- 1. For the purposes of this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires:
- a) the term ‘Spain’ means the Kingdom of Spain and, when used in a geographical sense, means the territory of the Kingdom of Spain, including inland waters, the air space, the territorial sea and any maritime area outside the territorial sea upon which, in accordance with international law and on application of its domestic legislation, the Kingdom of Spain exercises or may exercise in the future jurisdiction or sovereign rights with respect to the sea bed, its subsoil and superjacent waters, and their natural resources;
- b) the term ‘United Kingdom’ means Great Britain and Northern Ireland, including its inland waters, air space and territorial sea, and any maritime area outside its territorial sea within which, in accordance with international law and on application of its domestic legislation concerning the Continental Shelf, the United Kingdom exercises or may exercise in the future jurisdiction or sovereign rights with respect to the sea bed, its subsoil and superjacent waters, and their natural resources;
- c) the terms ‘a Contracting State’ and ‘the other Contracting State’ mean Spain or the United Kingdom as the context requires;
- d) the term ‘person’ includes an individual, a trust, a company, and any other body of persons;
- e) the term ‘company’ means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;
- f) the term ‘enterprise’ applies to the carrying on of any business;
- g) the terms ‘enterprise of a Contracting State’ and ‘enterprise of the other Contracting State’ 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;
- h) the term ‘international traffic’ means any transport by a ship or aircraft operated by an enterprise of a Contracting State, except when the ship or aircraft is operated solely between places in the other Contracting State;
- i) the term ‘competent authority’ means:
- (i) in Spain, the Minister of Economy and Finance or his authorised representative;
- (ii) in the United Kingdom, the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs or their authorised representative;
- j) the term ‘national’ means:
- (i) in relation to Spain:
- aa) any individual possessing the nationality of Spain;
- bb) any legal person, partnership or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in Spain.
- (ii) 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 laws in force in the United Kingdom;
- k) the term ‘business’ includes the performance of professional services and of other activities of an independent character;
- l) the term ‘pension scheme’ means:
- (i) in Spain:
- any scheme, fund, mutual benefit institution or other entity established in Spain
- (aa) which manages the right of its beneficiaries to receive income or capital upon retirement, survivorship, widowhood, orphanhood, or disability; and
- (bb) contributions to which are eligible for tax benefits in the form of reductions in the taxable base of personal taxes.
- (ii) in the United Kingdom:
- any plan, scheme, fund, trust or other arrangement established in the United Kingdom which:
- (aa) is generally exempt from income taxation; and
- (bb) operates principally to administer or provide pension or retirement benefits or to earn income for the benefit of one or more such arrangements.
- 2. As regards the application of the Convention at any time by a Contracting State, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of that State for the purposes of the taxes to which the Convention applies, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that State prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that State.