of taxes referred to in Article 3 with respect to the following

categories of cases:

a) a person liable to tax obtains a reduction in or an exemption from tax on the territory of the first-mentioned Contracting Party which would give rise to an increase in tax or to liability to tax on the territory of the other Contracting Party;

b) a person liable to tax obtains on the territory of the first-mentioned

Contracting Party income deriving from interest payments; in such case the

account number of the beneficial owner shall be given.

The automatic communication/transmission of information shall take place

immediately after the end of each calendar year.

Article 7

Spontaneous Exchange of Information

1. The competent authority of the Contracting Party may, in any case by

spontaneous exchange, forward to the other Contracting Party any information referred in Article 1 of which they are aware, and in particular in

the following cases:

a) where taxation is deemed to take place in the other Contracting Party and the effectiveness of the control system may be facilitated by that

information;

b) where the Contracting Party has grounds to believe that a failure of compliance with tax laws has been committed or is likely to have been committed in the other Contracting Party; where tax has been or may be evaded or avoided for any reason in the other Contracting Party, and especially where there is an artificial transfer of profits between enterprises in the Contracting Parties or where such transactions are carried out between enterprises in both Contracting Parties through a third country in order to

obtain tax advantages;

c) information forwarded to the Contracting Party by the other Contracting Party has enabled information to be obtained which may be relevant in

assessing liability of tax in the latter Contracting Party.

2. each Contracting Party shall take such measures as are necessary to ensure that information described in paragraph 1 will be made available for

transmission to the other Contracting Party.

Article 8

Tax Examinations Abroad

1. With reasonable notice the applicant Party may request that the requested Party allows representatives of the competent authority of the applicant Party to enter the territory of the requested Party, to the extent permitted under its domestic laws, to interview individuals and examine records. The competent authority of the applicant Party shall notify the competent authority of the requested Party of the time and place of the

meeting with the individuals concerned.

2. 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 attend a tax examination in the

territory of the requested Party.

3. If the request referred to in paragraph 2 is granted, the: competent authority of the requested Party conducting the examination shall, as soon as possible, notify the competent authority of the applicant Party of the time and

place of the examination, the authority or person authorized to carry out the

examination and the procedures and conditions required by the requested

Party for the conduct of the examination. All decisions regarding the conduct of the tax examination shall be made by the requested Party conducting the

examination.

Article 9

Possibility of Declining a Request

1. The requested Party shall not be required to obtain or provide information that the applicant Party would not be able to obtain under its own

laws for purposes of the administration or enforcement of its own tax laws.

2. The competent authority of the requested Party may decline to assist:

a) where the request is not made in conformity with this Agreement;

b) where the applicant Party has not pursued all means available in its own territory to obtain the information, except where recourse to such means

would give rise to disproportionate difficulty; or

c) where the disclosure of the information requested would be contrary to

public policy.

3. This Agreement shall not impose upon a requested Party any obligation to provide items subject to any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, provided that information described in paragraph 4 of Article 5 shall not by reason of that fact alone be treated as

such a secret or trade process.

4. The provisions of this Agreement shall not impose on a Contracting Party the obligation to obtain or provide information, which would reveal confidential communications between a client and an attorney, solicitor or

other admitted legal representative where such communications are: a) produced for the purposes of seeking or providing legal advice; or

b) produced for the purposes of use in existing or contemplated legal

proceedings.

5. The requested Party may decline a request for information if the

disclosure of the information would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).

6. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground that the tax

claim giving rise to the request is disputed.

7. The requested Party shall not be required to obtain and provide information which, if the requested information was within the jurisdiction of the applicant Party, the competent authority of the applicant Party would not be able to obtain under its laws or in the normal course of administrative

practice.

8. The requested Party may decline a request for information if the information is requested by the applicant Party to administer or enforce a

provision of the tax law of the applicant Party, or any requirement connected

therewith, which discriminates against a national of the requested Party as

compared with a national of the applicant Party in the same circumstances.

Article 10 Confidentiality

1. Any information provided and received by the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall be kept confidential.

2. Information shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the purposes specified in the Article 1, and used by such persons or authorities only for such purposes, including the determination of any appeal. For these purposes, information

may be disclosed in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.

3. Information may not be used for any purpose other than for the

purposes stated in Article 1 without the express written consent of the

competent authority of the requested Party.

4. The information provided to a applicant Party under this Agreement may

not be disclosed to any other jurisdiction.

Article 11

Costs

Incidence of costs incurred in providing assistance shall be agreed by the

Contracting Parties.

Article 12

Language

Requests for assistance, the responses thereto and any other written

communication between the competent authorities shall be drawn up in English. As regards other documents or files to be provided, the competent authorities shall consult whether and to what extent translation into the English language is indeed required.

Article 13

Mutual Agreement Procedure

14. Where difficulties or doubts arise between the Contracting Parties

regarding the implementation or interpretation of the Agreement, the respective competent authorities shall use their best efforts 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, 6, 8 and 11.

3, The Contracting Parties shall endeavour to agree on other forms of

dispute resolution should this become necessary.

4. Formal communications, including requests for information, made in connection with or pursuant to the provision of this Agreement will be in writing directly to the competent authority of the other Contracting Party at such address as may be notified by one Contracting Party to the other. Any subsequent communications regarding requests for information will be either in writing or verbally, whichever is most practical, between the

aforementioned competent authorities or their authorized representatives.

Article 14

Entry into Force

Each of the Contracting Parties shall notify in writing through diplomatic

channels to the other the completion of the procedures required by its law for

the bringing into force of this Agreement.

This Agreement shall enter into force in two months after the date of receiving the later of these notifications and shall thereupon have effect for requests made on or after the date of entry into force, without regard to the

taxable period to which the matter relates.

Article 15

Termination

1. This Agreement is concluded for unspecified time. It may be terminated by the notification by either Contracting Party; in such a case it shall cease to be in force after three months from after the date of receipt of the notification

by the other Contracting Party.

2. All requests received by the Contracting Parties up to effective day of

termination will be dealt in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

3. If the Agreement is terminated the Contracting Parties shall remain bound by the provisions of Article 10 with respect to any information obtained

under the Agreement.

In witness whereof the undersigned, duly authorized thereto by their

respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.

Done in duplicate at New York this 19th day of July 2012, in the Polish and English languages, both texts being equally authentic.

For the Republic of Poland: For Grenada: