ARTICLE 10

Dividends

1. Dividends paid by a company that is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident, and according to the laws of that State, but, except as provided in paragraph 3, 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 that owns 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.

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

3. Subparagraph a) of paragraph 2 shall not apply in the case of dividends paid by a Regulated Investment Company (RIC) or a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). In the case of dividends paid by a RIC, subparagraph b) of paragraph 2 shall apply. In the case of dividends paid by a REIT, subparagraph b) of paragraph 2 also shall not apply unless:

a) the beneficial owner of the dividends is an individual holding an interest of not more than 10 percent of the REIT;

b) the dividends are paid with respect to a class of stock that is publicly traded and the beneficial owner of the dividends is a person holding an interest of not more than 5 percent of any class of the REIT’s stock; or

c) the beneficial owner of the dividends is a person holding an interest of not more than 10 percent of the REIT and the REIT is diversified.

4. 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 the other Contracting State or a political subdivision or local authority thereof or a resident of the other Contracting State that is a governmental entity constituted and operated exclusively to administer or provide pension benefits, provided in each case that the dividends are not derived from carrying on a trade or business or from an associated enterprise.

5. 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 from other corporate rights that is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the State of which the company making the distribution is a resident. The term “dividends” also includes income from arrangements, including debt obligations, carrying the right to participate in, or determined with reference to, profits to the extent so characterized under the laws of the Contracting State in which the income arises.

6. 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 case the provisions of Article 7 (Business Profits) or Article 14 (Independent Personal Services), as the case may be, shall apply.

7. A Contracting State may not impose any tax on dividends paid by a company that is a resident of the other Contracting State, except insofar as the dividends are paid to a resident of that State or the dividends are attributable to a permanent establishment or a fixed base situated in that State.