It’s that time of year again, where yacht crew suddenly realise the window for submitting your tax returns is closing. If you are British and working on a superyacht offshore, you need to submit tax returns by the end of January. Failure to do this will likely result in fines from HMRC, which is not ideal at all. If you are reading this and starting to worry, do not panic! There is plenty of time to put together and submit your returns to avoid these penalties.


Why Should You File Tax Returns?

British yachties should be diligent in submitting their tax returns for two reasons:

  1. There is no reason not to – It is unlikely, due to your job that you will have to pay tax. And, better still. Being a UK tax resident means you can invest your money into property, pensions, ISA’s, stocks and shares. You can’t do any of this if you are not a taxpayer.
  2. It is the law – You are required by law to declare any offshore income. Your salary is offshore income as it is not earned in the UK.

Can Yacht Crew Avoid Not Declaring?

The answer to this in most cases is NO. But, why would you try to get away with not doing it?  Again don’t panic. We can fix it!


Don’t Put It Off!

Make sure that, no matter what, you are on the right side of the tax authorities.

DO NOT – and we really mean this – DO NOT DO NOTHING. This will not solve a problem or make it any easier to deal with.

Finally, DON’T PANIC. If you know you need to do something then get in touch. We can always help and it is never as bad as it seems. Pick up the phone or send us an email. We are waiting to help

Superyacht Crew Taxes


CrewFO is here to assist yacht crew with the difficult things in life, like tax. If you have read this article and feel like you need advice with your taxes, get in touch.


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