2002 Tax Help Archives  

Publication 54 2002 Tax Year

Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens & Resident Aliens Abroad

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Tax Treaty Benefits

Topics

This chapter discusses:

  • Some common tax treaty benefits,
  • How to get help in certain situations, and
  • How to get copies of tax treaties.

Useful Items You may want to see:

Publication

  • 597   Information on the United States-Canada Income Tax Treaty
  • 901   U.S. Tax Treaties

See chapter 7 for information about getting these publications.

Purpose of Tax Treaties

The United States has tax treaties or conventions with many countries. See Table 6-1 at the end of this chapter for a list of these countries.

Under these treaties and conventions, citizens and residents of the United States who are subject to taxes imposed by the foreign countries are entitled to certain credits, deductions, exemptions, and reductions in the rate of taxes of those foreign countries. If a foreign country with which the United States has a treaty imposes a tax on you, you may be entitled to benefits under the treaty.

Treaty benefits generally are available to residents of the United States. They generally are not available to U.S. citizens who do not reside in the United States. However, certain treaty benefits and safeguards, such as the nondiscrimination provisions, are available to U.S. citizens residing in the treaty countries. U.S. citizens residing in a foreign country may also be entitled to benefits under that country's tax treaties with third countries.

TAXTIP: You should carefully examine the specific treaty articles that may apply to find if you are entitled to a tax credit, tax exemption, reduced rate of tax, or other treaty benefit or safeguard.

Common Benefits

Some common tax treaty benefits are explained below. The credits, deductions, exemptions, reductions in rate, and other benefits provided by tax treaties are subject to conditions and various restrictions. Benefits provided by certain treaties are not provided by others.

1. Personal service income. If you are a U.S. resident who is in a treaty country for a limited number of days in the tax year and you meet certain other requirements, pay you receive for personal services performed in that country may be exempt from that country's income tax.

2. Professors and teachers. If you are a U.S. resident, pay you receive for the first 2 or 3 years that you are teaching or doing research in a treaty country may be exempt from that country's income tax.

3. Students, trainees, and apprentices. If you are a U.S. resident, amounts you receive from the United States for study, research, or business, professional and technical training may be exempt from a treaty country's income tax.

Some treaties exempt grants, allowances, and awards received from governmental and certain nonprofit organizations. Also, under certain circumstances, a limited amount of pay received by students, trainees, and apprentices may be exempt from the income tax of many treaty countries.

4. Pensions and annuities. If you are a U.S. resident, nongovernment pensions and annuities you receive may be exempt from the income tax of treaty countries.

Most treaties contain separate provisions for exempting government pensions and annuities from treaty country income tax, and some treaties provide exemption from the treaty country's income tax for social security payments.

5. Investment income. If you are a U.S. resident, investment income, such as interest and dividends, that you receive from sources in a treaty country may be exempt from that country's income tax or taxed at a reduced rate.

Several treaties provide exemption for capital gains (other than from sales of real property in most cases) if specified requirements are met.

6. Tax credit provisions. If you are a U.S. resident who receives income from or owns capital in a foreign country, you may be taxed on that income or capital by both the United States and the treaty country.

Most treaties allow you to take a credit against or deduction from the treaty country's taxes based on the U.S. tax on the income.

7. Nondiscrimination provisions. Most U.S. tax treaties provide that the treaty country cannot discriminate by imposing more burdensome taxes on U.S. citizens who are residents of the treaty country than it imposes on its own citizens in the same circumstances.

8. Saving clauses. U.S. treaties contain saving clauses that provide that the treaties do not affect the U.S. taxation of its own citizens and residents. As a result, U.S. citizens and residents generally cannot use the treaty to reduce their U.S. tax liability.

However, most treaties provide exceptions to saving clauses that allow certain provisions of the treaty to be claimed by U.S. citizens or residents. It is important that you examine the applicable saving clause to determine if an exception applies.

Competent Authority Assistance

If you are a U.S. citizen or resident, you can request assistance from the U.S. competent authority if you think that the actions of the United States, a treaty country, or both, cause or will cause a tax situation not intended by the treaty between the two countries. You should read any specific treaty articles, including the mutual agreement procedure article, that apply in your situation.

If your request provides a basis for competent authority assistance, the U.S. competent authority generally will consult with the treaty country competent authority on how to resolve the situation.

The U.S. competent authority cannot consider requests involving countries with which the United States does not have an applicable tax treaty.

It is important that you make your request for competent authority consideration as soon as either of the following occurs.

  • You are denied treaty benefits.
  • Actions taken by both the United States and the foreign country result in double taxation or will result in taxation not intended by the treaty.

In addition to making a request for assistance, you should take steps so that any agreement reached by the competent authorities is not barred by administrative, legal, or procedural barriers. Some of the steps you should consider taking include the following.

  1. Filing a protective claim for credit or refund of U.S. taxes.
  2. Delaying the expiration of any period of limitations on the making of a refund or other tax adjustment.
  3. Avoiding the lapse or termination of your right to appeal any tax determination.
  4. Complying with all applicable procedures for invoking competent authority consideration.
  5. Contesting an adjustment or seeking an appropriate correlative adjustment with respect to the U.S. or treaty country tax.

Taxpayers can consult with the U.S. competent authority to determine whether they need to take protective steps and when any required steps need to be taken.

ENVELOPE: Your request for competent authority consideration should be addressed to:



    Director, International
    Attn: Office of Tax Treaty
    Internal Revenue Service
    1111 Constitution Avenue, NW
    Washington, DC 20224.

The request should contain all essential items of information, including the following items.

  • The facts from which the issue arises.
  • The years and amounts of income and tax involved.
  • A description of the issue and identification of the relevant treaty provisions.
  • The respective positions taken by you and the foreign country.
  • Copies of any protests, briefs, or other pertinent documents.

Additional details on the procedures for requesting competent authority assistance are included in Revenue Procedure 2002-52, which is in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2002-31.

More information on treaties and problems.   Publication 901 contains an explanation of treaty provisions that apply to amounts received by teachers, students, workers, and government employees and pensioners who are alien nonresidents or residents of the United States. Since treaty provisions generally are reciprocal, you can usually substitute United States for the name of the treaty country whenever it appears, and vice versa when U.S. appears in the treaty exemption discussions in Publication 901.

Publication 597 contains an explanation of a number of frequently-used provisions of the United States-Canada income tax treaty.

Obtaining Copies of Tax Treaties

Table 6-1 lists those countries with which the United States has income tax treaties. This table is updated through September 30, 2002.

You can get complete information about treaty provisions from the taxing authority in the country from which you receive income or from the treaty itself. You can obtain the text of most U.S. treaties at www.irs.gov. You can also request the text of treaties from the Department of Treasury. Call (202) 622-2970, or write to:

Department of Treasury
Office of Public Liaison
Rm. 3127
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20220.

If you have specific questions about a treaty and you are in the United States, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, you can call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. From anywhere in the world, you can send your questions to:

Internal Revenue Service
International Section
P.O. Box 920
Bensalem, PA 19020-8518.

Table 6-1. Table of Tax Treaties (Updated through September 30, 2002)
Country Official Text Symbol 1 General Effective Date Citation Applicable Treasury Explanations or Treasury Decision (T.D.)
Australia  TIAS 10773  Dec. 1, 1983  1986-2 C.B. 220  1986-2 C.B. 246
Austria  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1999    
Barbados  TIAS 11090  Jan. 1, 1984  1991-2 C.B. 436  1991-2 C.B. 466
  Protocol  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1994    
Belgium  TIAS 7463  Jan. 1, 1971  1973-1 C.B. 619  
  Protocol  TIAS 11254  Jan. 1, 1988    
Canada 2  TIAS 11087  Jan. 1, 1985  1986-2 C.B. 258  1987-2 C.B. 298
  Protocol  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1996    
China, People's Republic of  TIAS 12065  Jan. 1, 1987  1988-1 C.B. 414  1988-1 C.B. 447
Commonwealth of Independent States 3  TIAS 8225  Jan. 1, 1976  1976-2 C.B. 463  1976-2 C.B. 475
Cyprus  TIAS 10965  Jan. 1, 1986  1989-2 C.B. 280  1989-2 C.B. 314
Czech Republic  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1993    
Denmark  TIAS  Jan. 1, 2001    
Egypt  TIAS 10149  Jan. 1, 1982  1982-1 C.B. 219  1982-1 C.B. 243
Estonia  TIAS  Jan. 1, 2000    
Finland  TIAS 12101  Jan. 1, 1991    
France  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1996    
Germany  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1990 4    
Greece  TIAS 2902  Jan. 1, 1953  1958-2 C.B. 1054  T.D. 6109, 1954-2 C.B. 638
Hungary  TIAS 9560  Jan. 1, 1980  1980-1 C.B. 333  1980-1 C.B. 354
Iceland  TIAS 8151  Jan. 1, 1976  1976-1 C.B. 442  1976-1 C.B. 456
India  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1991    
Indonesia  TIAS 11593  Jan. 1, 1990    
Ireland  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1998    
Israel  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1995    
Italy  TIAS 11064  Jan. 1, 1985  1992-1 C.B. 442  1992-1 C.B. 473
Jamaica  TIAS 10207  Jan. 1, 1982  1982-1 C.B. 257  1982-1 C.B. 291
Japan  TIAS 7365  Jan. 1, 1973  1973-1 C.B. 630  1973-1 C.B. 653
Kazakstan  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1996    
Korea, Republic of  TIAS 9506  Jan. 1, 1980  1979-2 C.B. 435  1979-2 C.B. 458
Latvia  TIAS  Jan. 1, 2000    
Lithuania  TIAS  Jan. 1, 2000    
Luxembourg  TIAS  Jan. 1, 2001    
Mexico  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1994  1994-2 C.B. 424  1994-2 C.B. 489
  Protocol  TIAS  Oct. 26, 1995    
Morocco  TIAS 10195  Jan. 1, 1981  1982-2 C.B. 405  1982-2 C.B. 427
Netherlands  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1994    
New Zealand  TIAS 10772  Nov. 2, 1983  1990-2 C.B. 274  1990-2 C.B. 303
Norway  TIAS 7474  Jan. 1, 1971  1973-1 C.B. 669  1973-1 C.B. 693
  Protocol  TIAS 10205  Jan. 1, 1982  1982-2 C.B. 440  1982-2 C.B. 454
Pakistan  TIAS 4232  Jan. 1, 1959  1960-2 C.B. 646  T.D. 6431, 1960-1 C.B. 755
Philippines  TIAS 10417  Jan. 1, 1983  1984-2 C.B. 384  1984-2 C.B. 412
Poland  TIAS 8486  Jan. 1, 1974  1977-1 C.B. 416  1977-1 C.B. 427
Portugal  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1996    
Romania  TIAS 8228  Jan. 1, 1974  1976-2 C.B. 492  1976-2 C.B. 504
Russia  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1994    
Slovak Republic  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1993    
Slovenia  TIAS  Jan. 1, 2002    
South Africa  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1998    
Spain  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1991    
Sweden  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1996    
Switzerland  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1998    
Thailand  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1998    
Trinidad and Tobago  TIAS 7047  Jan. 1, 1970  1971-2 C.B. 479  
Tunisia  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1990    
Turkey  TIAS  Jan. 1, 1998    
Ukraine  TIAS  Jan. 1, 2001    
United Kingdom  TIAS 9682  Jan. 1, 1975  1980-1 C.B. 394  1980-1 C.B. 455
Venezuela  TIAS  Jan. 1, 2000    

  1 (TIAS) - Treaties and Other International Act Series.
  2 Information on the treaty can be found in Publication 597, Information on the United States-Canada Income Tax Treaty.
  3 The U.S.-U.S.S.R. income tax treaty applies to the countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and    Uzbekistan.
  4 The general effective date for the area that was the German Democratic Republic is January 1, 1991.

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