Inland Revenue 33
                                                  17 March 1998
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     COUNTERING EXPLOITATION OF FOREIGN EARNINGS DEDUCTION
                                
The Chancellor today announced a substantial change to the tax
treatment of  foreign earnings to counter exploitation of the
existing rules.  Under the existing  rules some UK residents
receive millions of pounds of income without it being taxed 
either in the UK or in any other country.

With immediate effect, the general foreign earnings deduction
(FED) is to be ended.   The foreign earnings deduction for
seafarers is maintained. This change will contribute towards a
fairer tax system.  The resultant increase in  Exchequer yield
is expected to be at least  250 million pounds a year.   

DETAILS

1.   FED provides a 100 per cent  deduction for earnings from
employment  carried out wholly or partly abroad during a
`qualifying period' of 365 days or more.   So the income is
free of UK tax - and may also be free of any overseas tax. 

2.   Through careful tax planning involving the use of the
FED, some UK resident  employees have been able to enjoy
income arising while they `work abroad' without  paying any
tax on it - at home or in the host country.  This relief is
exploited by a  number of very high earning individuals to
avoid paying tax on a significant portion  of their income. 
In some individual cases the costs to the Exchequer have 
amounted to millions of pounds a year.

3.   This tax break has given an unfair advantage to a few. 
In particular, it has  given easy scope for avoidance to a
small group of high earning individuals.   Securing the tax
base by closing loopholes such as this is a key feature of 
the  Government's strategy of developing a fairer tax system.

4.   A lack of clarity in the existing legislation has, in
certain circumstances,  allowed some of those employed on
particular types of oil rigs to be treated as  seafarers.  The
definition of seafarers is to be clarified so that there is no
longer any  doubt and no opportunity for the rules to be
exploited in this way. 

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1.   To be regarded as absent from the UK on a particular day,
an employee  needs only to be out of the country at the end of
that day (i.e. at midnight).  So  someone can work all day in
the UK but still qualify as absent so long as they leave  in
time.

2.   An employee is free to visit the UK during the qualifying
period - although  these visits must not amount to more than
one sixth of the qualifying period nor  include more than 62
consecutive days.  Also, an employee does not need to be 
working for the whole of the qualifying period to benefit from
FED, holidays abroad  count as days outside the UK.

Exploitation

3.   The Inland Revenue has clear evidence of systematic
exploitation of FED.   Various schemes are used but
essentially they allow a UK resident to roll up large  amounts
of income and then, every few years, spend sufficient time
abroad to  qualify for FED - during which period the
accumulated income is paid out with no tax  being charged.  

Risk of Double Taxation

4.   FED is not designed to protect employees from the risk of
a double charge on  their income - by the UK and the host
country.  There are other measures intended  to protect
taxpayers from such risk.  In particular, the UK has the
largest network of  double taxation agreements in the world -
involving treaties with over a hundred  other countries.  

National Insurance Contributions

5.   Generally, Class 1 employee and employer national
insurance contributions  remain payable with respect to UK
residents who work abroad for 12 months or less.   If an
individual is abroad for more than 12 months they will be
subject to the rules of  the host country.  So abolishing the
foreign earnings deduction will broadly align the  tax and
national insurance treatment of individuals who work abroad. 

Seafarers

6.   Special rules for seafarers allow visits to the UK of up
to one half of the  qualifying period - including visits of up
to 183 consecutive days. Self-employed

7.   UK resident individuals who are self-employed are taxed
on their business  profits arising in the UK or overseas. 
There is no relief equivalent to FED for  self-employed
individuals who work abroad.

INLAND REVENUE PRESS OFFICE
Media enquiries to: 0171-438-6692/6706/7327
(Out of hours: 0860 359544)
Non media enquiries to:  0171-438-6420/6425
(Office hours only)