Article 18 · pension schemes

## Article 18: pension schemes

- 1. Where an individual who is a resident of a Contracting State is a member or beneficiary of, or participant in, a pension scheme established in the other Contracting State, income earned by the pension scheme may be taxed as income of that individual only when, and, subject to paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 17 (Pensions, Social Security, Annuities, Alimony, and Child Support) of this Convention, to the extent that, it is paid to, or for the benefit of, that individual from the pension scheme (and not transferred to another pension scheme).

- 2. Where an individual who is a member or beneficiary of, or participant in, a pension scheme established in a Contracting State exercises an employment or self employment in the other Contracting State:

- (a) contributions paid by or on behalf of that individual to the pension scheme during the period that he exercises an employment or self-employment in the other State shall be deductible (or excludable) in computing his taxable income in that other State; and

- (b) any benefits accrued under the pension scheme, or contributions made to the pension scheme by or on behalf of the individual’s employer, during that period shall not be treated as part of the employee’s taxable income and any such contributions shall be allowed as a deduction in computing the business profits of his employer in that other State.

- The reliefs available under this paragraph shall not exceed the reliefs that would be allowed by the other State to residents of that State for contributions to, or benefits accrued under, a pension scheme established in that State.

- 3. The provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article shall not apply unless:

- (a) contributions by or on behalf of the individual, or by or on behalf of the individual’s employer, to the pension scheme (or to another similar pension scheme for which the first-mentioned pension scheme was substituted) were made before the individual began to exercise an employment or self-employment in the other State; and

- (b) the competent authority of the other State has agreed that the pension scheme generally corresponds to a pension scheme established in that other State.

- 4. Where, under sub-paragraph a) of paragraph 2 of this Article, contributions to a pension scheme are deductible (or excludable) in computing an individual’s taxable income in a Contracting State and, under the laws in force in that State, the individual is subject to tax in that State, in respect of income, profits or gains, by reference to the amount thereof which is remitted to or received in that State and not by reference to the full amount thereof, then the relief that would otherwise be available to that individual under that sub-paragraph in respect of such contributions shall be reduced to an amount that bears the same proportion to that relief as the amount of the income, profits or gains in respect of which the individual is subject to tax in that State bears to the amount of the income, profits or gains in respect of which he would be subject to tax if he were so subject in respect of the full amount thereof and not only in respect of the amount remitted to or received in that State.

- 5 (a) Where a citizen of the United States who is a resident of the United Kingdom exercises an employment in the United Kingdom the income from which is taxable in the United Kingdom and is borne by an employer who is a resident of the United Kingdom or by a permanent establishment situated in the United Kingdom, and the individual is a member or beneficiary of, or participant in, a pension scheme established in the United Kingdom,

- (i) contributions paid by or on behalf of that individual to the pension scheme during the period that he exercises the employment in the United Kingdom, and that are attributable to the employment, shall be deductible (or excludable) in computing his taxable income in the United States; and

- (ii) any benefits accrued under the pension scheme, or contributions made to the pension scheme by or on behalf of the individual’s employer, during that period, and that are attributable to the employment, shall not be treated as part of the employee’s taxable income in computing his taxable income in the United States.

- This paragraph shall apply only to the extent that the contributions or benefits qualify for tax relief in the United Kingdom.

- (b) The reliefs available under this paragraph shall not exceed the reliefs that would be allowed by the United States to its residents for contributions to, or benefits accrued under, a generally corresponding pension scheme established in the United States.

- (c) For purposes of determining an individual’s eligibility to participate in and receive tax benefits with respect to a pension scheme established in the United States, contributions made to, or benefits accrued under, a pension scheme established in the United Kingdom shall be treated as contributions or benefits under a generally corresponding pension scheme established in the United States to the extent reliefs are available to the individual under this paragraph.

- (d) This paragraph shall not apply unless the competent authority of the United States has agreed that the pension scheme generally corresponds to a pension scheme established in the United States.