McDonald's Turn Down Olympic Tax Exemption

Olympic sponsor McDonald's has bowed to an online campaign and declined an Olympic tax break, just days before the start of the Games.

The announcement follows an online petition by campaign group 38 Degrees, which so far has gathered more than 150,000 signatures.

38 Degrees said this morning: "It's working! McDonald's have said they won't be taking the tax break – but please sign the petition to keep pressure on the other sponsors."

As part of London’s winning bid to host the Games new tax rules were ushered in, meaning that the Olympic site in east London in currently a temporary tax haven.

This means that so-called partner organisations, such as Coca-Cola and Visa, could pay no tax at all on their earnings from the Games.

McDonald's made clear that the cost of turning down the break would be minimal, as revenue from the Games would be less than 0.1% of its annual sales in the UK.

In a statement it said: "We will not be making any corporate income tax exemption claim with respect to any activity concerning our involvement with the London Olympic and Paralympic Games."

Richard Murphy from the Tax Justice Network said: "It is bound to cost the UK tens of millions of pounds to give tax concessions to all the large companies who are operating at the Olympic site. We're giving money away that we need to solve our debt crisis and to preserve essential public services."

The new legislation also exempts foreign nationals working on the games in the UK from paying income tax on any earnings. That includes journalists, representatives of official games bodies, judges and the athletes themselves.

(H)