New tax treaties. The United States has exchanged instruments of ratification for new income tax treaties with the United Kingdom and Japan and new protocols for the income tax treaties with Australia and Mexico. The provisions of these treaties and protocols are included in the appropriate areas of this publication. The effective dates are as follows: United Kingdom. The provisions for withholding tax at source are effective for amounts paid or credited after May 1, 2003. For all other taxes, the treaty is effective for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2004. An individual who was otherwise entitled to treaty benefits under Article 21 of the former treaty can continue to apply those provisions. A person who was otherwise entitled to benefits under the former treaty can elect to have that treaty apply in its entirety for a 12-month period following the date the new treaty would otherwise apply. Japan. The provisions for withholding tax at source are effective for amounts paid or credited after July 1, 2004. For all other taxes, the treaty is effective for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2005. An individual who was entitled to treaty benefits under Article19 (teachers and researchers) or Article 20 (students and trainees) of the former treaty as of March 30, 2004, can continue to apply those provisions. A person who was otherwise entitled to benefits under the former treaty can elect to have that treaty apply in its entirety for the 12-month period following the date the new treaty would otherwise apply. Australia. The provisions for withholding tax at source are effective for amounts paid or credited after July 1, 2003. For all other taxes, the protocol is effective for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2004. Mexico. The provisions for withholding tax on dividends are effective for amounts paid or credited on or after September 1, 2003. For all other taxes, the treaty is effective for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2004.

Disclosure of a treaty-based position that reduces your tax. If you take the position that any U.S. tax is overruled or otherwise reduced by a U.S. treaty (a treaty-based position), you generally must disclose that position on your affected return.

U.S.–U.S.S.R. income tax treaty. The U.S.–U.S.S.R. income tax treaty remains in effect for the following members of the Commonwealth of Independent States: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. That treaty will remain in effect until new treaties with these individual countries are negotiated and ratified. Provisions of the U.S.–U.S.S.R. income tax treaty are discussed in this publication under Commonwealth of Independent States.

U.S.–China income tax treaty. The U.S.– China income tax treaty does not apply to Hong Kong.

This publication will tell you whether a tax treaty between the United States and a particular country offers a reduced rate of, or possibly a complete exemption from, U.S. income tax for residents of that particular country.

Tables in the back of this publication show the countries that have income tax treaties with the United States, the tax rates on different kinds of income, and the kinds of income that are exempt from tax.

You should use this publication only for quick reference. It is not a complete guide to all provisions of every income tax treaty.

Obtaining copies of treaties.   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 of the treaties at www.irs.gov/businesses/international. You can also obtain the text of most of the treaties at the following address: If you have specific questions about a treaty, you can get this information from most Internal Revenue Service offices or from: