ARTICLE 10 — U.S. Income Tax Treaty

Dividends

Dividends derived and beneficially owned by a resident of a Contracting State may be taxed in that State.

2 However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which the dividends arise according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the dividends is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed

a) 5 percent of the gross amount of the dividends if the beneficial owner is a company which holds directly at least 10 percent of the voting stock of the company paying the dividends;

b) 15 percent of the gross amount of the dividends in all other cases. Subparagraph b) and not subparagraph a) shall apply in the case of dividends paid by a person which is a resident of the United States and which is a Regulated Investment Company. Subparagraph a) shall not apply to dividends paid by a person which is a resident of the United States and which is a Real Estate Investment Trust, and subparagraph b) shall only apply if the dividend is beneficially owned by an individual holding an interest of less than 10 percent in the Real Estate Investment Trust.

This paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid.

Notwithstanding paragraph 2, dividends may not be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident if the beneficial owner of the dividends is a resident of the other Contracting State described in subparagraph 4 b) of Article 28 (Miscellaneous) that does not control the company paying the dividend.
The term "dividends" as used in this Article means income from shares or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits, as well as income which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares under the law of the Contracting State in which the income arises.
The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State independent personal services from a fixed base situated therein, and the dividends are attributable to such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such a case, the provisions of Article 7 (Business Profits) or Article 14 (Independent Personal Services) shall apply.
Where a company is a resident of a Contracting State, the other Contracting State may not impose any tax on the dividends paid by the company, except insofar as

a) such dividends are paid to a resident of that other State, or b) the dividends are attributable to a permanent establishment or a fixed base situated in that State.

A company that is a resident of Switzerland and that has a permanent establishment in the United States, or that is subject to tax on a net basis in the United States on items of income described in Article 6 (Income from Real Property) or Article 13 (Gains), may be subject in the United States to a tax in addition to the tax allowable under the other provisions of this Convention. Such tax, however, may be imposed only on

a) the portion of the business profits of the company attributable to the permanent establishment under this Convention, and

b) the portion of the income referred to in the preceding sentence that is described in Article 6 (Income from Real Property) or paragraphs 1 or 3 of Article 13 (Gains), that represents the "dividend equivalent amount" of those profits and income; the term "dividend equivalent amount" shall, for the purposes of this paragraph, have the meaning that it has under the law of the United States as it may be amended from time to time without changing the general principle thereof.

The tax referred to in paragraph 7 shall not be imposed at a rate exceeding the rate specified in subparagraph 2 a).