Avmar International

Unsure as to whether FICA is required to be withheld from crew on foreign flagged vessels?. AvMar Payroll Services specializes in payroll processing for both US and foreign flagged vessels. US flagged vessels and foreign flagged vessels must contend with payroll taxes, including quarterly and yearly tax filings.

AvMar currently offers a choice of group health insurance plans for vessels and yacht crew on our payroll. In this ever changing industry we believe that it is necessary to provide more than one health insurance option for our clients. In this ever changing industry we believed that it was necessary to provide more than one health insurance option for our clients.

A. Even though the vessel is "foreign flagged" the owner is still required to withhold federal tax from the wages of US citizens and resident aliens. It doesn't matter if the vessel is in US territorial waters or outside of US territorial waters. A. US citizens and residents aliens are required to report their worldwide income, it does not matter where that income was earned or where that income is deposited.

I am a non-resident working on a foreign flagged vessel, why am I having tax withheld from my salary? A. United States tax law requires that non-residents working on foreign flagged vessels have tax withheld from their salary while that vessel is cruising in US territorial waters. Circumstances may vary from vessel to vessel, if taxes are being withheld from your salary then our analysis has determined it is necessary to withhold tax.