S.I. No. 19/2011 - Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Kingdom of Morocco) Order 2011.

1. The Contracting States shall notify each other in writing, through diplomatic channels, of the completion of the procedure required by their respective laws for the entry into force of this Convention.

2. The Convention shall enter into force on the date of the exchange of the later of these notifications and its provisions shall thereupon have effect

a) in the case of Ireland

i) as respects income tax, income levy and capital gains tax, for any year of assessment beginning on or after the first day of January in the calendar year in which this Convention enters into force;

ii) as respects corporation tax, for any financial year beginning on or after the first day of January in the calendar year in which this Convention enters into force.

b) in the case of Morocco

i) in respect of taxes withheld at source, for amounts paid or credited, on or after the first day of January of the calendar year in which this Convention enters into force; and

ii) in respect of other taxes, for any taxable year or period beginning on or after the first day of January of the calendar year in which this Convention enters into force.

Article 29

Termination

This Convention shall remain in force until terminated by a Contracting State. Either Contracting State may terminate the Convention, through diplomatic channels, by giving notice of termination at least six months before the end of any calendar year after the fifth year following the year in which the Convention has entered into force. In such case, the Convention shall cease to have effect

a) in the case of Ireland

i) as respects income tax, income levy and capital gains tax, for any year of assessment beginning on or after the first day of January next following the date on which the period specified in the said notice of termination expires;

ii) as respects corporation tax, for any financial year beginning on or after the first day of January next following the date on which the period specified in the said notice of termination expires;

b) in the case of Morocco

i) in respect of taxes withheld at source, for amounts paid or credited, on or after the first day of January of the first calendar year following that in which such notice is given; and

ii) in respect of other taxes, for any taxable year or period beginning on or after the first day of January of the first calendar year following that in which such notice is given.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Convention.

Done in duplicate at Rabat this 22nd day of June 2010 in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authentic.

For the Government of

Ireland

For the Government of

the Kingdom of Morocco

James Brennan

Latifa Akharbach

Protocol

At the signing of the Convention between the Government of Ireland and the Kingdom of Morocco for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income, the undersigned have agreed that the following shall form an integral part of the Convention

It is understood at the date of signature of this Convention, the laws of Ireland do not permit it to lend assistance in the collection of taxes on income, profits or gains of another country. However, if after the date of signature of this Convention the laws of Ireland in this respect change then Ireland shall expedite the incorporation in this Convention of provisions with regard to collection assistance as may be agreed by the Contracting States.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned duly authorised thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Convention.

Done in duplicate at Rabat this 22nd day of June 2010 in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authentic.

For the Government of Ireland

For the Government of the Kingdom of Morocco

James Brennan

Latifa Akharbach

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Government,

11 January 2011.

BRIAN COWEN,

Taoiseach.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

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

This Order gives the force of law to the Convention between Ireland and Morocco for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, which is set out in the Schedule to the Order. The effect of the Convention is summarised below.

This Convention with Morocco, which was signed in Rabat on 22nd June 2010 is comprehensive in scope and is based on the OECD Model Convention.

The taxes covered by the Convention are, for Ireland, Income Tax, Income Levy, Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax: for Morocco, Income Tax and Corporation Tax.

The Convention provides for the allocation of taxing rights between Ireland and Morocco 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 Morocco, 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, certain interest and royalty payments, 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 relief 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 10% or more of the voting power of the paying company) in receipt of dividends from a Moroccan company are granted credit for the tax paid by the Moroccan company on the profits out of which the dividends are paid (known as credit for underlying tax).

Source State taxation of dividends (depending on the ownership interest in the paying company) is restricted to 6% or 10% of the gross dividend. Source State taxation of interest and royalties is restricted to 10%. Exemptions from Source State taxation include interest paid to the Government, the Central Bank or any financial institution wholly owned by the Government.

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 foreseeably relevant 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 in that year.

3. In no case shall the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation

a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws and administrative practice of that or of the other Contracting State;

b) to supply information which is not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of the administration of that or of the other Contracting State;

c) to supply information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, or information the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).

4. If information is requested by a Contracting State in accordance with this Article, the other Contracting State shall use its information gathering measures to obtain the requested information, even though that other State may not need such information for its own tax purposes. The obligation contained in the preceding sentence is subject to the limitations of paragraph 3 but in no case shall such limitations be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because it has no domestic interest in such information.

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 27

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 28

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 three years immediately preceding the alienation of the property if the property was held by the individual before he became a resident of that other State.

Article 14

Independent Personal Services

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. 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. However, when the activities of such an agent are devoted wholly or almost wholly on behalf of that enterprise, and conditions are made or imposed between that enterprise and the agent in their commercial and financial relations which differ from those which would have been made between independent enterprises, he will not be considered an agent of an independent status within the meaning of this paragraph.

9. 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

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

21

st January

, 2011.

WHEREAS it is enacted by

section 826

(1) (as amended 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 to 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 amended 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