I have received a phone call from someone recently about how paying tax works when working on a cruise ship for a 9 month contract. When I went onto the company website, it appears to me that she will be an employee, however she is quite convinced that she will be self employed. She will be paid on a commission basis and the money will go onto a bank card that they provide.
There appears to be a lot of rules that she has to abide by, and the money she receives will come from one company so it seems to go against the principle of self employment. Is anyone familiar with this situation that can shine some light on it for me before I call HMRC tomorrow. I have no idea at all on this one.
An interesting one and I don't really know the answer but it seems to me that provided she does not work on the ship for more than two years she could be classed as self-employed - it really depends on what sort of work she is doing. If she is an artist/entertainer then I'm sure self-employed would be fine but if she's a waitress or the equivalent on board a ship of a chambermaid then I think she should be classed as employed.
thanks for your reply, she is going to be a nail technician with a contract of 9 months to begin with. They can put her on different ships over that period. She has been told by someone that she might not have to pay tax with being abroad.
I have got a number to phone tomorrow to see what they say about it. I was so thrown out by it I even put the posting on the wrong part of the forum due to me reading this section at the time of the call.
I will let you know what I find out it may benefit others.
I suppose being a nail technician then she could be classed as self-employed, provided that she is not being paid by the cruise ship but is charging her customers and paying the cruise ship "rent" for the premises. Tax regarding working abroad is complex, depending on time abroad and at home etc.
