1. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term “permanent
establishment” means a fixed place of business through which
the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on.
2. The term “permanent establishment” includes especially:
a) a place of management;
b) a branch;
c) an office;
d) a factory;
e) a workshop, and
f)
a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place of
extraction of natural resources including an offshore drilling
site.
4. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, the
term “permanent establishment” shall be deemed not to include:
a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage, display
or delivery of goods or merchandise belonging to the enter-
prise;
b) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belong-
ing to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage, display
or delivery;
c) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belong-
ing to the enterprise solely for the purpose of processing by
another enterprise;
d) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the
purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise or of collecting
information, for the enterprise;
e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the
purpose of carrying on, for the enterprise, any other activity of
a preparatory or auxiliary character;
f)
the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for any
combination of activities mentioned in sub-paragraphs a)
to e), provided that the overall activity of the fixed place of
business resulting from this combination is of a preparatory
or auxiliary character.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2,
where a person – other than an agent of an independent status to
whom paragraph 6 applies – is acting on behalf of an enterprise
and has, and habitually exercises, in a Contracting State an
authority to conclude contracts in the name of the enterprise,
that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establish-
ment in that State in respect of any activities which that person
undertakes for the enterprise, unless the activities of such person
are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 4 which, if exercised
through a fixed place of business, would not make this fixed
place of business a permanent establishment under the provi-
sions of that paragraph.
6. An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent
establishment in a Contracting State merely because it carries on
business in that State through a broker, general commission
agent or any other agent of an independent status, provided that
such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business.
7. The fact that a company which is a resident of a Contract-
ing State controls or is controlled by a company which is a resi-
dent of the other Contracting State or which carries on business
in that other State (whether through a permanent establishment
or otherwise), shall not of itself constitute either company a per-
manent establishment of the other.
de-malta-2001-base | BGBl. 2001 II S. 1297 | Signed: 2001-03-08 | Gazette publication: 2001-12-17
Source form
official-publication PDF with native text layer; reader is a machine transcription
Source scope
original implementing law, bilingual base treaty and accompanying protocol; not a current consolidated text
Retrieved
2026-09-30
Text and language scope
Unreviewed coordinate-based machine transcription of this original source edition only. Printed line breaks, hyphens and uncertain token spacing are retained, not silently corrected. Treaty preamble, closing formula, protocol and shared signatures are separate retained assets, not part of the last article. Full supplements: /review/de-malta-2001-base/. PDF page links identify pages, not verified paragraph correspondence.
Review status
Pending human wording, completeness, source-authority, currentness, alignment and rendering review. No legal review performed.
Currentness
Original source edition; not a verified current-law consolidation. Unknown. No current-law consolidation, effective-period determination, MLI application, or complete amendment-chain verification has been performed. Original publication year is not a current applicability date. Original 2001 edition is not a consolidated 2026 text: 2010 amendment and operative MLI effects are omitted. Cached article prints BGBl. 2001 II S. 320 for entry notice, but roster prints 2002 II S. 320 and linked notice has 2002 date. Preserve discrepancy; use roster citation with explicit correction provenance.
Protocols and later instruments
The protocol printed with this agreement is separately preserved in source supplements; it has not been merged into treaty articles. Subsequent protocols, amendments, MLI effects, replacements and suspensions are unresolved. This is not a consolidated current-law instrument. Source-triage warnings: Original 2001 edition is not a consolidated 2026 text: 2010 amendment and operative MLI effects are omitted. Cached article prints BGBl. 2001 II S. 320 for entry notice, but roster prints 2002 II S. 320 and linked notice has 2002 date. Preserve discrepancy; use roster citation with explicit correction provenance. Known related/later instruments NOT included in this source (agent triage, not exhaustive): amending-protocol; signature date: 2010-06-17; citation: BGBl. 2011 II S. 275; entry notice S. 640; entry into force: 2011-05-19; application caveat: I.1 prints 01.01.2002 for protocol application. Preserve that broad table statement; do not infer that every amendment is retroactive without protocol review. / BEPS-MLI; citation: BGBl. 2024 I Nr. 205; BGBl. 2025 II Nr. 5; general application: 2025-01-01; part VI general application: 2024-11-01
Text language and status
en · authentic-language-transcription · machine-transcription
BGBl. 2001 II S. 1297 | de-malta-2001-base | de-malta-2001-base | BGBl. 2001 II S. 1297 | Signed: 2001-03-08 | Gazette publication: 2001-12-17 | Article 5 | en | Pending human wording, completeness, source-authority, currentness, alignment and rendering review. No legal review performed. | /library/treaties/de-malta-2001-base/en/articles/article-5/
Source, edition and limits
Source edition
de-malta-2001-base | BGBl. 2001 II S. 1297 | Signed: 2001-03-08 | Gazette publication: 2001-12-17
Source form
official-publication PDF with native text layer; reader is a machine transcription
Source scope
original implementing law, bilingual base treaty and accompanying protocol; not a current consolidated text
Retrieved
2026-09-30
Text and language scope
Unreviewed coordinate-based machine transcription of this original source edition only. Printed line breaks, hyphens and uncertain token spacing are retained, not silently corrected. Treaty preamble, closing formula, protocol and shared signatures are separate retained assets, not part of the last article. Full supplements: /review/de-malta-2001-base/. PDF page links identify pages, not verified paragraph correspondence.
Review status
Pending human wording, completeness, source-authority, currentness, alignment and rendering review. No legal review performed.
Currentness
Original source edition; not a verified current-law consolidation. Unknown. No current-law consolidation, effective-period determination, MLI application, or complete amendment-chain verification has been performed. Original publication year is not a current applicability date. Original 2001 edition is not a consolidated 2026 text: 2010 amendment and operative MLI effects are omitted. Cached article prints BGBl. 2001 II S. 320 for entry notice, but roster prints 2002 II S. 320 and linked notice has 2002 date. Preserve discrepancy; use roster citation with explicit correction provenance.
Protocols and later instruments
The protocol printed with this agreement is separately preserved in source supplements; it has not been merged into treaty articles. Subsequent protocols, amendments, MLI effects, replacements and suspensions are unresolved. This is not a consolidated current-law instrument. Source-triage warnings: Original 2001 edition is not a consolidated 2026 text: 2010 amendment and operative MLI effects are omitted. Cached article prints BGBl. 2001 II S. 320 for entry notice, but roster prints 2002 II S. 320 and linked notice has 2002 date. Preserve discrepancy; use roster citation with explicit correction provenance. Known related/later instruments NOT included in this source (agent triage, not exhaustive): amending-protocol; signature date: 2010-06-17; citation: BGBl. 2011 II S. 275; entry notice S. 640; entry into force: 2011-05-19; application caveat: I.1 prints 01.01.2002 for protocol application. Preserve that broad table statement; do not infer that every amendment is retroactive without protocol review. / BEPS-MLI; citation: BGBl. 2024 I Nr. 205; BGBl. 2025 II Nr. 5; general application: 2025-01-01; part VI general application: 2024-11-01
Text language and status
en · authentic-language-transcription · machine-transcription