ARTICLE 21
NON-DISCRIMINATION
*(1) Nationals of one Contracting State shall not be subjected in the other Contracting State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith which is other or higher than the taxation and connected requirements to which nationals of the latter State are or may be subjected under the same conditions. For the purposes of the preceding sentence, it is understood that an individual, legal person, partnership or association which is a resident of a Contracting State shall not be deemed to be in the same circumstances as an individual, legal person, partnership or association which is not a resident of that State; this shall apply whatever the definition of nationality, even if legal persons, partnerships or associations are deemed to be nationals of the Contracting State of which they are residents.
(2) The term "nationals" means:
- (1) In relation to France, all individuals possessing French nationality;
- (2) In relation to the Federal Republic, all Germans within the meaning of Article 116, paragraph (1), of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany;
- (3) All bodies corporate, partnerships and other associations constituted in accordance with the laws in force in either of the Contracting States.
(3) Stateless persons shall not be subjected in a Contracting State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith which is other or higher than the taxation and connected requirements to which nationals of that State are or may be subjected under the same conditions.
(4) A permanent establishment maintained by an enterprise of one of the Contracting States in the other Contracting State shall not be taxed in the latter State less favourably than enterprises of the latter State which carry on the same business.
This provision shall not be construed as obliging a Contracting State to grant to residents of the other Contracting State the allowances, reliefs and reductions on grounds of personal circumstances or family responsibilities which it grants to its own residents.
(5) Enterprises of one of the Contracting States whose capital is wholly or partly, directly or indirectly, owned or controlled by one or more residents of the other Contracting State shall not be subjected in the first-mentioned Contracting State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith which is other or higher than the taxation and connected requirements to which other similar enterprises of the first-mentioned State are or may be subjected.
#(6) Contributions made by or on behalf of an individual who exercises an activity in a Contracting State to a pension scheme:
- (a) recognized for tax purposes in the other Contracting State;
- (b) in which the individual participated immediately before beginning to exercise the activity in the first-mentioned State;
- (c) in which the individual participated at the time that he exercised the activity in the other State or was a resident of that other State; and
- (d) which is accepted by the competent authority of the first-mentioned State as generally corresponding to a pension scheme recognized as such for tax purposes in that State, shall, for purposes of
- (e) determining the tax payable by the individual in the first-mentioned State; and
- (f) determining the profits of an enterprise which may be taxed in the first-mentioned State, be treated in that State in the same way and subject to the same conditions and limitations as contributions made to a pension scheme recognized for tax purposes in the first-mentioned State.
For the purposes of the preceding sentence,
- (a) the term "pension scheme" means an arrangement in which the individual participates in order to secure retirement benefits payable in respect of the activity referred to in the preceding sentence; and
- (b) a pension scheme is recognized for tax purposes in a State if the contributions to the scheme would qualify for tax relief in that State.
*(7) In this Article, the term "taxation" means taxes of every kind and description.
*(8)
- (a) Exemptions and reductions in taxes on gifts or inheritances for which provision is made under the laws of one of the Contracting States for the benefit of that State, its Lander or local authorities (in the case of the Federal Republic of Germany) or for its territorial entities (in the case of France) shall also apply to bodies corporate of the same kind in the other Contracting State.
- (b) Public institutions and public interest corporations as well as non-profit-making organizations, associations, institutions and foundations established or organized in one of the Contracting States and active in the religious, scientific, artistic, cultural, educational or philanthropic spheres shall enjoy in the other Contracting State, under the terms established by the laws of that State, exemptions or other advantages which are granted in respect of taxes on gifts and inheritances to entities of that kind established or organized in the said other State.
However, these exemptions or other benefits shall apply only where those entities receive similar exemptions and advantages in the first-mentioned State.