HS205 Electronic Calculator
HMRC requires you to complete form ‘HS205 – SED Working Sheet’ which you must retain as evidence that you are entitled to a claim. It is both a laborious and unnecessarily confusing task which requires you to print and manually complete a paper form detailing all of your departures and returns to the UK and complete a number of calculations.
Thankfully you can avoid all of this by downloading and using our Electronic HS205 Worksheet and Calculator which does all of the hard work for you. Unlike other calculators you may have come across this has been designed to digitally replicate HMRC’s HS205 worksheets. This means it can be printed or electronically submitted as evidence to HMRC should they decide to audit your return. It has been designed in Excel and should work on the vast majority of computers however some users of tablet devices may have problems using the calculator depending on the age and model of your device. You can download the calculator by clicking the box at the bottom of this page.
You will find two tabs along the bottom of Excel spreadsheet. The first is entitled ‘notes and instructions’ and as the name suggests it contains a set of short instructions and notes on how to use the the spreadsheet correctly. Please take your time to read and understand these before you attempt to use the second sheet which is entitled “HS205 worksheet and calculator”. In order to protect the complex formulas in this spreadsheet it is protected and there is a only 3 cells that you can edit/enter details into. These are:
1. Your dates of leaving the UK.
2. You dates of returning to the UK
3. An extra comments box. This has been included for your convenience to allow you to add additional information to help keep track of your dates. For example you may wish to enter something like “service on Vessel XXX ” or “Holiday in France”.
Remember as well as your service onboard ships you must include all other dates out of the UK when completing the calculation. For the purpose of the seafarers earnings deduction this can include all holidays abroad.
Finally having used the calculator and established that you have achieved an eligible period you should then refer to our ‘How do I claim my tax back section’ for further guidance on getting your money back.