Fisher Tax Credit
The Fisher Tax Credit is €1,270 per year and you can offset it against your total income, that is, income from fishing and other sources. You can claim the Fisher Tax Credit if you meet the following conditions:
- You’re a PAYE or self-assessed taxpayer
- You’re resident in Ireland
- You spend at least 80 days sea-fishing
- Your fishing vessel is licenced by a European Union (EU) Member State and registered on the EU Community Fishing Fleet
If you’re a part-time fisher you’ll be eligible for the credit providing you satisfy the above conditions. You can’t claim the Seafarers' Allowance in the same year as the Fisher Tax Credit.
8 hours minimum with a 24-hour period qualifies as a day at sea.
A fishing trip is anytime you leave port to fish and ends when you return to port. If you return due to distress only, this will not be deemed a return provided you resume the trip again.
Fishing for any kind of fish found in the sea, including crustaceans and molluscs. It doesn’t include salmon, freshwater eels or aquaculture animals. Fishing solely for scientific, training or dredging purposes doesn’t qualify.
Seafarers’ Allowance
If you’re at sea on a voyage to and from a foreign port you may claim the seafarer’s allowance. The allowance is also available to those servicing drilling rigs.
You’re entitled to an allowance of €6,350 available at the highest rate of tax you pay and this is set against your seafarer income. You can’t use the allowance against any other income.
To qualify you must:
- Be at sea for at least 161 days in the year
- Work wholly on a ship while on an international voyage
- Not be employed in the public sector
- Not have claimed Split-Year treatment in respect of the income earned
- Be on a voyage that begins or ends in a port outside of Ireland
For this purpose, a sea-going ship is a ship (other than a fishing vessel) that’s only used to carry passengers or cargo for payment.
- It must be registered in the shipping register of a European Union (EU) Member State
- A rig or platform that is situated in any maritime area is regarded as a port
- You’re considered as being absent from Ireland for a day if you’re absent at midnight
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