Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of seafarers claiming the seafarers' earnings deduction (SED) and (b) the cost to the public purse of SED in (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11, (iii) 2011-12, (iv) 2012-13 and (v) 2013-14.

Budget 2010 published the estimated annual Exchequer cost of £5million resulting from the extension of Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction (SED) to EU and European Economic Area seafarers from 2011.

HMRC publishes the estimated cost of SED each December. This can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/search?q=main+tax+expenditures+and+structural+reliefs

For the majority of claimants the SED reduces their income tax liability to zero.