Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988

322 Consular officers and employees

(1) Where a consular officer or employee in the United Kingdom of any foreign state to which this section applies—

(a) is not a British citizen, a British Dependent Territories citizen or a British Overseas citizen, and

(b) is not engaged in any trade, profession, vocation or employment in the United Kingdom, otherwise than as such a consular officer or employee, and

(c) either is a permanent employee of that state or was not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom immediately before he became a consular officer or employee in the United Kingdom of that state;

then any income of his falling within Case IV or V of Schedule D shall be exempt from income tax, and he shall be treated as not resident in the United Kingdom for the purposes of sections 48 and 123(4).

(2) Without prejudice to section 321, the income arising from a person’s employment in the United Kingdom as a consular employee of any foreign state to which this section applies shall be exempt from income tax, except in the case of a person who is not a national of that state but is a British citizen, a British Dependent Territories citizen or a British Overseas citizen.

(3) For the purposes of this section “consular employee” includes any person employed, for the purposes of the official business of a consular officer, at any consulate or consular establishment or at any other premises used for those purposes.

(4) This section shall apply to any foreign state to which Her Majesty by Order in Council directs that it shall apply for the purpose of giving effect to any consular convention or other arrangement with that state making similar provision in the case of Her Majesty’s consular officers or employees in that state.

(5) An Order in Council under subsection (4) above—

(a) may limit the operation of this section in relation to any state in such manner as appears to Her Majesty to be necessary or expedient having regard to the arrangement with that state;

(b) may be made so as to have effect from a date earlier than the making of the Order or the passing of this Act (but not earlier than the coming into force of the arrangement with regard to which it is made); and

(c) may contain such transitional provisions as appear to Her Majesty to be necessary or expedient;

and any statutory instrument under this section shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Commons.