ARTICLE 25

Mutual Agreement Procedure

1. Where a person considers that the actions of one or both of the Contracting States result or will result for him in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, he may, irrespective of the remedies provided by the domestic law of those States, present his case to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which he is a resident or national.

2. The competent authority shall endeavor, if the objection appears to it to be justified and if it is not itself able to arrive at a satisfactory solution, to resolve the case by mutual agreement with the competent authority of the other Contracting State, with a view to the avoidance of taxation which is not in accordance with the Convention.

3. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavor to resolve by mutual agreement any difficulties or doubts arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention. In particular, the competent authorities of the Contracting States may consult together to endeavor to agree:

a) to the same attribution of income, deductions, credits or allowances to a resident of a Contracting State and its permanent establishment situated in the other Contracting State;

b) to the same allocation of income, deductions, credits or allowances between a resident of a Contracting State and any associated person provided for in Article 9 (Associated Enterprises);

c) to the same characterization of particular items of income;

d) to the same characterization of persons; e) to the same application of source rules with respect to particular items of income;

f) to a common meaning of a term; g) to the application of the provisions of domestic law regarding penalties, fines, and interest in a manner consistent with the purposes of the Convention. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may consult together for the elimination of double taxation in cases not provided for in the Convention.

4. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may communicate with each other directly for the purpose of reaching an agreement in the sense of the preceding paragraphs.

5. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may prescribe procedures to carry out the purposes of this Convention.

6. If any difficulty or doubt arising as to the interpretation or application of this Convention cannot he resolved by the competent authorities in a mutual agreement procedure pursuant to the previous paragraphs of this Article, the case may, if both competent authorities and all affected taxpayers agree, be submitted for arbitration, provided the taxpayers agree in writing to be bound by the decision of the arbitration board. The decision of the arbitration board in a particular case shall be binding on both Contracting States with respect to that case. The procedures shall be established in an exchange of notes between the Contracting States. The provisions of this paragraph shall have effect after the Contracting States have so agreed through the exchange of diplomatic notes.