26 CFR 509.103 – Scope of the convention
(a) Purposes of convention. The primary purposes of the convention, to be accomplished on a reciprocal basis, are to avoid double taxation upon certain items of income derived from sources in one country by residents or corporations or other entities of the other country and to provide for administrative cooperation between the competent tax authorities of the two countries looking to the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion.
(b) Exemption from United States tax. The following items of income from sources within the United States are exempt from United States tax for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1951, subject to the respective articles of the convention:
(1) Industrial and commercial profits of a Swiss enterprise having no permanent establishment in the United States (Article III);
(2) Income derived by a Swiss enterprise from the operation of ships or aircraft registered in Switzerland (Article V);
(3) Patent and copyright royalties, and other like amounts, including motion picture film rentals, derived by a nonresident alien who is a resident of Switzerland, or by a Swiss corporation or other entity, if such alien, corporation, or other entity has no permanent establishment in the United States (Article VIII);
(4) Compensation, subject to certain limitations, for personal services performed in the United States by a nonresident alien individual who is a resident of Switzerland (Article X);
(5) Compensation and pensions paid by Switzerland to an alien individual, and to a citizen of Switzerland who is also a citizen of the United States, including such items as are from sources without the United States (Article XI);
(6) Private pensions and life annuities paid to a nonresident alien individual who is a resident of Switzerland (Article XI);
(7) Remuneration derived from certain teaching in the United States by a professor or teacher who is a nonresident alien residing in Switzerland (Article XII); and
(8) Dividends and interest paid by a foreign corporation to a nonresident alien who is a resident of Switzerland, or to a Swiss corporation, if such alien or corporation has no permanent establishment in the United States (Article XIV).
(c) Students or apprentices. Remittances received from abroad for the purpose of maintenance or studies by a student or apprentice, a nonresident alien residing in Switzerland, who is temporarily present in the United States under specified circumstances are also exempt from United States tax (Article XIII).
(d) Reduced rates of United States tax. Dividends and interest derived from sources within the United States by a nonresident alien who is a resident of Switzerland, or by a Swiss corporation or other entity, are subject to United States tax at reduced rates, if such alien, corporation, or other entity has no permanent establishment in the United States (Articles VI and VII).
(e) [Reserved]
(f) United States citizens, residents, and corporations. (1) Any citizen of Switzerland who is a resident of the United States is liable to United States tax as though the convention had not come into effect; however, such alien resident of the United States is entitled to the foreign tax credit in accordance with Article XV and is also entitled to the benefits of Article XI (1) and Article XVIII.
(2) A citizen of the United States, even though resident in Switzerland, or a domestic corporation, even though engaged in trade or business in Switzerland through a permanent establishment situated therein, is also liable to United States tax as though the convention had not come into effect but is entitled to the foreign tax credit and, to the extent, applicable, to the benefits of Article XI (1).
(g) Other provisions applicable to Swiss residents and corporations. Except as otherwise expressly provided by the convention, the United States tax liability of a nonresident alien who is a resident of Switzerland, or of a Swiss corporation or other entity, is determined in accordance with the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 relating to nonresident alien individuals and foreign corporations.