Seafarers Tax Service – Subscription fee

The fee of £250 per year covers one Self Assessment tax return for one individual for one tax year.

How payment works:

1. When you first subscribe, your payment of £250 is taken immediately via Stripe.
2. Your payment card details are stored securely by Stripe — we do not store your full card details on our systems. 
3. Each subsequent year, we will automatically charge £250 to your stored payment method on or around your renewal date (April)
4. If your payment fails (for example, because your card has expired or has insufficient funds), we will notify you and attempt to collect payment up to three further times over a 14-day period. If payment still cannot be collected, your subscription will be suspended until payment is made, and we will not be obliged to begin work on your tax return for that year.

Auto-renewal

Your subscription renews each year automatically unless you cancel it.

This means:

• You do not need to do anything to continue your subscription — it will renew, and payment will be taken each year automatically.
• We will send you a renewal reminder by email at least 30 days before your renewal date. This email will confirm:
  • The date payment will be taken
  • The amount that will be charged
  • How to cancel if you do not wish to renew
  • Any changes to the fee or service (see below)
• If you do not wish to renew, you must cancel before your renewal date (see “How to cancel” below). If you cancel after payment has been taken, the refund terms below will apply.

Changes to the subscription fee

We may change the subscription fee from time to time. If we do:

• We will give you at least 30 days’ written notice before the new fee takes effect.
• The notice will be included in your renewal reminder email.
• The new fee will apply from your next renewal date, not to the current subscription year.
• If you do not agree to the new fee, you can cancel before the renewal date, and you will not be charged the new amount.
• We will not increase the fee during a subscription year that has already been paid for.

What happens if you don’t use the service

If you pay for a subscription year but do not provide us with the information needed to prepare your return, and do not respond to our reasonable attempts to contact you:

• We will attempt to contact you at least three times by email over a 90-day period
• If we receive no response, we will notify you that your subscription for that year will be treated as unused
• No refund will be issued for an unused subscription year
• Your subscription will continue to auto-renew unless you cancel it

Seafarers Tax Service Cancellation 

You can request cancellation of your service at any time through the Flying Fish Tax Portal.

To protect your tax position, Flying Fish may manually review cancellation requests to identify any outstanding tax returns, tax years, HMRC correspondence, or mandatory filings requiring attention.

Your subscription will be paused during this review where appropriate, and cancellation will be finalised once the review has been completed and confirmed to you in writing.

Our formal appointment as your tax agent with HMRC will only terminate once the cancellation process has been completed and the termination has been confirmed to you.

Flying Fish may also terminate this engagement where there is a valid reason to do so, including non-payment of fees, failure to provide information, failure to cooperate, a breakdown in the professional relationship, or where continuing to act would place Flying Fish in breach of legal, regulatory or professional obligations.

You will remain responsible for fees properly incurred up to the date of termination.

Additional Work

Work outside the scope of this engagement may be subject to an additional fee. We will notify you of any additional fee before undertaking the work wherever reasonably practicable.

Future Price Adjustments

We reserve the right to increase our annual fee for future tax years.

If the fee increases, we will notify you by email at least 30 days before your Stripe renewal date.

If you do not agree to the revised fee, you must cancel your subscription through the portal before the applicable renewal date.

Self-Assessment Tax Return Services

Flying Fish provides tax services in relation to UK Self-Assessment and Corporation Tax. Corporation Tax services, where separately engaged, include company accounts and the preparation and submission of the CT600. This letter relates specifically to your Self-Assessment tax services.

Our work will be carried out with reasonable skill and care and in accordance with applicable UK tax legislation, HMRC requirements and the professional and ethical standards applicable to Flying Fish.

This agreement is governed by the laws of England and Wales.

The courts of England and Wales shall have jurisdiction in relation to any dispute arising from or in connection with this agreement, subject to any statutory rights available to consumers.

This engagement letter, together with any documents expressly incorporated into it, constitutes the entire agreement between you and Flying Fish in relation to the services described within this engagement.

It supersedes any previous discussions, correspondence or agreements relating to the same services, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Scope of Services

Services Included

Our standard Self-Assessment service includes the following where applicable and where the relevant information is disclosed to us.

Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction

We will review the travel history and employment information supplied by you, calculate your eligible days outside the UK and assess your entitlement to Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction (SED) in accordance with the relevant HMRC legislation and guidance, including HMRC Helpsheet HS205.

Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction claims are prepared using the information and travel history supplied by you. Flying Fish is not responsible where voyage dates, travel records or employment information provided by you are incomplete or inaccurate.

Flying Fish cannot guarantee that HMRC will agree with any claim made for Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction.

Self-Employment

It is your responsibility to notify Flying Fish if you have self-employed income.

Where you notify us of self-employed income, our standard service covers sole trader Self-Assessment only, unless otherwise agreed.

We will declare your sole trader turnover, apply allowable expenses based on the information supplied by you and calculate the resulting taxable trading position.

Partnership Income

If you are a partner in a partnership, you must notify Flying Fish and provide a copy of the relevant partnership tax return or partnership statement.

We will use the information provided in the partnership return or statement to include your share of the partnership income and relevant figures within your Self-Assessment Tax Return.

The preparation of the partnership tax return itself is outside the scope of this engagement.

Property Income

It is your responsibility to notify Flying Fish if you have property income.

Where property income is disclosed, we will declare rental income and allowable expenses based on the information provided by you and calculate the resulting taxable property income.

Employment Income

We will include UK employment income disclosed to us, including information contained within P60s, P45s or other relevant employment documentation supplied through the Flying Fish Tax Portal.

Foreign Income

You must notify Flying Fish of any foreign income or other overseas financial interests that may be relevant to your UK tax return.

Where foreign income is within the scope of your Self-Assessment return, we will include the information provided by you and apply relevant UK tax treatment based upon the information and documentation supplied.

Any specialist overseas tax advice or advice concerning the tax laws of another country is outside the scope of this engagement.

Bank Interest and Other Income

You are responsible for notifying Flying Fish of any bank interest, dividends or other taxable income which may be relevant to your Self-Assessment Tax Return.

Where such information is disclosed, we will include it within your return based on the information supplied.

What is Excluded

Flying Fish’s standard Self-Assessment service does not include specialist advice or services outside the preparation and submission of your UK Self-Assessment Tax Return.

Unless separately agreed, this engagement does not include:

• tax planning or tax avoidance advice
• specialist overseas or foreign tax advice
• VAT
• MTD (Make Tax Digital)
• PAYE or payroll services
• CIS
• bookkeeping
• pension or investment advice
• inheritance tax advice
• trust taxation
• specialist residence, domicile or international tax planning advice
• company accounts or Corporation Tax returns
• partnership tax returns
• specialist valuation services
• specialist financial or investment advice, or
• any other service not specifically included within this engagement

Flying Fish provides UK Self-Assessment, MTD (Make tax digital) and Corporation Tax services. Where Corporation Tax services, MTD are required, these will be covered by a separate engagement.

Any additional work outside the scope of this engagement will be subject to an additional fee, which will be agreed with you before the additional work is undertaken wherever reasonably practicable.

Capital Gains Tax

No Advisory or Calculation Service

Flying Fish does not calculate your capital gains, assess asset valuations or provide tax planning advice regarding the disposal of shares, cryptocurrency, investment properties, second properties or other assets.

Filing Service Only

Where Capital Gains Tax information is required to be included on your Self-Assessment Tax Return, we will input and submit the figures provided by you.

You are responsible for providing accurate and complete calculations of your capital gain and any supporting information required.

We rely entirely upon calculations provided by you or your adviser and do not independently verify the underlying capital gains calculation unless this has been separately agreed as an additional service.

Your Evidence and Disclosure Responsibilities

To enable us to prepare an accurate and complete tax return, you are required to complete the relevant disclosure questionnaires and upload the requested information and supporting evidence to the Flying Fish Tax Portal.

Income

Each tax year, the portal will ask you to confirm whether you have additional sources of income or other information that may need to be declared on your Self-Assessment Tax Return.

You must accurately complete these questionnaires and disclose all relevant sources of income, including where applicable:

• self-employed income;
• property income;
• bank interest;
• dividends;
• UK employment income;
• foreign income;
• Capital Gains;
• pension income; and
• any other taxable income or information relevant to your tax return.

You must disclose your worldwide income and gains where required under UK tax law.

Evidence Required for Seafarers

To calculate your return and assess your SED position, you must upload:

• your precise voyage dates
• a copy of your Seafarer Employment Agreement (SEA) for each vessel or contract worked
• the exact names of the vessels worked on
• a minimum of one payslip per contract; and
• any other evidence reasonably requested by Flying Fish.

Your Record-Keeping Responsibilities

You are responsible for maintaining complete and accurate business and tax records as required by the Taxes Management Act 1970 and related legislation.

It is your responsibility to maintain and safely store your:

• logbook and records of midnights spent outside the UK
• Seafarer’s Discharge Book
• flight tickets and other travel documentation
• boarding passes
• ship join/leave vouchers
• employment contracts
• payslips
• business records
• property records
• bank and investment records, and
• any other documents supporting information included on your tax return

These records should be retained for the required statutory period and made available to HMRC if requested as part of a compliance check or enquiry.

Flying Fish will retain records in accordance with our data retention policy, but this does not remove your own legal responsibility to retain your original records.

How long must you keep records for?

• 22 months if you only receive income from working as a seafarer.
• 6 years if you have received self-employed or income from property.

Data Security

To support data security and efficient processing, you are required to submit your tax information and supporting documentation through the Flying Fish Tax Portal Powered by Sea Vantage.

The portal provides access to the information, questionnaires and documents required for us to prepare your tax return.

Submission of Information

To protect your personal and financial information, we do not accept physical paperwork, loose receipts or financial files sent by standard unencrypted email where these can instead be submitted securely through the portal.

HMRC Authorisation

Following your acceptance of this engagement, we will request formal authorisation to act as your tax agent with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

You agree to promptly complete any security checks, authorisation steps or codes required by HMRC or through the Flying Fish Tax Portal to finalise our appointment as your agent.

We will only act as your agent with HMRC once the appropriate formal authorisation has been completed.

 

Legal Responsibilities

Although Flying Fish will assist you with the preparation and submission of your tax return, you remain legally responsible for ensuring that your tax return is complete, accurate and correct, including the disclosure of all taxable income, gains and other information required by HMRC.

Your Responsibility

You agree to:

• Provide complete, accurate and timely information and to respond to requests from Flying Fish within the timescales specified.
• We are entitled to rely upon information provided by you unless we have reason to believe it is incorrect.
• If you omit information, or fail to disclose taxable income, Flying Fish accepts no responsibility for additional tax, penalties or interest arising as a result.
• Penalties arising from inaccurate or incomplete information supplied by you remain your responsibility.
• review the completed tax return and confirm that the information included is complete and correct to the best of my knowledge.
• inform Flying Fish promptly of any changes to your personal circumstances that may affect your tax position, including changes of address,  employment, your seafaring circumstances or if you have left the maritime industry.

Our Responsibilities

Flying Fish will:

• Prepare your Self-Assessment Tax Return using the information supplied by you and our professional judgement in applying current UK tax legislation
• Perform our services with reasonable skill and care
• Apply relevant UK tax legislation and HMRC guidance applicable at the time the work is undertaken
• Act as your agent with HMRC once formally authorised
• Maintain confidentiality of your information, subject to the exceptions set out in this agreement
• Provide you with the completed tax return and relevant tax calculation for review before submission where reasonably practicable, and
• Submit the tax return to HMRC following your approval and subject to the necessary information and authorisation being available

Advice is based upon legislation and HMRC practice applying at the date the work is undertaken. Tax legislation and HMRC practice can change, and we cannot guarantee that advice or treatment will remain applicable in future tax years.

HMRC Enquiries, Compliance Checks and Appeals

Our standard fee includes reasonable assistance with an HMRC enquiry, compliance check or appeal where the matter has arisen directly as a result of an error, omission or calculation made by Flying Fish in preparing your tax return.

Where an HMRC enquiry, compliance check, investigation or appeal arises for any other reason, including matters relating to information that you supplied incorrectly or failed to disclose, this work is outside the scope of the standard service and may be subject to an additional fee.

Any additional fee will be discussed and agreed with you before the additional work is undertaken wherever reasonably practicable.