This is a technical explanation of the Protocol between the United States and New Zealand signed at Washington on December 1, 2008 (the "Protocol") amending the Convention and Protocol between the United States and New Zealand for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income signed at Wellington on July 23, 1982 (the "existing Convention"). Negotiations took into account the U.S. Treasury Department's current tax treaty policy, and the Treasury Department's Model Income Tax Convention, published on November 15, 2006 (the "U.S. Model"). Negotiations also took into account the Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital, published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (the "OECD Model"), and recent tax treaties concluded by both countries. The Technical Explanation is an official guide to the Convention. It reflects the policies behind particular Convention provisions, as well as understandings reached during the negotiations with respect to the application and interpretation of the Convention. References to the "existing Convention" are intended to put various provisions of the Protocol into context. The Technical Explanation does not, however, provide a complete comparison between the provisions of the existing Convention and the amendments by the Protocol. The Technical Explanation is not intended to provide a complete guide to the existing Convention as amended by the Protocol. To the extent that a paragraph from the existing Convention has not been amended by the Protocol, the technical explanations to the existing Convention remain the official explanation. References in this Technical Explanation to "he" or "his" should be read to mean "he or she" or "his and her." References to the "Code" are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.