Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 301

Official agents

Section 301 provides an exemption from income tax for individuals employed as official agents in the United Kingdom for a foreign state, provided certain conditions regarding citizenship and the nature of the employment are met.

• Employment income of official agents working in the UK for a foreign state is exempt from income tax if two conditions are satisfied: the employee is neither a Commonwealth citizen nor a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, and the employment duties are not connected with any trade, business, or profit-making undertaking.
• An official agent is someone who is not a consul but is employed on the staff of a consulate, or of an official department or agency of a foreign state — excluding any department or agency that carries on a trade, business, or other undertaking for the purposes of profit.
• Where the exemption applies, the income is also disregarded entirely when calculating total income for any income tax purposes, meaning it does not affect tax rates or thresholds on other income.
• The exemption is narrowly targeted: it does not extend to Commonwealth citizens, citizens of the Republic of Ireland, or agents whose duties relate to commercial or profit-making activities conducted by the foreign state.