Making Tax Digital for Seafarers
Complete, hands-off MTD compliance designed around life at sea.
£700 per year
For seafarers with UK property or self-employed earnings. We manage your 4 quarterly MTD submissions, Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction calculations and year-end return. It all starts with a phone call with our accountant.
Making Tax Digital (MTD) is changing how seafarers with a rental property or self-employed work report their income.
Instead of one tax return a year, HMRC now wants an update every three months, plus your year-end return. It doesn’t mean paying tax every quarter. It’s just a report you’re now legally required to send.
It sounds like more admin, but once you’re set up, we take care of all of it, so nothing gets missed while you’re away.
Flying Fish Tax
Meet your Seafarer’s MTD accountant
Our MTD service is run by Fiona (MAAT), a qualified accountant with over 20 years’ experience. Fiona specialises in Seafarers Earning Deductions and knows how to fit MTD around life at sea.
Every MTD client starts with a one-to-one call with Fiona. She’ll check whether MTD applies to you, explain what happens next and get you set up.
Your Flying Fish Tax account for Seafarers Earning Deduction
Claiming Seafarers Earning Deduction is simple. Log your trips in and out of the UK and add your income details in your Flying Fish Tax account.
Fiona checks your Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction eligibility, prepares your return and files it with HMRC.
The only difference is that your self-employed and property income is already done, from your quarterly MTD updates.
Does MTD apply to you?
MTD applies if your self-employed and property income, added together and before expenses, is over the threshold:
From 6 April 2026: over £50,000
From 6 April 2027: over £30,000
From 6 April 2028: over £20,000
Your pay at sea doesn’t count. It’s only income from self-employment and property.
HMRC uses your tax return from two years earlier. So if your 2025/26 return shows over £30,000, you start in April 2027.