Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 40

Duties on board vessel or aircraft

Section 40 sets out the rules for determining where employment duties performed on board a vessel or aircraft are treated as taking place for tax purposes, with special provisions for seafarers.

• Duties performed on a vessel that stays within UK waters are treated as UK duties for tax purposes
• UK-resident employees performing duties on vessels or aircraft on journeys beginning or ending in the UK are treated as performing those duties in the UK
• A special exception applies to seafarers employed on ships, whose duties on voyages beginning or ending outside the UK are treated as performed overseas for the purposes of limiting chargeable overseas earnings
• The term "ship" excludes offshore installations, and areas designated under the Continental Shelf Act 1964 are treated as part of the UK