1. For the purposes of this Convention, unless the context
otherwise requires:
a) the terms “a Contracting State” and “the other Contracting
State” mean the United States or the Federal Republic of
Germany as the context requires;
b) the term “United States”, when used in a geographical
sense, means the United States of America, but does not
include Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, or any other
possession or territory of the United States of America;
c) the term “Federal Republic of Germany”, when used in a
geographical sense, means the area in which the tax law of
the Federal Republic of Germany is in force;
d) the term “person” includes but is not limited to an individual
and a company;
e) the term “company” means any body corporate or any
entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;
f) 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;
g) the term “international traffic” means any transport by a ship
or aircraft, except when the ship or aircraft is operated
solely between places in one of the Contracting States;
h) the term “national” means:
aa) in respect of the United States, United States citizens
and any legal person, partnership, or association deriv-
ing its status as such from the law in force in the Unit-
ed States; and
bb) in respect of the Federal Republic of Germany, any
German within the meaning of paragraph 1 of
Article 116 of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of
Germany and any legal person, partnership, or
association deriving its status as such from the law in
force in the Federal Republic of Germany; and
i)
the term “competent authority” means:
aa) in the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury or his
delegate; and
bb) in the Federal Republic of Germany, the Federal
Minister of Finance or his delegate.
2. As regards the application of this Convention by a
Contracting State any term not defined therein shall, unless the
context otherwise requires or the competent authorities agree
to a common meaning pursuant to the provisions of Article 25
(Mutual Agreement Procedure), have the meaning that it has
under the laws of that State concerning the taxes to which this
Convention applies.
BGBl. 2008 II S. 611 | Included protocol entered 2007-12-28 (original publication footnote, PDF31); publication 2008-06-23; correction851 unresolved | Signed: 1989-08-29 | Gazette publication: 2008-06-23
Source form
Original official-publication PDF with native text layer; unreviewed language-separated machine transcription of that exact publication
Source scope
Exact officially published consolidation, not a privately synthesized or certified current-law text
Retrieved
2026-09-30
Text and language scope
UNREVIEWED ORIGINAL 611-PUBLICATION ONLY. Correction BGBl.2008 II S.851 is identified but its wording/incorporation is unresolved. NOT a corrected final version or current law. Printed line breaks, hyphens and PDF word spacing retained. Article14 deletion marker and Article18A conserved. Separate preamble, protocol and publication footnotes: /review/de-united-states-2008-consolidated/. No consolidation closing or signatories invented. Page references are not verified paragraph alignment.
Review status
Pending qualified human review; no wording, completeness, legal alignment or indexing approval.
Currentness
Original source edition; not a verified current-law consolidation. No current-law determination, qualified human wording/completeness review, legal alignment, or indexing approval. No exhaustive later-development check. Page links identify source pages, not verified paragraph correspondence. Original 611 publication only; Correction851 unresolved. No corrected-final-version or full-language accuracy claim. Bounded agent triage, no qualified wording/alignment/legal review. No exhaustive verification of all later 2026 developments. Matching digest proves retained source identity, not legal force.
Protocols and later instruments
Includes protocol signed 2006-06-01, entry 2007-12-28 (publication footnote4, PDF31). Separate official correction BGBl.2008 II S.851 is linked in retained BMF metadata; its wording and incorporation remain unresolved. No correction applied. Source-triage warnings: Bounded agent triage, no qualified wording/alignment/legal review. No exhaustive verification of all later 2026 developments. Matching digest proves retained source identity, not legal force.
Text language and status
en · authentic-language-transcription · machine-transcription
BGBl. 2008 II S. 611 | de-united-states-2008-consolidated | BGBl. 2008 II S. 611 | Included protocol entered 2007-12-28 (original publication footnote, PDF31); publication 2008-06-23; correction851 unresolved | Signed: 1989-08-29 | Gazette publication: 2008-06-23 | Article 3 | en | Pending qualified human review; no wording, completeness, legal alignment or indexing approval. | /library/treaties/de-united-states-2008-consolidated/en/articles/article-3/
Source, edition and limits
Source edition
BGBl. 2008 II S. 611 | Included protocol entered 2007-12-28 (original publication footnote, PDF31); publication 2008-06-23; correction851 unresolved | Signed: 1989-08-29 | Gazette publication: 2008-06-23
Source form
Original official-publication PDF with native text layer; unreviewed language-separated machine transcription of that exact publication
Source scope
Exact officially published consolidation, not a privately synthesized or certified current-law text
Retrieved
2026-09-30
Text and language scope
UNREVIEWED ORIGINAL 611-PUBLICATION ONLY. Correction BGBl.2008 II S.851 is identified but its wording/incorporation is unresolved. NOT a corrected final version or current law. Printed line breaks, hyphens and PDF word spacing retained. Article14 deletion marker and Article18A conserved. Separate preamble, protocol and publication footnotes: /review/de-united-states-2008-consolidated/. No consolidation closing or signatories invented. Page references are not verified paragraph alignment.
Review status
Pending qualified human review; no wording, completeness, legal alignment or indexing approval.
Currentness
Original source edition; not a verified current-law consolidation. No current-law determination, qualified human wording/completeness review, legal alignment, or indexing approval. No exhaustive later-development check. Page links identify source pages, not verified paragraph correspondence. Original 611 publication only; Correction851 unresolved. No corrected-final-version or full-language accuracy claim. Bounded agent triage, no qualified wording/alignment/legal review. No exhaustive verification of all later 2026 developments. Matching digest proves retained source identity, not legal force.
Protocols and later instruments
Includes protocol signed 2006-06-01, entry 2007-12-28 (publication footnote4, PDF31). Separate official correction BGBl.2008 II S.851 is linked in retained BMF metadata; its wording and incorporation remain unresolved. No correction applied. Source-triage warnings: Bounded agent triage, no qualified wording/alignment/legal review. No exhaustive verification of all later 2026 developments. Matching digest proves retained source identity, not legal force.
Text language and status
en · authentic-language-transcription · machine-transcription