Note: This Treaty may be impacted by the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent BEPS (MLI). MLI impact on Tax Treaties is available with the Orbitax International Tax Research & Compliance Expert.
ARTICLE 3
General Definitions
(1) For the purposes of this Convention, unless the context otherwise requires:
- (a) The terms "a Contracting State" and "the other Contracting State" shall mean the Federal Republic of Germany or the Kingdom of Norway, as the context requires;
- (b) The term "Kingdom of Norway" shall mean the Kingdom of Norway, including all zones beyond the territorial sea of the Kingdom of Norway in which the Kingdom of Norway, under Norwegian law and in accordance with international law, may exercise its rights over the seabed and marine subsoil and the natural resources thereof; the term shall not apply to Spitzbergen (Svalbard), Jan Mayen and the Norwegian dependencies (biland);
- (c) The term "Federal Republic of Germany" shall mean the territory in which the taxation law of the Federal Republic of Germany is in force, including the seabed, marine subsoil and overlying water column adjacent to the territorial sea, over which the Federal Republic of Germany exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with national and international law with respect to the exploration and exploitation of the natural resources thereof;
- (d) The term "person" includes an individual, a company and any other body of persons;
- (e) The term "company" means any body corporate or any entity which is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;
- (f) 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;
- (g) The term "international traffic" means any transport by a ship or aircraft operated by an enterprise which has its place of effective management in a Contracting State, except when the ship or aircraft is operated solely between places in the other Contracting State;
- (h) The term "nationals" means:
- (i) In relation to the Kingdom of Norway, all individuals possessing Norwegian nationality and all bodies corporate, partnerships and other associations constituted under the laws in force in the Kingdom of Norway;
- (ii) In relation to the Federal Republic of Germany, all individuals who are Germans within the meaning of Article 116, paragraph (1), of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany and all bodies corporate, partnerships and other associations constituted under the laws in force in the Federal Republic of Germany;
- (i) The term "competent authority" means
- (i) In the Kingdom of Norway, the Minister of Finance and Customs or his authorized representative;
- (ii) In the Federal Republic of Germany, the Federal Minister of Finance or his authorized representative.
(2) As regards the application of the Convention by a Contracting State, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise requires or the competent authorities have agreed on a mutual interpretation pursuant to Article 25, have the meaning which it has under the law of that State concerning the taxes to which the Convention applies.