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THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY
[PART II—SEC. 3(ii)]
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Revenue)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 23rd September, 2014
(INCOME TAX)
S.O. 2465 (E).—Whereas, an Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Republic
of Colombia for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income
was signed in India on the 13th day of May, 2011 (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement);
And whereas, the said Agreement entered into force on the 7th day of July, 2014, being the date of the later of
the notifications of the completion of the procedures required by the respective laws for entry into force of the
Agreement, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 30 of the Agreement;
And whereas, sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph 3 of Article 30 of the said Agreement provides that the provisions
of the Agreement shall have effect in India in respect of income derived in any fiscal year beginning on or after the first
day of April following the calendar year in which the Agreement enters into force and in all other matters, as of the date
on which the Agreement enters into force;
Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 90 of the Income-tax Act,
1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Government hereby notifies that all the provisions of the said Agreement, as annexed
hereto, shall be given effect to in the Union of India.
[Notification No. 44/2014/F.No. 501/3/99-FTD-II]
RAJAT BANSAL, Jt. Secy.
AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA
AND
THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA
FOR THE AVOIDANCE OF DOUBLE TAXATION AND THE PREVENTION OF
FISCAL EVASION
WITH RESPECT TO TAXES ON INCOME
The Government of the Republic of India and the Republic of Colombia, desiring to conclude an Agreement for the
avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and with a view to
promoting economic cooperation between the two countries, have agreed as follows:
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I.
SCOPE OF THE AGREEMENT
Article 1
PERSONS COVERED
This Agreement shall apply to persons who are residents of one or both of the Contracting States.
Article 2
TAXES COVERED
1. This Agreement shall apply to taxes on income imposed on behalf of a Contracting State or of its political
subdivisions or territorial or local authorities, irrespective of the manner in which they are levied.
2. There shall be regarded as taxes on income all taxes imposed on total income, or on elements of income, including
taxes on gains from the alienation of movable or immovable property and taxes on the total amounts of wages or salaries
paid by enterprises.
3. The existing taxes to which the Agreement shall apply are in particular:
(a) in India, the income tax, including any surcharge thereon;
(hereinafter referred to as “Indian tax”);
(b) in Colombia, Income and Complementary Tax;
(hereinafter referred to as “Colombian Tax”).
4. The Agreement shall apply also to any identical or substantially similar taxes that are imposed after the date of
signature of the Agreement in addition to, or in place of, the existing taxes. The competent authorities of the
Contracting States shall notify each other of any significant changes that have been made in their respective taxation
laws.
II. DEFINITIONS
Article 3
GENERAL DEFINITIONS
1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a)
the term “India” means the territory of India and includes the territorial sea and airspace above it, as
well as any other maritime zone in which India has sovereign rights, other rights and jurisdiction,
according to the Indian law and in accordance with international law, including the U.N. Convention on
the Law of the Sea;
(b)
the term “Colombia” means the Republic of Colombia; and, in geographic terms, in addition to its
continental territory, the archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, the island of
Malpelo, and all the other islands, islets, keys, headlands and shoals that belong to it, as well as air
space and the maritime areas over which it has sovereignty or sovereign rights or jurisdiction in
accordance with its domestic law and international law, including applicable international treaties;
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THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY
[PART II—SEC. 3(ii)]
(c)
the terms " Contracting State" and "the other Contracting State" mean the Republic of India or the
Republic of Colombia as the context requires;
(d)
the term "person" includes an individual, a company, a body of persons and any other entity which is
treated as a taxable unit under the taxation laws in force in the respective Contracting States;
(e)
the term "company" means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax
purposes;
(f)
the term “enterprise” applies to the carrying on of any business;
(g)
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;
(h)
the term "international traffic" means any transport by a ship or aircraft operated by an enterprise of a
Contracting State, except when the ship or aircraft is operated solely between places in the other
Contracting State;
(i)
the term "competent authority" means:
(i) in India: the Finance Minister, Government of India, or his authorised representative;
(ii) in Colombia, the Minister of Finance and Public Credit or his authorised representative;
(j)
the term "national" means:
(i) any individual possessing the nationality of a Contracting State;
(ii) any legal person, partnership or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in a
Contracting State;
(k)
the term “tax” means Indian or Colombian tax, as the context requires, but shall not include any
amount which is payable in respect of any default or omission in relation to the taxes to which this
Agreement applies or which represents a penalty or fine imposed relating to those taxes;
l)
the term “fiscal year” means:
(i) in the case of India: the financial year beginning on the 1st day of April and ending on the 31st day
of March;
(ii) in the case of Colombia: the year beginning on the 1st day of January and ending on the 31st day of
December.
2. As regards the application of the Agreement at any time by a Contracting State any term not defined therein shall,
unless the context otherwise requires, have the meaning that it has at that time under the law of that State for the
purposes of the taxes to which the Agreement applies and any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that State
prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that State.
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Article 4
RESIDENT
1. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term "resident of a Contracting State" means any person who, under the laws
of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place of management, place of incorporation or
any other criterion of a similar nature and also includes that State and any political subdivision or local authority thereof.
This term, however, does not include any person who is liable to tax in that State in respect only of income from sources
in that State.
2. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then his status
shall be determined as follows:
a) he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which he has a permanent home available to him; if
he has a permanent home available to him in both States, he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the
State with which his personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests);
b) if the State in which he has his centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if he has not a permanent
home available to him in either State, he shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which he has an
habitual abode;
c) if he has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, he shall be deemed to be a resident only of
the State of which he is a national;
d) if he is a national of both States or of neither of them, the competent authorities of the Contracting States
shall endeavour to settle the question by mutual agreement.
3. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraph 1 a person other than an individual is a resident of both contracting
States, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall by mutual agreement endeavour to settle the question. In
the absence of such agreement, such person shall not be considered to be a resident of either Contracting State for the
purposes of enjoying benefits under the Agreement.
