We’ll sort your Seafarers Tax return for just £250
Worried about completing your annual Self Assessment tax return? Let us take care of it for you. Save time, avoid costly mistakes, and remove the stress with Flying Fish’s Seafarers’ Tax Service.
£250 per tax year includes rental property support and penalty appeal assistance as standard.
Seafarers Tax Service
If you work at sea on any commercial vessel, from a Cruise Ship to a Superyacht, you may be required to complete a Seafarers Self Assessment tax return in your home country. Our Seafarers Tax Service is designed to make that process as simple and stress-free as possible.
For example, if you are a UK citizen, UK resident, or hold a UK National Insurance number and work outside the UK on a commercial vessel, HMRC usually requires you to submit a Self Assessment Tax Return each year. You’re expected to declare any income earned while working on a ship, including Superyachts, Cruise Ships, and other vessels.
We helps hundreds of crew members each year stay compliant and avoid costly mistakes with their tax returns.
Why should you use a Seafarer’s Tax specialist?
Working at sea often means your schedule is packed. It’s easy to put off admin tasks like tax returns.
But failing to file correctly, or missing the deadline, can result in penalties from HMRC.
That’s where we come in!
Our tax service is led by Fiona (MAAT), a qualified accounting professional with over 20 years of experience. Fiona specialises in Seafarers’ tax and makes even the most complex rules feel simple. She’s supported by our wider team, ensuring your return is completed accurately and on time, so you can focus on life at sea while we take care of the details.
The good news for seafarers
If you spend significant time outside the UK while working at sea, you may be eligible for the Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction (SED). This HMRC scheme allows qualifying seafarers to claim up to 100% income tax relief on their earnings at sea.
To claim the SED, you must complete a Seafarers Self Assessment Tax Return and meet certain criteria throughout the tax year.
We’ve outlined a straight forward three-step process to help you understand what to expect when using our service.
1. Provide your details
After you purchase and complete your registration details, we will send you two online forms for you to fill out: one for your income and one for your travel history.
2. Assess your eligibility
Our team reviews your information and calculates whether you qualify for Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction. If you don’t meet the criteria, we’ll let you know and advise on next steps.
3. Review and submit
We compile all your information and you’ll receive a draft tax return from us to approve. Once you’re happy, we’ll file it with HMRC on your behalf.
FAQ’s
Since this is your first Self-Assessment Tax Return, there are a few essential extra steps you’ll need to take straight away:
Step 1. Set up your Personal Tax Account (PTA)
This is your secure HMRC account where you’ll access your tax records. It will take around 10 minute to set up.
Step 2. Apply for or provide your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR)
We’ll apply for your UTR once you complete your registration form. Once it’s issued, it will appear in your Personal Tax Account and arrive by post.
But don’t worry about any of this yet, we’ll send reminders via email and WhatsApp to help you stay on track with these steps. You can always contact us if you’re unsure about anything
These tasks are one-time jobs so once you’ve completed them future tax years will be much simpler.
For first-time customers, the full process can take 4-6 weeks. Most of that is waiting for HMRC to send letters to your registered address. For returning customers, it’s much quicker.
First time customers
If this is your first time claiming, here’s how it works:
Set up a Personal Tax Account
You’ll need to register with HMRC online to manage your tax account – 10 minutes.
Apply for a UTR (Unique Taxpayer Reference) Number
This typically takes 2–3 weeks to arrive by post.
Authorise us to become your tax agent
Once we have your UTR, we’ll apply to become your authorised tax agent. HMRC will send a code to your registered address, which can take up to 4 weeks.
Get everything ready while you wait
While we wait for the authorisation code, you can send us your earnings and travel dates via our online forms, so we’re ready to go.
Submit your tax return
As soon as we’re authorised, everything’s in order and you’ve approved our calculations, we’ll submit your return.
Returning customers
If you’ve used Flying Fish before, things are much faster. Just send us your latest earnings and travel history, and we can get started right away and there is no need to repeat the setup steps.
Put simply, a Seafarer is somebody who is employed to work on a seagoing ship.
Seafarers Earnings Deduction (SED) is a tax relief available to individuals who work on board a ship outside the UK, as long as they meet certain conditions.
Am I eligible for SED?
The three basic rules to be eligible for SED, the are:
- Worked on a ship
- Worked outside the UK for the qualifying period, usually 365 days.
- Are a UK resident
In addition to the three rules, there are some other considerations to qualifying for SED
- You have at least one voyage that begins and ends at a foreign port, in each qualifying period
- You cannot spend more than 183 continuous day in the UK.
Do I qualify for SED?
When you are signed up to our Seafarers Tax Service, we can assess if you meet the requirements for the Seafarers Earnings Deduction Scheme (SED). We will submit your SED claim (if eligible) along with your annual return, giving you peace of mind that it is done correctly.
If you are working on a Superyacht, Cruise ship or any commercial vessel and you comply with the Seafarers Earning Deduction scheme mentioned above, then you probably won’t need to start paying off your Student loan.
If you have a Student Loan then please click here for more information.
Yes.
Whatever role you undertake on board a Superyacht – whether that’s a Deckhand, Stewardess, or Captain you will need to complete a Self Assessment Tax Return each year.
But why?
Seafarers are paid a Gross Salary. Gross means no deductions are taken from your salary (Tax or National Insurance).
If deductions are not taken at source, you are legally required to declare your earnings to HMRC each tax year via a Self-Assessment Tax Return.
But I thought my Salary was tax-free.
Maybe.
As long as you comply with what’s called the Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction Scheme, or SED for short. This is a part of Tax law that applies to Seafarers.
You still need to submit a Self Assessment Tax Return each year but will not need to pay tax on these earnings.
If you are working on a Superyacht, Ship, or Cruise Ship then get in touch or simply sign up and Flying Fish will take care of the rest.
The time limit for submitting a tax return 31st January following the previous 5th April, which gives you nine months to complete and submit the return.
For example, the tax year running 6th April 2023 – 5th April 2024, is due to be submitted by 31st January 2025. It is best to complete your tax return sooner rather than later, as it allows us time to register as your agent, gather the information and prepare your return.
If you work on board a cruise ship, are employed by the vessel, and are a resident of the UK, you may not need to pay tax on your earnings.
The basic rules to qualify for SED are that you must have spent at least 365 days in a qualifying period, with more than half of your days outside of the UK, your qualifying period has at least one voyage that begins or ends at a foreign port, and that you have not spent longer than 183 consecutive days in the UK.
You won’t qualify for the deduction if you are a Crown employee (for example, a Royal Navy sailor), not a UK resident, or if you are self-employed.
It’s okay, we are here to help. HMRC are always more favourable to people who come forward and admit this instead of burying their head in the sand.
Our tax service is £210 per tax year. When you sign up we will ascertain which tax year(s) are due and if there is more than one, we will work with you to get overdue returns created and submitted.
We’ll sort your seafarers’ tax return
£250 per year
Join over 600 seafarers who trust us with their tax returns