584.Section 109(a) inserts into paragraph 20 of Schedule 1 to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 new exceptions to the Serious Organised Crime Agency’s status as a non-Crown body so that SOCA employees, in certain circumstances, will be deemed to be carrying out the work of the Crown.
585.Section 109(b) sets out the three exceptions to the general rule that SOCA employees are not servants of the Crown by inserting three new sub-paragraphs into paragraph 20 of Schedule 1 to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. These are:
Sub-paragraph (2) SOCA employees who are working outside the United Kingdom will be treated as Crown servants for the purposes of section 31(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1948 and will therefore be subject to prosecution and punishment for any indictable offence carried out whilst on duty abroad.
Sub-paragraph (3) SOCA employees who are working outside the United Kingdom will be treated as Crown servants for the purposes of sections 26 to 28 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 and will consequently be liable to pay UK tax on their earnings.
Sub-paragraph (4) SOCA employees who are working outside the United Kingdom will be deemed servants of the Crown for the purposes of section 299 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 and will therefore be entitled to the tax free allowances of a Crown servant intended to facilitate their operating in a foreign jurisdiction.