1. The existing taxes to which the Agreement shall apply are:

2. 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 within a reasonable period of time of any significant changes that have been made in their taxation laws.

1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires:

• (a) the term “person” includes an individual, a company and any other body of persons;

• (b) the term “company” means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as a body corporate for tax purposes;

• (c) the term “enterprise” applies to the carrying on of any business;

• (d) 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;

• (e) the term “international traffic” means any transport by a ship or aircraft operated by an enterprise of a Contracting State, except when such transport is solely between places in the other Contracting State;

• (f) the term “competent authority” means:

  • (i) in the case of New Zealand, the Commissioner of Inland Revenue or an authorised representative;

  • (ii) in the case of Mexico, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit;

• (g) the term “national”, in relation to a Contracting State, means:

  • (i) any individual possessing the nationality or citizenship of that Contracting State; and

  • (ii) any legal person, partnership or association deriving its status as such from the laws in force in that Contracting State;

• (h) the term “business” includes the performance of professional services and of other activities of an independent character;

• (i) the terms “a Contracting State” and “the other Contracting State” mean New Zealand or Mexico as the context requires;

• (j)  

  • (i) the term “New Zealand” means the territory of New Zealand but does not include Tokelau or the Associated Self Governing States of the Cook Islands and Niue; it also includes any area beyond the territorial sea designated under New Zealand legislation and in accordance with international law as an area in which New Zealand may exercise sovereign rights with respect to natural resources;

  • (ii) the term “Mexico” means the United Mexican States, when used in a geographical sense it includes the territory of the United Mexican States, as well as the integrated parts of the Federation, the islands, including the reefs and cays in the adjacent waters, the islands of Guadalupe and Revillagigedo, the continental shelf and the seabed and sub-soil of the islands, cays and reefs, the waters of the territorial seas and the inland waters and beyond them the areas over which, in accordance with the international law, Mexico may exercise its sovereign rights of exploration and exploitation of the natural resources of the seabed, sub-soil and the supra-jacent waters, and the air space of the national territory to the extent and under conditions established by international law.

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, any meaning under the applicable tax laws of that State prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other laws of that State.

1. For the purposes of this Agreement, a person is a resident of a Contracting State:

• (a) in the case of New Zealand, if the person is resident in New Zealand for the purposes of New Zealand tax;

• (b) in the case of Mexico, if the person is resident in Mexico for the purposes of the federal tax law of Mexico,

and also includes the State, a political subdivision and any local authority thereof.

2. A person is not a resident of a Contracting State for the purposes of this Agreement if the person is liable to tax in that State in respect only of income from sources in that State.

3. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, then their status shall be determined as follows:

• (a) the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State in which a permanent home is available to the individual; if a permanent home is available to the individual in both States, the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State with which the individual’s personal and economic relations are closer (centre of vital interests);

• (b) if the State in which the individual has their centre of vital interests cannot be determined, or if a permanent home is not available to the individual in either State, the individual shall be deemed to a resident only of the State in which the individual has an habitual abode;

• (c) if the individual has an habitual abode in both States or in neither of them, the individual shall be deemed to be a resident only of the State of which the individual is a national;

• (d) if the individual is a national of both States or of neither of them, the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall settle the question by mutual agreement.

4. Where by reason of the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 a person other than an individual is a resident of both Contracting States, the competent authorities shall endeavour to settle the question by mutual agreement.

1. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term “permanent establishment” means a fixed place of business through which the business of an enterprise is wholly or partly carried on.

2. The term “permanent establishment” includes especially:

• (a) a place of management;

• (b) a branch;

• (c) an office;

• (d) a factory;

• (e) a workshop, and

• (f) a mine, an oil or gas well, a quarry or any other place of extraction of natural resources.

3. A building site, or a construction, installation or assembly project, or supervisory activities in connection with that building site or construction, installation or assembly project, constitutes a permanent establishment if it lasts more than six months.

4. An enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State and to carry on business through that permanent establishment if:

• (a) for more than six months:

  • (i) it carries on activities which consist of, or which are connected with, the exploration or exploitation of natural resources, including standing timber, situated in that State; or

  • (ii) heavy equipment is being used in that State by, for or under contract with the enterprise; or

• (b) services, including consultancy services, are furnished by an enterprise, through its employees or other personnel engaged by the enterprise for such purpose if such activities continue within a Contracting State for a period or periods exceeding in the aggregate 183 days within any twelve month period; or

• (c) professional services or other activities of an independent nature are furnished by an individual within a Contracting State if such person is present in the territory of such Contracting State for a period or periods exceeding in the aggregate 183 days within any twelve month period.

5. For the purposes of computing the time limits referred to in this Article, the activities carried on by an enterprise associated with another enterprise within the meaning of Article 9 shall be aggregated with the period during which the activities are carried on by the associated enterprise, if the activities of both enterprises are identical or substantially similar.

6. An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a “permanent establishment” merely by reason of:

• (a) the use of facilities solely for the purpose of storage or display of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise;

• (b) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of storage or display;

• (c) the maintenance of a stock of goods or merchandise belonging to the enterprise solely for the purpose of processing by another enterprise;

• (d) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of purchasing goods or merchandise or of collecting information, for the enterprise;

• (e) the maintenance of a fixed place of business solely for the purpose of advertising, supplying scientific research or for similar activities which have a preparatory or auxiliary character, for the enterprise.

7. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, where a person – other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 8 applies – is acting on behalf of an enterprise and has, and habitually exercises, in a Contracting State an authority to conclude contracts in the name of the enterprise, that enterprise shall be deemed to have a permanent establishment in that State in respect of any activities which that person undertakes for the enterprise, unless the activities of such person are limited to those mentioned in paragraph 6 which, if exercised through a fixed place of business, would not make this fixed place of business a permanent establishment under the provisions of that paragraph.

8. An enterprise shall not be deemed to have a permanent establishment in a Contracting State merely because it carries on business in that State through a broker, general commission agent or any other agent of an independent status, provided that such persons are acting in the ordinary course of their business and that in their commercial or financial relations with the enterprise conditions are not made or imposed that differ from those generally agreed to by independent agents.

9. The fact that a company which is a resident of a Contracting State controls or is controlled by a company which is a resident of the other Contracting State, or which carries on business in that other State (whether through a permanent establishment or otherwise), shall not of itself constitute either company a permanent establishment of the other.

1. Income derived by a resident of a Contracting State from immovable property (including income from agriculture, forestry or fishing) situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. The term “immovable property” shall have the meaning which it has under the law of the Contracting State in which the property in question is situated. The term shall in any case include any natural resources, property accessory to immovable property, livestock and equipment used in agriculture and forestry, rights to which the provisions of general law respecting immovable property apply, usufruct of immovable property and rights to variable or fixed payments as consideration for the working of, or the right to work, mineral deposits, sources and other natural resources; ships, boats and aircraft shall not be regarded as immovable property.

3. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall apply to income derived from the direct use, letting, or use in any other form of immovable property.

4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 3 shall also apply to the income from immovable property of an enterprise.

1. The profits of an enterprise of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State unless the enterprise carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein. If the enterprise carries on business as aforesaid, the profits of the enterprise may be taxed in the other State but only so much of them as is attributable to:

• (a) that permanent establishment, or

• (b) sales in that other State of goods or merchandise of the same or similar kind as the goods or merchandise sold through that permanent establishment.

2. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 3, where an enterprise of a Contracting State carries on business in the other Contracting State through a permanent establishment situated therein, there shall in each Contracting State be attributed to that permanent establishment the profits which it might be expected to make if it were a distinct and separate enterprise engaged in the same or similar activities under the same or similar conditions and dealing wholly independently with the enterprise of which it is a permanent establishment.

3. In determining the profits of a permanent establishment, there shall be allowed as deductions expenses which are incurred for the purposes of the permanent establishment, including executive and general administrative expenses so incurred, whether in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated or elsewhere.

4. No profits shall be attributed to a permanent establishment by reason of the mere purchase by that permanent establishment of goods or merchandise for the enterprise.

5. For the purposes of the preceding paragraphs, the profits to be attributed to the permanent establishment shall be determined by the same method year by year unless there is good and sufficient reason to the contrary.

6. Where profits include items of income which are dealt with separately in other Articles of this Agreement, then the provisions of those Articles shall not be affected by the provisions of this Article.

7. Nothing in this Article shall affect any provisions of the laws of either Contracting State at any time in force as they affect the taxation of any income or profits from any form of insurance. For the purposes of the application of this paragraph, an insurance enterprise of New Zealand shall, except in regard to reinsurance, be deemed to have a permanent establishment in Mexico if it collects premiums in Mexico or insures risks situated therein through a person other than an agent of an independent status to whom paragraph 8 of Article 5 applies.

1. Profits from ship or aircraft operations derived by a resident of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, such profits may be taxed in the other Contracting State where they are profits from ship or aircraft operations confined solely to places in that other State.

3. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall also apply to profits from the participation in a pool, a joint business or an international operating agency.

1. Where

• (a) an enterprise of a Contracting State participates directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of the other Contracting State; or

• (b) the same persons participate directly or indirectly in the management, control or capital of an enterprise of a Contracting State and an enterprise of the other Contracting State,

and in either case conditions are made or imposed between the two enterprises in their commercial or financial relations which differ from those which would be made between independent enterprises, then any profits which would, but for those conditions, have accrued to one of the enterprises, but, by reason of those conditions, have not so accrued, may be included in the profits of that enterprise and taxed accordingly.

2. Where a Contracting State includes in the profits of an enterprise of that State – and taxes accordingly – profits on which an enterprise of the other Contracting State has been charged to tax in that other State and the profits so included are profits which would have accrued to the enterprise of the first-mentioned State if the conditions made between the two enterprises had been those which would have been made between independent enterprises, then that other State shall make an appropriate adjustment to the amount of the tax charged therein on those profits. In determining such adjustment, due regard shall be had to the other provisions of this Agreement and the competent authorities of the Contracting States shall if necessary consult each other.

3. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not apply in the case of fraud.

1. Dividends paid by a company which is a resident of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. However, such dividends may also be taxed in the Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the dividends is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 15 per cent of the gross amount of the dividends. This paragraph shall not affect the taxation of the company in respect of the profits out of which the dividends are paid.

3. The term “dividends” as used in this Article means income from shares, “jouissance” shares or “jouissance” rights, mining shares, founders’ shares or other rights, not being debt-claims, participating in profits, as well as income from other corporate rights and other income which is subjected to the same taxation treatment as income from shares by the laws of the State of which the company making the distribution or payment is a resident.

4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the dividends, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State of which the company paying the dividends is a resident through a permanent establishment situated therein and the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such case the provisions of Article 7 shall apply.

5. Where a company which is a resident of a Contracting State derives profits or income from the other Contracting State, that other State may not impose any tax on the dividends paid by the company, except insofar as such dividends are paid to a resident of that other State or insofar as the holding in respect of which the dividends are paid is effectively connected with a permanent establishment situated in that other State, nor subject the company’s undistributed profits to a tax on the company’s undistributed profits, even if the dividends paid or the undistributed profits consist wholly or partly of profits or income arising in such other State.

1. Interest 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 interest may also be taxed in the Contracting State in which it arises and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the interest is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the interest.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2, interest referred to in paragraph 1 shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the beneficial owner is a resident if:

• (a) the beneficial owner is a Contracting State, a political subdivision or the Central Bank of the Contracting State; or

• (b) the interest is paid by any of the entities mentioned in subparagraph (a); or

• (c) in the case of Mexico, the interest arises in New Zealand and is paid in respect of a loan for a period of not less than three years granted, guaranteed or insured, or a credit for such period granted, guaranteed or insured, by Banco de Mexico, Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior or any other similar institution exclusively operating to further the policies of the Government of the United Mexican States, as may be agreed from time to time between the competent authorities of the Contracting States;

• (d) In the case of New Zealand, the interest arises in Mexico and is paid in respect of a loan for a period of not less than three years granted, guaranteed or insured, or a credit for such period granted, guaranteed or insured, by a financial institution in New Zealand of a similar nature to the Banco de Mexico or Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior, as may be agreed from time to time between the competent authorities of the Contracting States.

4. The term “interest” as used in this Article means income from debt-claims of every kind, whether or not secured by mortgage and whether or not carrying a right to participate in the debtor’s profits, and in particular, income from government securities and income from bonds or debentures, including premiums and prizes attaching to such securities, bonds or debentures, as well as all other income that is treated as income from money lent by the laws of the Contracting State in which the income arises, but does not include any income which is treated as a dividend under Article 10.

5. The provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall not apply if the beneficial owner of the interest, being a resident of a Contracting State, carries on business in the other Contracting State in which the interest arises through a permanent establishment situated therein and the debt-claim in respect of which the interest is paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such case the provisions of Article 7 shall apply.

6. Interest shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the interest, whether the person is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment in connection with which the indebtedness on which the interest is paid was incurred, and such interest is deductible in determining the income, profits or gains attributable to that permanent establishment, then such interest shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated.

7. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the interest exceeds, for whatever reason, the amount which would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Agreement.

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 also be taxed in the Contracting State in which they arise, and according to the laws of that State, but if the beneficial owner of the royalties is a resident of the other Contracting State, the tax so charged shall not exceed 10 per cent of the gross amount of the royalties.

3. The term “royalties” as used in this Article means payments of any kind, whether periodical or not, and however described or computed, to the extent to which they are made as consideration for:

• (a) the use of, or the right to use, any copyright (including the use of or right to use any scientific, literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic works, sound recordings, films, broadcasts, cable programmes, or typographical arrangements of published editions), patent, design, or model, plan, secret formula or process, trade-mark, or other like property or right; or

• (b) the use of, or the right to use, any industrial, scientific or commercial equipment; or

• (c) knowledge or information concerning industrial, commercial or scientific experience; or

• (d) any assistance that is ancillary and subsidiary to, and is furnished as a means of enabling the application or enjoyment of, any such property or right as is mentioned in subparagraph (a), any such equipment as is mentioned in subparagraph (b) or any such knowledge or information as is mentioned in subparagraph (c); or

• (e) total or partial forbearance in respect of the use or supply of any property or right referred to in this paragraph.

4. The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply if the beneficial owner 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 and the right or property in respect of which the royalties are paid is effectively connected with such permanent establishment. In such case the provisions of Article 7 shall apply.

5. 

• (a) Royalties shall be deemed to arise in a Contracting State when the payer is a person who is a resident of that State. Where, however, the person paying the royalties, whether the person is a resident of a Contracting State or not, has in a Contracting State a permanent establishment in connection with which the liability to pay the royalties was incurred, and the royalties are deductible in determining the income, profits or gains attributable to that permanent establishment, then the royalties shall be deemed to arise in the State in which the permanent establishment is situated.

• (b) in cases where subparagraph (a) does not deem royalties as arising in a Contracting State, payments for the use of or the right to use, in a Contracting State, any property or right described in paragraph 3, shall be treated as arising in that State.

6. Where, by reason of a special relationship between the payer and the beneficial owner or between both of them and some other person, the amount of the royalties exceeds, for whatever reason, the amount which would have been agreed upon by the payer and the beneficial owner in the absence of such relationship, the provisions of this Article shall apply only to the last-mentioned amount. In such case, the excess part of the payments shall remain taxable according to the laws of each Contracting State, due regard being had to the other provisions of this Agreement.

1. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation of immovable property referred to in Article 6 and situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

2. Gains from the alienation of movable property forming part of the business property of a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State, including such gains from the alienation of such a permanent establishment (alone or with the whole enterprise), may be taxed in that other State.

3. Gains from the alienation of ships or aircraft operated in international traffic, or movable property pertaining to the operation of such ships or aircraft, shall be taxable only in the Contracting State in which the enterprise alienating such ships, aircraft or other property is a resident.

4. Gains derived by a resident of a Contracting State from the alienation of shares or other similar rights deriving more than 50 per cent of their value directly or indirectly from immovable property situated in the other Contracting State may be taxed in that other State.

5. Nothing in this Agreement affects the application of the laws of a Contracting State relating to the taxation of gains of a capital nature derived from the alienation of any property other than that to which any of the preceding paragraphs of this Article apply.

1. Subject to the provisions of Articles 15, 17 and 18, salaries, wages and other similar remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment shall be taxable only in that State unless the employment is exercised in the other Contracting State. If the employment is so exercised, such remuneration as is derived therefrom may be taxed in that other State.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, remuneration derived by a resident of a Contracting State in respect of an employment exercised in the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State if:

• (a) the recipient is present in the other State for a period or periods not exceeding in the aggregate 183 days in any twelve month period commencing or ending in the year of income or the fiscal year concerned, and

• (b) the remuneration is paid by, or on behalf of, an employer who is not a resident of the other State, and

• (c) the remuneration is not deductible in determining the taxable profits of a permanent establishment which the employer has in the other State.

3. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this Article, remuneration derived in respect of an employment exercised aboard a ship or aircraft operated in international traffic by a resident of a Contracting State may be taxed in that State.

1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7 and 14, income derived by a resident of a Contracting State as an entertainer, such as a theatre, motion picture, radio or television artiste, or a musician, or as a sportsperson, from that person’s personal activities as such exercised in the other Contracting State, may be taxed in that other State.

2. Where income in respect of personal activities exercised by an entertainer or a sportsperson in that person’s capacity as such accrues not to the entertainer or sportsperson but to another person, that income may, notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7 and 14, be taxed in the Contracting State in which the activities of the entertainer or sportsperson are exercised.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2, income derived by a resident of a Contracting State as an entertainer or sportsperson shall be exempt from tax in the other Contracting State if the visit to that other State is substantially supported by public funds of the first-mentioned State or a political subdivision or local authority thereof.

1. Pensions (including government service pensions) and annuities paid to a resident of a Contracting State shall be taxable only in that State.

2. The term “annuity” means a stated sum payable periodically at stated times during life or during a specified or ascertainable period of time under an obligation to make the payments in return for adequate and full consideration in money or money’s worth.

3. Pensions and other payments made under the social security legislation of a Contracting State to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in that other State.

4. Any alimony or other like maintenance payment arising in a Contracting State and paid to a resident of the other Contracting State shall be taxable only in the first-mentioned State.

1.  

• (a) Salaries, wages and other similar remuneration, other than a pension, annuity or alimony, paid by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof to an individual in respect of services rendered to that State or subdivision or authority shall be taxable only in that State.

• (b) However, such salaries, wages and other similar remuneration shall be taxable only in the other Contracting State if the services are rendered in that State and the individual is a resident of that State who:

  • (i) is a national of that State; or

  • (ii) did not become a resident of that State solely for the purpose of rendering the services.

2. The provisions of Articles 14, 15 and 16 shall apply to salaries, wages and other similar remuneration in respect of services rendered in connection with a business carried on by a Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof.

1. In the case of New Zealand, subject to the provisions of the laws of New Zealand which relate to the allowance of a credit against New Zealand income tax of tax paid in a country outside New Zealand (which shall not affect the general principle of this Article), Mexican tax paid under the laws of Mexico and consistent with this Agreement, in respect of income derived by a resident of New Zealand from sources in Mexico (excluding, in the case of a dividend, tax paid in respect of the profits out of which the dividend is paid) shall be allowed as a credit against New Zealand tax payable in respect of that income.

2. In the case of Mexico, in accordance with the provisions and subject to the limitations of the laws of Mexico, as may be amended from time to time without changing the general principle hereof, Mexico shall allow its residents as a credit against the Mexican tax:

• (a) the New Zealand tax paid on income arising in New Zealand, in an amount not exceeding the tax payable in Mexico on such income; and

• (b) in the case of a company owning at least 10 per cent of the capital of a company which is a resident of the New Zealand and from which the first-mentioned company receives dividends, the New Zealand tax paid by the distributing company with respect to the profits out of which the dividends are paid.

3. Where in accordance with any provision of the Agreement income derived by a resident of Mexico is exempt from tax in Mexico, Mexico may nevertheless, in calculating the amount of tax on the remaining income of such resident, take into account the exempted income.

1. Nationals of a Contracting State shall not be subjected in the other Contracting State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith, which is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which nationals of that other State in the same circumstances, in particular with respect to residence, are or may be subjected.

2. The taxation on a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a Contracting State has in the other Contracting State shall not be less favourably levied in that other State than the taxation levied on a permanent establishment which an enterprise of a third State has in that other State carrying on the same activities in similar circumstances.

3. Enterprises of a Contracting State, the capital of which is wholly or partly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more residents of the other Contracting State, shall not be subjected in the first-mentioned State to any taxation or any requirement connected therewith which is other or more burdensome than the taxation and connected requirements to which similar enterprises of the first-mentioned State in similar circumstances, the capital of which is wholly or partly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more residents of a third State, are or may be subjected.

4. If one of the Contracting States considers that taxation measures of the other Contracting State infringe the principles set forth in this Article, the competent authorities shall use the mutual agreement procedure to endeavour to resolve the matter.

5. Nothing contained in this Article shall be construed as obliging a Contracting State to grant to residents of the other Contracting State any of the personal allowances, reliefs and reductions for tax purposes which are granted to its own residents.

6. The provisions of this Article shall, notwithstanding the provisions of Article 2, apply to taxes of every kind and description.

1. Where a person considers that the actions of one or both of the Contracting States result or will result for that person in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement, that person may, irrespective of the remedies provided by the domestic law of those States, present a case to the competent authority of the Contracting State of which the person is a resident or, if the person’s case comes under paragraph 1 of Article 22, to that of the Contracting State of which the person is a national. The case must be presented within four years from the first notification of the action resulting in taxation not in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement.

2. 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 Agreement, provided that in the case of Mexico the competent authority is notified of the case within four and a half years from the due date or the date of filing the return in Mexico, whichever is later. The solution so reached shall be implemented:

• (a) in the case of New Zealand, notwithstanding any time limits in the law relating to its tax;

• (b) in the case of Mexico, within ten years from the due date or the date of filing of the return in Mexico, whichever is later, or a longer period if permitted under the domestic law of Mexico.

3. 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 Agreement. They may also consult together for the elimination of double taxation in cases not provided for in the Agreement.

4. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may communicate with each other directly for the purpose of reaching an agreement in the sense of the preceding paragraphs.

5. For the purposes of paragraph 3 of Article XXII (Consultation) of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (“the Trade in Services Agreement”) the Contracting States agree that, notwithstanding that paragraph, any dispute between them as to whether a measure falls within the scope of this Agreement may be brought before the Council for Trade in Services, as provided by that paragraph, only with the consent of both Contracting States. Any doubt as to the interpretation of this paragraph shall be resolved under paragraph 3 of this Article.

1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall exchange such information as is foreseeably relevant for carrying out the provisions of this Agreement or to the administration or enforcement of the domestic laws concerning taxes of every kind and description imposed on behalf of the Contracting States, or of their political subdivisions or local authorities, insofar as the taxation thereunder is not contrary to the Agreement. The exchange of information is not restricted by Articles 1 and 2.

2. Any information received under paragraph 1 by a Contracting State shall be treated as secret in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of that State and shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, the determination of appeals in relation to the taxes referred to in paragraph 1, or the oversight of the above. Such persons or authorities shall use the information only for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.

3. In no case shall the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 be construed so as to impose on a Contracting State the obligation:

• (a) to carry out administrative measures at variance with the laws and administrative practice of that or of the other Contracting State;

• (b) to supply information which is not obtainable under the laws or in the normal course of the administration of that or of the other Contracting State;

• (c) to supply information which would disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade process, or information the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy (ordre public).

4. If information is requested by a Contracting State in accordance with this Article, the other Contracting State shall use its information gathering measures to obtain the requested information, even though that other State may not need such information for its own tax purposes. The obligation contained in the preceding sentence is subject to the limitations of paragraph 3 of this Article but in no case shall such limitations be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because it has no domestic interest in such information.

5. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 3 of this Article be construed to permit a Contracting State to decline to supply information solely because the information is held by a bank, other financial institution, nominee or person acting in an agency or a fiduciary capacity or because it relates to ownership interests in a person.