S.I. No. 25/2010 - Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income and on Capital) (Republic of Belarus) Order 2010.

1. The term “capital” means property in the case of Belarus.

2. Ad paragraph 3 of Article 4 and paragraph 3 of Article 21

The place of effective management is the place where a company is actually managed and controlled and where the decision making at the highest level on important policies essential for the management of a company takes place.

3. Ad paragraph 2 of Article 6

It is understood that, until the domestic law of Belarus is amended, the definition of “immovable property” in paragraph 2 of Article 6 shall be applied by Belarus in conformity with its domestic law.

4. Ad paragraph 4b) of Article 13

The provisions of subparagraph b) of paragraph 4 of Article 13 in the case of Ireland shall be treated as applying also to a trust.

In witness whereof, the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Protocol.

Done in duplicate at Dublin this 3 rd day of November 2009 in the English and Russian languages, both texts being equally authentic.

For Ireland:For the Republic of Belarus

Martin ManserghAnna Deiko

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Government,

26 January 2010.

MARY COUGHLAN,

Tanaiste.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

The Convention provides for the allocation of taxing rights between Ireland and Belarus and for the granting of relief from double taxation with regard to items of income and capital gains which, under the laws of Ireland and the laws of Belarus, may under the terms of the Convention be taxed in both countries.

Where both countries continue to have taxing rights, for example in the case of dividend, interest and royalty income, business profits arising through a permanent establishment which a person resident in one country has in the other country, or in the case of capital gains arising from the disposal of immovable property, the Convention provides that the country of residence of the recipient of the income or gain will give credit against its tax on the income or gains for the tax paid in the other country on the same income or gains. Irish direct investors (i.e. Irish companies holding 25% or more of the shares of the paying company) in receipt of dividends from a Belarusian company are granted credit for the tax paid by the Belarusian company on the profits out of which the dividends are paid (known as credit for underlying tax).

Reduced rates of withholding tax are provided for in the case of dividend, interest and royalty income. With respect to dividend income, the Convention provides for a reduced rate of 5% of the gross dividend where the recipient is a company that owns 25% of the company paying the dividends; and 10% otherwise. Exemption from source state taxation on dividends is provided where the dividends are received by the Government or an agency or institution owned by the Government of a Contracting State. Exemption from source state taxation on interest is provided where the interest is derived and beneficially owned by the Government of a Contracting State, Central Bank, agency, or statutory body or institution wholly or mainly owned by the Government of a Contracting State; otherwise source country taxation of interest is limited to 5%. In the case of royalties the rate of source state taxation may not exceed 5%.

The Convention also provides for safeguarding nationals and enterprises of one country against discriminatory taxation in the other country, for consultation between the competent authorities of the two countries for the purpose of resolving any doubts or difficulties arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention and for the exchange of such information between these authorities as is necessary for carrying out the provisions of the Convention or of the domestic law of either country in relation to the taxes covered by the Convention.

The Convention will enter into force when each country notifies the other of the completion of its procedures for bringing the Convention into force. It will thereupon have effect in both countries for tax periods beginning in that year.

5. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 3 be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because the information is held by a bank, other financial institution, nominee or person acting in an agency or a fiduciary capacity or because it relates to ownership interests in a person.

Article 26

MEMBERS OF DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS AND CONSULAR POSTS

Nothing in this Convention shall affect the fiscal privileges of members of diplomatic missions or consular posts under the general rules of international law or under the provisions of special agreements.

Article 27

ENTRY INTO FORCE

6. The provisions of paragraph 5 shall not affect the right of a Contracting State to levy, according to its law, a tax on gains from the alienation of any property derived by an individual who is a resident of the other Contracting State and has been a resident of the first-mentioned State at any time during the five years immediately preceding the alienation of the property.

Article 14

INCOME FROM EMPLOYMENT

7. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the interest having regard to the debt-claim for which it is paid, exceeds the amount which would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.

Article 12

ROYALTIES

8. The fact that a company which is a resident of a Contracting State controls or is controlled by a company which is a resident 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 permanent establishment of the other.

Article 6

INCOME FROM IMMOVABLE PROPERTY

S.I. No. 25 of 2010

DOUBLE TAXATION RELIEF (TAXES ON INCOME AND ON CAPITAL) (REPUBLIC OF BELARUS) ORDER 2010

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

5

th February

, 2010.

WHEREAS it is enacted by section 826(1) (as substituted by

section 35

of the

Finance Act 2007

(No. 11 of 2007)) of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

(No. 39 of 1997) that where the Government by order declare that arrangements specified in the order have been made with the government of any territory outside the State in relation to affording relief from double taxation in respect of income tax, corporation tax in respect of income and chargeable gains, capital gains tax or any taxes of a similar character imposed by the laws of the State or by the laws of that territory and, in the case of taxes of any kind or description imposed by the laws of the State or the laws of that territory, in relation to exchanging information for the purposes of the prevention and detection of tax evasion or granting relief from taxation under the laws of that territory to persons who are resident in the State for the purposes of tax, and that it is expedient that those arrangements should have the force of law, and that the order so made is referred to in Part 1 of Schedule 24A of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

, then, subject to section 826 of that Act, the arrangements shall, notwithstanding any enactment, have the force of law as if such order were an Act of the Oireachtas on and from the date of the insertion of a reference to the order into Part 1 of Schedule 24A

AND WHEREAS it is further enacted by section 826(6) of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

that where such an order is proposed to be made, a draft of the order shall be laid before Dáil Éireann and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann

AND WHEREAS a draft of the following Order has been laid before Dáil Éireann and a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by Dáil Éireann

NOW, the Government, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 826(1) (as substituted by

section 35

of the

Finance Act 2007

(No. 11 of 2007)) of the

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997

(No. 39 of 1997) hereby order as follows