The 'Olympic Flame' and those 'special containers'

Don't you love the hype which surrounds the 'Olympic Games'. I'm sure we are all really really really exited now that the 'Olympic Flame' has finally touched down in the UK.

The flame was carried in a special plane; to an airport that 'had been preparing for six months for its arrival, in special containers, in special seats, by special people, as the BBC said it was a special occasion -specials all round then.

There are four flames just in case - maybe they are numbered The Flame, Standby Flame 1, Standby Flame 2 etc, though as the flame seems to be a living thing, could Stanby Flame 4 be most upset? - "I'll never get a chance to show off my brilliant flame" it said.

Maybe they are given turns - "OK flame 3 it's your big day, today you are the Olympic Flame - were just passing through Swansea.....Oh no its gone out."

Any hows returning to the 'special containers' they would be Davy Lamps, a version of which is shown above, and the following is an extract from  Wikeipdia:

The Davy lamp is a safety lamp for use in flammable atmospheres, consisting of a wick lamp with the flame enclosed inside a mesh screen. It was invented in 1815[..] by Sir Humphry Davy....

 The modern day equivalent of the Davy is the Protector Garforth GR6S flame safety lamp which is used for firedamp testing in all UK coal mines. A modified version of this lamp is used to transport the Olympic Flame for the torch relays. They were used for the Sydney, Athens, Turin, Beijing, Vancouver and Singapore Youth Olympic Games relays. They were also used for the Special Olympics Shanghai, Pan American and Central African Games relays. They will also be used for the London 2012 relay. The lamps are still made in Eccles.

The manufacturer of the London 2012 Olympic 'Davy Lamps' are  Protector Lamps from Eccles.

Updated 21/05/2012 - Web address of Protector Lamps added, and some text deleted.

The Olympics and some tax evasion.

Did you know that:

Regulations, which [came] into force on 1st January 2011, implement tax commitments made by the UK in bidding to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games (“the Games”). The Regulations exempt from income tax the income and profits of specified individuals who come to the UK temporarily to take part in or assist in the hosting of the Games. They also prevent the activities of certain of those individuals from creating a permanent establishment of their employer for corporation tax purposes, if one does not already exist.

The above are not my words, they are from the Explanatory Note of the The London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Tax Regulations 2010

For example Regulation 8 says: This regulation applies to income received by a London 2012 Partner worker, wholly and exclusively in return for carrying out a London 2012 activity in the UK during the relevant period.

But what are London 12 Partner Workers for the purpose of this regulation?

In brief: A London 2012 Partner worker is an individual who is neither resident nor ordinarily resident in the UK in the tax year during which the London 2012 activity is carried out[...]

The "relevant period" means 30th March 2012 to 8th November 2012.

Therefore if you are a competitor, media worker, representative of an Official Body, service technician, team official, technical official whom is neither resident nor ordinarily resident in the UK in the tax year during which the London 2012 activity is carried out and have an accreditation card you will be exempt from certain tax such as income tax and tax on profits.

A “competitor” means an individual who has been entered by a NOC or NPC to perform in a sporting event which forms part of London 2012;

“media worker” means a media manager, a media producer, a media technician, a media support worker, a radio or television worker or a written, photographic or electronic journalist;

“Official Body” means a Sovereign, a Head of State, a Government, a NOC , a NPC, a city that has been selected by the IOC or IPC to host a future Olympics and Paralympics or Youth Olympics, a city that has been selected by the IOC or IPC to be a candidate to host a future Olympics and Paralympics or Youth Olympics, a city that the IOC or IPC recognises as an applicant to host a future Olympics and Paralympics or Youth Olympics, the IOC, the IPC, an IF, an IPSF, CAS or WADA;

“representative of an Official Body” means an individual who represents, is part of the support staff of, or is a closing ceremony production worker of, an Official Body, or provides observer, drug testing, analysis or arbitration services to CAS or WADA;

“service technician” means an individual who repairs, operates or maintains the equipment on which competitors rely for their performance or safety;

“team official” means an individual who is part of the reserve athlete, support athlete, coaching, technical, carer or medical staff of a NOC or NPC;

“technical official” means an individual who has been selected by LOCOG, an IF or IPSF to officiate at London 2012 and includes technical delegates, classifiers, judges and referees.

After that it gets a bit complicated to say the least - take Regulation 10(1) i.e. an individual who works for an organisation responsible for producing international television and radio signals and providing broadcasters with the facilities and services necessary for broadcasting London 2012, the income received by the employer of the individual is exempt from income tax that would otherwise be chargeable, even for workers whom are resident or ordinarily resident in the UK in the tax year during which the activity is carried out. But only as long as the 'person' does not obtain a benefit as result of regulation 10(1) in respect of the activity.

Did you follow that, I'm not sure I did, and seeing that I'm no tax expert it's no surprise.

Any-hows, based on my basic understanding of this regulation it seems that persons from overseas if working between 30 March and 8 November 2012 for the Olympics (as specified by the regulations) will be exempt tax, whereas the majority of UK residents whom do similar jobs will not be exempt from tax.

Now apparently this tax evasion was a precursor to the UK being awarded the 2012 Olympic Games, and the actual figure of tax evasion may not be significant in the great scheme of things. But I question if that is the case, and in the interest of fairness (latest popular government phrase me thinks), why are (it seems)the majority of accredited UK residents working for the Olympics also denied similar tax exemption during the relevant period as specified?