ARTICLE 25

Exchange of Information and Administrative Assistance

1. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall spontaneously or upon request exchange such information as is necessary for carrying out the provisions of this Convention or of the domestic laws of the Contracting States concerning taxes covered by this Article insofar as the taxation thereunder is not contrary to the Convention. The carrying out of provisions of the domestic laws of the Contracting States concerning taxes includes penal investigations with regard to fiscal offenses relating to taxes covered by this Article. The competent authorities of the Contracting States may agree on information which shall be furnished on a regular basis. The exchange of information is not restricted by Article 1 (Personal Scope). Any information received 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) involved in the assessment or collection of, the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the determination of appeals in relation to, or the oversight of the administration of the taxes covered by this Article. 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.

2. In no case shall the provisions of paragraph 1 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 profession secret or trade process, or information, the disclosure of which would be contrary to public policy.

3. If information concerning taxes is requested by a Contracting State in accordance with this Article, the other Contracting State shall obtain the information to which the request relates in the same manner and to the same extent as if the tax of the first-mentioned State were the tax of that other State and were being imposed by that other State. If specifically requested by the competent authority of a Contracting State, the competent authority of the other Contracting State shall provide information under this Article in the form of depositions of witnesses and authenticated copies of unedited original documents (including books, papers, statements, records, accounts, or writings), to the same extent such depositions and documents can be obtained under the laws and administrative practices of such other State with respect to its own taxes.

4. The tax authorities of a Contracting State may deliver documents to persons in the other Contracting State by using postal services. Each Contracting State shall, for purposes of its taxes, determine in accordance with its domestic law the legal efficacy or sufficiency of documents so delivered.

5. The preceding paragraphs likewise apply to assistance carried out under penal investigation procedures. However, requests for arrest of persons are not covered by the present Convention.

6. For the purpose of the preceding paragraphs of this Article, this Convention shall apply to taxes of every kind imposed by a Contracting State.

7. The Contracting States undertake to lend each other support and assistance in the collection of taxes to the extent necessary to ensure that relief granted by the present Convention from taxation imposed by a Contracting State does not inure to the benefit of persons not entitled thereto, provided that:

a) the requesting State must produce a copy of a document certified by its competent authority specifying that the sums referred to for the collection of which it is requesting the intervention of the other State, are finally due and enforceable;

b) a document produced in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 7 shall be rendered enforceable in accordance with the laws of the requested State. It is specified that under current Austrian legislation, such documents must be rendered enforceable by the Regional Finance Directorates (Finanzlandesdirektionen);

c) the requested State shall effect recovery in accordance with the rules governing the recovery of similar tax debts of its own; however, tax debts to be recovered shall not be regarded as privileged debts in the requested State. In the Republic of Austria, judicial execution shall he requested by the Finanzprokuratur or by the finance office delegated to act on his behalf; and

d) appeals concerning the existence or amount of the debt shall lie only to the competent tribunal of the requesting State. The provisions of this paragraph shall not impose upon either Contracting State the obligation to carry out administrative measures different from those used in the collection of its own tax, or which would be contrary to its sovereignty, security, public policy or its essential interests.