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- 1. In this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires:
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- (a) the term ‘United Kingdom’, when used in a geographical sense, means Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including any area outside the territorial sea of the United Kingdom which in accordance with international law has been or may hereafter be designated, under the laws of the United Kingdom concerning the Continental Shelf, as an area within which the rights of the United Kingdom with respect to the sea-bed and subsoil and their natural resources may be exercised;
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- (b) the term ‘Belgium’, when used in a geographical sense, means the national territory, the territorial sea and any area adjacent to the territorial sea of Belgium within which in accordance with international law the sovereign rights of the Kingdom of Belgium with respect to the seabed and subsoil and their natural resources may be exercised;
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- (c) the terms ‘a Contracting State’ and ‘the other Contracting State’ mean the United Kingdom or Belgium, as the context requires;
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- (d) the term ‘tax’ means United Kingdom tax or Belgian tax, as the context requires;
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- (e) the term ‘person’ includes an individual, a company and any other body of persons;
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- (f) the term ‘company’ means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;
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- (g) the terms ‘enterprise of a contracting State’ and ‘enterprise of the other contracting Statev mean respectively an enterprise carried on by a resident of a Contracting State and an enterprise carried on by a resident of the other Contracting State;
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- (h) the term ‘national’ means:
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- (i) in relation to the United Kingdom, any British citizen or any British subject not possessing the citizenship of any other Commonwealth country or territory, provided he has the right of abode in the United Kingdom; and any legal person, partnership, association or other entity deriving its status as such from the law in force in the United Kingdom;
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- (ii) in relation to Belgium, any individual possessing the nationality of Belgium and any legal person, partnership or association deriving its status as such from the law in force in Belgium;
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- (i) the term ‘international traffic’ means any transport by a ship, an aircraft or a road or railway vehicle operated by an enterprise of a Contracting State, except when the ship, aircraft or road or railway vehicle is operated solely between places in the other Contracting State;
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- (j) the term ‘competent authority’ means:
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- (i) in Belgium, the minister of Finance or his authorised representative; And
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- (ii) in the United Kingdom, the Commissioners for her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs or their authorised representative;
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- (k) the term ‘political subdivision’, in relation to the United Kingdom, includes Northern Ireland.
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- (l) the term ‘pension scheme’ means any plan, scheme, fund, trust or other arrangement established in a Contracting State:
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- (i) to the extent that it is operated to administer or provide pension or retirement benefits or to earn income for the benefit of one or more such arrangements, and
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- (ii) provided that it is either :
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- A) in the case of Belgium, an entity, including pension funds, or a pension scheme arranged through an insurance company, that is organised under Belgian law and is regulated by the Banking, Finance and Insurance Commission or registered with the Belgian tax administration; or
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- B) in the case of the United Kingdom, a pension scheme (other than a social security scheme) registered under Part 4 of the Finance Act 2004, including pension funds or pension schemes arranged through insurance companies and unit trusts where the unit holders are exclusively pension schemes.
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- The competent authorities may agree to include in the above, pension schemes of identical or substantially similar economic or legal nature.
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- 2. As regards the application of the Convention by a Contracting State any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning which it has under the law of that State concerning the taxes to which the Convention applies.