ATO denies interest withholding tax exemption to a US pension fund

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) issued Interpretative Decision ID 2006/141 on the application of interest withholding tax exemption to a United States limited liability company (US LLC) under the Australia-US tax treaty (the tax treaty).

Under Art. 11(3)(a) of the tax treaty, an exemption from interest withholding tax is available, inter alia, for interest derived by "any other body exercising governmental functions in the US". The US LLC is a …