Revenue eBrief No. 118/22
31 May 2022
Share fishing
Tax and Duty Manual Part 04-01-11 sets out an overview of the tax implications for boat owners, skippers and share fishermen following the High Court decisions in the cases of Francis Griffin v The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs and Wm. Deasy v The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs in 2001. In those cases, it was confirmed that share fishermen were partners in a partnership and that each venture out to sea was a separate partnership.
The Tax and Duty Manual has been updated to confirm that where the crew of a fishing vessel is reasonably stable from one fishing voyage to the next, the same partnership can be considered to cover multiple fishing voyages. Whether this treatment can apply will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis.