oil and gas worker tax relief question

[gazmon]

Hi all,

I have a question regarding tax relief if i work offshore in the north sea , some of my colleagues have been made aware by an accountant that they are entilted to a tax rebate of which some have already claimed and succesfully been payed out lump sums, they have been told that they are entitled to some sort of seafarers deduction (SED) (not 100%) but the tax rules clearly state that if you are on a fixed non movable installation in uk water this is not claimable under SED, so my questions are as follows

i work on a fixed gas production installation that has been in the north sea since 1968, i work in block 49/26, i work 2 on 2 off rota, i am not a seafarer according to the hmrc website

so how is it possible to claim some kind of partial seafarer rebate under these circumstances, does the tax office just trust and process an accountants paperwork and claim, does an idividual at the tax office fully investigate a claim each time, how do i know if the accountant in question is making a bad claim,

under what rules are these claims being made taking into consideration the above? for the claim to be paid out

looking for advice

any help appreciated
gazmon

[Peter D]

EIM67100 on the HMRC web site will help you here. Regards Peter

[gazmon]

Hi

i have trawled through this arae of the hmrc, it seems quite clear about offshore workers not eligible for `sed` but i wondered if any experts can tell me why based on my info the tax relief is being payed out to personnel in my line of work??

what checks would be done if any?? are the checks made after a successful claim??

any further thoughts

gazmon

[govie]

Gazmon

Hi mate, I'm in the same position as you where several of my work mates have applied for this tax rebate! This has only been recently so no one has had any money yet! Do you know people who have actually been paid out?

Govie

[maths]

Whilst this is certainly not my area I do seem to recall that a few years ago a couple of decisions by the courts resulted in some structures initially classified as offshore installations (ie not ships) being reclassified as ships.

It may therefore be that the accountant has advised some individuals who were not granted the SED that in view of these decisions they could now claim for the SED and, subject to time limits, could file reclaims for prior tax years (hence the refunds).

[gazmon]

Gazmon

Hi mate, I'm in the same position as you where several of my work mates have applied for this tax rebate! This has only been recently so no one has had any money yet! Do you know people who have actually been paid out?

Govie

yes i know several people who have been paid out, it seems that all the people are being successfully paid out without question....

the question is on what grounds as of yet i have no definative answer or loop hole that states an offshore worker in the north sea ona fixed insatllation is entitled to any tax refund??

so looking for more info before i claim, and then get stung a year later....?

as i hear the tax office dont check claims, but might do a year later??

[govie]

We are the same here, have heard that it has been paid out elsewhere but no one knows why and cant find anything on the net which would point us towards this "loop hole"

We are a fixed installation as well, I think there is only accountant who is doing all the claims. I contacted him this morning to get the ball rolling, but like yourself I'm wary that it might come back to bit me down the line. If I do get any money back I think I will just keep it in my offset mortgage for a year or so.

[gazmon]

Whilst this is certainly not my area I do seem to recall that a few years ago a couple of decisions by the courts resulted in some structures initially classified as offshore installations (ie not ships) being reclassified as ships.

It may therefore be that the accountant has advised some individuals who were not granted the SED that in view of these decisions they could now claim for the SED and, subject to time limits, could file reclaims for prior tax years (hence the refunds).

this seems a viable explanation to why claims are successful, but then the hmrc contradicts this info by stating offshore fixed platforms are not include....

have spoken with a reputable accountant firm today and a tax specialist monday, both say this..... that offshore oil and gas workers are not entitled to any form of SED, further more they stated that because of limited resources in the tax office claims are not monitored making SED easy to claim via a few forms, also that they may select 1 or 2 forms a year later (depends on how lucky u are) and investigate further, also i am aware the fees being charged my end are £300 per p60, so that an immediate balance repayable if found unlawful, further more the accountant dealing with your claim is exempt from any trouble because you have signed to say he can act..

its like this...claim if you want...you will most probably get paid out, spend at your own risk hoping to comebacks, if they do want it back they will definatly be penaltys attached as well....

why calim what you cant spend happily, maybe forever watchin the post...coz you dont mess the the tax man
gazmon

[macca67]

is there any more news on this?

i have been told that 12 cases of this were challanged by hmrc and they lost all 12............

[radixon75]

Any up dates on this as i was in the process of claiming a tax rebate through EAA and then read the article in the OILC magazine stating you were not entitled to it so I pulled the plug on it.
Any stories of the taxman taking the money back from anyone?