EIM33034 - Seafarers' Earnings Deduction: location of duties performed on ships visiting oil and gas rigs

Section 382 ITEPA 2003

Drilling rigs positioned in a designated area

Section 41 ITEPA 2003 treats as performed in the United Kingdom any duties performed on a gas or oil rig outside the 12 mile limit but in a designated area of the continental shelf.

Section 382 treats as performed in the United Kingdom any duties performed on voyages or part voyages by ships that either:

• start and end in a designated area, or
• start in the United Kingdom and end in a designated area, or
• start in a designated area and end in the United Kingdom.

This does not affect the test of whether a person is absent from the United Kingdom. If he or she is outside the 12 mile limit at the end of a particular day that day is a day of absence for the purposes of an eligible period, see EIM33004.

Drilling rigs positioned outside of the designated areas

A voyage or part voyage by a ship to a rig while it is drilling outside a designated area is regarded as ending outside the United Kingdom. The return voyage will be one that begins outside the United Kingdom.

See EIM67100 onwards for information on workers in offshore oil and gas fields around the United Kingdom. There is a special rule covering the provision of free travel between the mainland and offshore rigs and platforms (see EIM34110).