Your seafarers tax, sorted.

We specialise in tax returns for Superyacht Crew, Cruise Ship Crew, commercial shipping, and people working in Oil and Gas. If you’re a UK resident and spend time working at sea, you may qualify for the Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction (SED), and we can help you get it.

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’ll submit your earnings and travel dates in your account, 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 log into your account and enter this year’s earnings and travel history, no need to repeat the setup steps, and we’ll get started right away.

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:

1. Worked on a ship
2. Worked outside the UK for the qualifying period, usually 365 days.
3. 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.

The deadline for filing a tax return is 31st January, following the end of the previous tax year on 5th April, giving you nine months to complete and file it.

For example, the tax year running 6th April 2025 to 5th April 2026 must be filed by 31st January 2027.

To make sure we have time to register as your agent, gather your information, and prepare your return, we ask that you get your details to us by 1st January. Leaving it later than that risks missing HMRC’s deadline altogether.

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 £250 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.