ARTICLE 5
U.S. Income Tax Treaty — germany tax treaty documents: germany.pdf · 2026-10-03 edition · updated 2026-10-04 · United States
Permanent Establishment
For the purposes of this Convention, the term "permanent establishment" means a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on.
The term "permanent establishment" includes especially;
a) a place of management; b) a branch; c) an office; d) a factory; e) a workshop; and f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry, or any other place of extraction of natural resources.
A building site or a construction, assembly or installation project constitutes a permanent establishment only if it lasts more than twelve months.
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Article, the term "permanent establishment" shall be deemed not to include:
a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display, or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise;
b) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage, display. or delivery;
c) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of processing by another enterprise;
d) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise, or of collecting information, for the enterprise;
e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of advertising, of the supply of information, of scientific activities, or of similar activities that have a preparatory or auxiliary character for the enterprise; or
f) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any combination of activities mentioned in subparagraphs a) to e), provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory or auxiliary character.
Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person (other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 6 applies) is acting on behalf of an enterprise and has, and habitually exercises, in a Contracting State an authority to conclude contracts in the name of the enterprise, that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in that State in respect of any activities which that person undertakes for the enterprise, unless the activities of such person are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 4 that, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph.
An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that State through a broker, general commission agent, or any
other agent of an independent status, provided that such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business.
- The fact that a company that is a resident of a Contracting State controls or is controlled by a company that is a resident of the other Contracting State, or that carries on business in that other State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise), shall not of itself constitute either company a permanent establishment of the other.
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