Article 26 Mutual agreement procedure

Where a person considers that the actions of one or both of the Contracting States result or will result for him in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of this Convention, he may, irrespective of the remedies provided by the domestic law of those States, present his case to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which he is a resident or, if his case comes under paragraph 1 of Article 25, to that of the Contracting State of which he is a national. The case must be presented within three years from the first notification of the action resulting in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.

The competent authority shall endeavour, if the objection appears to it to be justified and if it is not itself able to arrive at a satisfactory solution, to resolve the case by mutual agreement with the competent authority of the other Contracting State, with a view to the avoidance of taxation which is not in accordance with the Convention. Any agreement reached shall be implemented notwithstanding any time limits in the domestic law of the Contracting States.

The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall endeavour to resolve by mutual agreement any difficulties or doubts arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention. They may also consult together for the elimination of double taxation in cases not provided for in the Convention.

The competent authorities of the Contracting States may by mutual agreement settle the mode of application of the Convention and, especially, the requirements to which the residents of a Contracting State shall be subjected in order to obtain, in the other Contracting State, the tax reductions or exemptions and other advantages provided for by the Convention.

The competent authorities of the Contracting States may communicate with each other directly, including through a joint commission consisting of their representatives, for the purpose of reaching an agreement in the sense of the preceding paragraphs.

If any difficulty or doubt arising as to the interpretation or application of the Convention cannot be resolved by the competent authorities of the Contracting States in a mutual agreement procedure pursuant to the previous paragraphs of this Article within a period of two years after the question was raised, the case may, at the request of either Contracting State, be submitted for arbitration, but only after fully exhausting the procedures available under paragraphs 1 to 5 of this Article and provided the taxpayer or taxpayers involved agree in writing to be bound by the decision of the arbitration board.

The decision of the arbitration board in a particular case shall be binding on both Contracting States and the taxpayer or taxpayers involved with respect to that case.