Seafarers’ Tax Deduction: Specialist Tax Advice

If you’re an employee who works at sea, and you are a UK or EEA tax resident, you may be eligible for Seafarers’ Earnings Deductions. This means you can claim a 100% tax relief on your earnings.

Eligibility

You may qualify for Seafarer’s Earnings Deduction as a seafarer if:

• All of your duties are performed on a ship, or
• Most of your duties are performed on a ship, and the other duties are subsidiary to the duties on the ship
• Worked outside of the UK long enough to qualify for the deduction, usually a minimum of 365 days
• Been resident in the UK or resident for tax purposes in a European Economic Area (EEA) State (other than the UK)

The word ‘ship’ is not defined in tax law, but ‘offshore installations’ used in the offshore oil and gas industry are specifically identified and are not regarded as ‘ships’ for the purposes of the Seafarer’s Earnings Deduction.

Below are some examples of offshore installations:

• mobile offshore drilling units
• fixed production platforms
• floating production platforms
• floating storage units
• floating production storage and offloading vessels

Please note that activities are not strictly limited to the above list, and is only to be used as a guide.

What evidence do I need to support my claim?

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) may want to check your claim, so you must keep details including:

• a completed working sheet HS205
• air tickets or other travel vouchers
• hotel bills or other receipts
• passports and visas
• seafarer’s discharge book
• freeboard logs of the ships you carried out duties on

There are no deadlines as such for submitting a claim, however you must be registered for Self-Assessment Tax Returns which need to be filed by 31^st January each year. Any backdated claims can be made for the last 4 tax years.

Here at Aston Shaw, we provide tax advice and services for anyone working at sea and help our clients understand their tax situation for a fixed fee.

For any enquiries or for assistance in making a claim, please contact us and one of our friendly professionals will be in touch.