The Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Canada) Order 1980

ARTICLE 12 Royalties

1.  Royalties arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2.  However, such royalties may be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise, and according to the law of that State; but if the recipient is the beneficial owner of the royalties the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the royalties.

3.  Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, copyright royalties and other like payments in respect of the production or reproduction of any literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (but not including royalties in respect of motion picture films and works on film or videotape for use in connection with television) arising in a Contracting State and beneficially owned by a resident of the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in that other State.

4.  The term “ royalties” as used in this Article means payments of any kind received as a consideration for the use of, or the right to use, any copyright, patent, trade mark, design or model, plan, secret formula or process, or for the use of, or the right to use, industrial, commercial or scientific equipment, or for information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience, and includes payments of any kind in respect of motion picture films and works on film or videotape for use in connection with television.

5.  The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not apply if the recipient of the royalties, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the royalties arise through a permanent establishment situated therein, or performs in that other State professional services from a fixed base situated therein, and the right or property in respect of which the royalties are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment or fixed base. In such a case, the provisions of Article 7 or Article 14, as the case may be, shall apply.

6.  Royalties shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is that State itself, a political subdivision, a local authority or a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the royalties, whether he is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment in connection with which the obligation to pay the royalties was incurred, and those royalties are borne as such by that permanent establishment, then such royalties shall be deemed to arise in the Contracting State in which the permanent establishment is situated.

7.  Where, owing to a special relationship between the payer and the person deriving the royalties or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the royalties paid exceeds for whatever reason the amount which would have been paid in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In that case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the law of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Convention.