1. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining any taxation measure that distinguishes between persons who are not in the same situation, in particular with regard to their place of residence or with regard to the place where their capital is invested.  

2. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining any taxation measure aimed at preventing the avoidance or evasion of taxes pursuant to its tax laws or tax conventions.  

3. This Agreement does not affect the rights and obligations of a Party under a tax convention. In the event of inconsistency between this Agreement and a tax convention, that convention prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.  

4. Nothing in this Agreement or in any arrangement adopted under this Agreement shall apply:  
     (a) to a taxation measure of a Party that provides a more favourable tax treatment to a corporation, or to a shareholder of a corporation, on the basis that the corporation is wholly or partly owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by one or more investors who are residents of that Party;
     (b) to a taxation measure of a Party that provides an advantage relating to the contributions made to, or income of, an arrangement providing for the deferral of, or exemption from, tax for pension, retirement, savings, education, health, disability or other similar purposes, conditional on a requirement that that Party maintains continuous jurisdiction over such arrangement;  
     (c) to a taxation measure of a Party that provides an advantage relating to the purchase or consumption of a particular service, conditional on a requirement that the service be provided in the territory of that Party;  
     (d) to a taxation measure of a Party that is aimed at ensuring the equitable and effective imposition or collection of taxes, including a measure that is taken by a Party in order to ensure compliance with the Party’s taxation system;  
     (e) to a taxation measure that provides an advantage to a government, a part of a government, or a person that is directly or indirectly owned, controlled or established by a government;  
     (f) to an existing non-conforming taxation measure not otherwise covered in paragraphs 1, 2 and 4(a) through (e), to the continuation or prompt renewal of such a measure, or an amendment of such a measure, provided that the amendment does not decrease its conformity with the provisions of this Agreement as it existed immediately before the amendment.

5. For greater certainty, the fact that a taxation measure constitutes a significant amendment to an existing taxation measure, takes immediate effect as of its announcement, clarifies the intended application of an existing taxation measure, or has an unexpected impact on an investor or covered investment, does not, in and of itself, constitute a violation of Article 8.10 (Treatment of investors and of covered investments).  

6. Articles 8.7 (Most-favoured-nation treatment), 9.4 (Most-favoured-nation treatment) and 13.4 (Most-favoured-nation treatment) do not apply to an advantage accorded by a Party pursuant to a tax convention.

7.
(a) Where an investor submits a request for consultations pursuant to Article 8.19 (Consultations) claiming that a taxation measure breaches an obligation under Sections C (Non-discriminatory treatment) or D (Investment protection) of Chapter Eight (Investment), the respondent may refer the matter for consultation and joint determination by the Parties as to whether:  
     (i) the measure is a taxation measure;  
     (ii) the measure, if it is found to be a taxation measure, breaches an obligation under Sections C (Non-discriminatory Treatment) or D (Investment Protection) of Chapter Eight (Investment); or
     (iii) there is an inconsistency between the obligations in this Agreement that are alleged to have been breached and those of a tax convention.  

(b) A referral pursuant to subparagraph (a) cannot be made later than the date the Tribunal fixes for the respondent to submit its counter-memorial. Where the respondent makes such a referral the time periods or proceedings specified in Section F (Resolution of investment disputes between investors and states) of Chapter Eight (Investment) shall be suspended. If within 180 days from the referral the Parties do not agree to consider the issue, or fail to make a joint determination, the suspension of the time periods or proceedings shall no longer apply and the investor may proceed with its claim.  

(c) A joint determination by the Parties pursuant to subparagraph (a) shall be binding on the Tribunal.  

(d) Each Party shall ensure that its delegation for the consultations to be conducted pursuant to subparagraph (a) shall include persons with relevant expertise on the issues covered by this Article, including representatives from the relevant tax authorities of each Party. For Canada, this means officials from the Department of Finance.

8. For greater certainty,
     (a) taxation measure of a Party means a taxation measure adopted at any level of government of a Party; and
     (b) for measures of a sub-national government, resident of a Party, means either resident of that sub-national jurisdiction or resident of the Party of which it forms a part.