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### PROTOCOL
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- At the time of signing of the Agreement between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Capital Gains, the two Governments have agreed on the following provisions which shall form an integral part of the Agreement.
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- General
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- 1. For the purposes of applying this Agreement an item of income, profit or gain derived through a person that is fiscally transparent under the laws of either Contracting Party, shall be considered to be derived by a resident of a Contracting Party to the extent that the item is treated for the purposes of the taxation law of such Contracting Party as the income, profit or gain of that resident. It is understood that this paragraph shall not affect the taxation by a Contracting Party of its residents.
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- With reference to Article 11 (Interest) and Article 13 (Capital Gains)
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- 2. It is understood that the term ‘recognised stock exchange’ means:
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- (a) the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and any Hong Kong Special Administrative Region stock exchange recognised under the law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region;
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- (b) the London Stock Exchange and any other United Kingdom investment exchange recognised under United Kingdom law; or
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- (c) any other stock exchange agreed upon by the competent authorities.
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- 3. It is understood that the term ‘pension scheme’ means any plan, scheme, fund, trust or other arrangement established in a Contracting Party which is:
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- (a) generally exempt from income taxation in that Party; and
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- (b) operated principally to administer or provide pension or retirement benefits or to earn income for the benefit of one or more such arrangements.
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- With reference to Article 24 (Exchange of Information)
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- 4. It is understood that:
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- (a) the Article does not require the Contracting Parties to exchange information on an automatic or a spontaneous basis;
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- (b) information exchanged shall not be disclosed to any third jurisdiction; and
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- (c) the United Kingdom competent authority may disclose information to the Information Commissioner, the Adjudicator and the Parliamentary Ombudsman and their staff in the investigation of complaints against the administrative actions of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
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In witness whereof, the undersigned, duly authorised thereto, have signed this Protocol.
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Done in duplicate in London this 21st day of June 2010, in the English language.
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For the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: David Gauke MP.
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For the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China: Prof. K C Chan.