J Davies v HMRC

In J Davies v HMRC (TC01822 – 28 February) an employee (D) worked in 2001/02 and 2002/03 on a multi-purpose vessel which operated to the west of the Shetland Islands and on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. He claimed seafarers’ earnings deduction.

HMRC rejected the claim on the basis that the vessel had been used as an ‘offshore installation’ within Offshore Installation and Pipeline Works (Management and Administration) Regulations SI 1995/738 reg 3.

The First-tier Tribunal allowed D’s appeal holding that the vessel had not been an ‘offshore installation’ because it had been ‘moving around to such a high degree’ that it had not been ‘stationed’.

Why it matters: ITEPA 2003 s 385 provides a definition of a ‘ship’ for the purposes of seafarers’ earnings deduction. The definition of a ‘ship’ excludes an ‘offshore installation’. HMRC rejected the appellant’s claim on the...