CIS tax

Hi all
Is there anyway of getting around not paying Cis tax.
I am working on Uk wind farms through Uk agency but I
am living in the Philippines.

CIS tax? What’s that?

Ah! It’s a little clearer now. I think the CIS scheme is comparable to the old 715 scheme Civils divers used to use years back for inshore work.
Basically, working within the 12 mile limit, they fell under the land based construction (self employed) scheme. Used to have a 715 photo card and issue vouchers to the employer. One copy kept by the self employed contractor for their accounts, the other kept by the employer and passed on to HMRC. I do remember that as a self employed person (diver or otherwise) under the construction scheme you could claim all sorts of expenses back to help offset your tax bill.

I was on a wind farm job last year… they had all sorts of trouble trying to operate a bond as half the farm was inside the 12 mile limit and customs wouldn’t let them re-stock without a foreign port call. I’m guessing there may be some tax issues to follow for those on the job.

Which raises the question as to how tax might be treated for those working onboard in oil & gas when the vessel is alongside for a few days mobilising for example.

CIS is mandatory if you are self employed or a Ltd company working on wind farms within the 12 mile zone.

It is basically 20% taken at source off you invoice. You do have to register for it.

I suppose the only way around it is to work as PAYE but if you are living abroad then that might be even more of a pain.

It is a straight forward enough thing once you get your head around it.

Luckyjim37 is correct, the only way around this is under PAYE. I am currently working with a UAE company on a windfarm project and have registered the company with HMRC under PAYE. HMRC have granted the normal annual tax-free allowance for all, including non-UK resident workers.

You can set yourself up as a LTD company and, as non-resident, would not be liable for employees or employers UK National Insurances. You can then simply be paid under a PAYE scheme and claim any reliefs due through your self-assessment tax return. There are one or two other potential tax advantages.

PM me if you need an more information.

Surely one would have to be carefull of not becoming resident as your only allowed 91 days each year as an average over a 4 year period so total 364 days over 4 years and no more than 183 days in one year.

So you could work for several rotations at some point it would all stop.

For some its not worth losing NON UK Status.

If one has monies in the Isle of Man and Jersey that would become taxable if you lost NON UK Resident.

deepseacon is correct with his note of caution.