(1) The Contracting States shall lend assistance to each other
in the collection of revenue claims. This assistance is not
restricted by Articles 1 and 2. The competent authorities of the
Contracting States may by mutual agreement settle the mode of
application of this Article.
(2) The term “revenue claim” as used in this Article means an
amount owed in respect of taxes of every kind and description
imposed on behalf of a Contracting State or a political
subdivision or local authority thereof, insofar as the taxation
thereunder is not contrary to this Agreement or any other
instrument to which the Contracting States are parties, as well
as interest, administrative penalties and costs of collection or
conservancy related to such amount.
(3) When a revenue claim of a Contracting State is
enforceable under the laws of that State and is owed by a
person who, at that time, cannot, under the laws of that State,
prevent its collection, that revenue claim shall, at the request of
the competent authority of that State, be accepted for purposes
of collection by the competent authority of the other Contracting
State. That revenue claim shall be collected by that other State
in accordance with the provisions of its laws applicable to the
enforcement and collection of its own taxes as if the revenue
claim were a revenue claim of that other State.
(4) When a revenue claim of a Contracting State is a claim in
respect of which that State may, under its law, take measures of
conservancy with a view to ensure its collection, that revenue
claim shall, at the request of the competent authority of that
State, be accepted for purposes of taking measures of
conservancy by the competent authority of the other
Contracting State. That other State shall take measures of
conservancy in respect of that revenue claim in accordance with
the provisions of its laws as if the revenue claim were a revenue
claim of that other State even if, at the time when such measures
are applied, the revenue claim is not enforceable in the first
mentioned State or is owed by a person who has a right to
prevent its collection.
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4, a
revenue claim accepted by a Contracting State for purposes of
paragraph 3 or 4 shall not, in that State, be subject to the time
limits or accorded any priority applicable to a revenue claim
under the laws of that State by reason of its nature as such. In
addition, a revenue claim accepted by a Contracting State for
the purposes of paragraph 3 or 4 shall not, in that State, have
any priority applicable to that revenue claim under the laws of
the other Contracting State.
(6) Proceedings with respect to the existence, validity or the
amount of a revenue claim of a Contracting State shall not be
brought before the courts or administrative bodies of the other
Contracting State.
(7) Where, at any time after a request has been made by a
Contracting State under paragraph 3 or 4 and before the other
Contracting State has collected and remitted the relevant
revenue claim to the first-mentioned State, the relevant revenue
claim ceases to be
a) in the case of a request under paragraph 3, a revenue claim
of the first-mentioned State that is enforceable under the
laws of that State and is owed by a person who, at that time,
cannot, under the laws of that State, prevent its collection, or
b) in the case of a request under paragraph 4, a revenue claim
of the first-mentioned State in respect of which that State
may, under its laws, take measures of conservancy with a
view to ensure its collection
the competent authority of the first-mentioned State shall
promptly notify the competent authority of the other State of that
fact and, at the option of the other State, the first-mentioned
State shall either suspend or withdraw its request.
(8) In no case shall the provisions of this Article be construed
so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation:
a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the
laws and administrative practice of that or of the other
Contracting State;
b) to carry out measures which would be contrary to public
policy (ordre public);
c) to provide assistance if the other Contracting State has not
pursued all reasonable measures of collection or conservancy,
as the case may be, available under its laws or administrative
practice;
d) to provide assistance in those cases where the administrative
burden for that State is clearly disproportionate to the benefit
to be derived by the other Contracting State.