Seasonal and temporary workers tax and social security contributions

​​​​​This information is for seasonal and temporary workers in the agricultural and hospitality industries.​ You can find more information in the seasonal and temporary workers guide.

Wage deductions 

Social security contributions (SSC)

These are payments into a general insurance fund that pays for things like short term incapacity allowance, carer's allowance and old age pensions.

If you're working in Jersey and pay the required contribution amounts for 6 months you may be entitled to these benefits.

You usually pay 6% of your wages as contributions. Your employer also pays around 6.5% for you.

Personal income tax

You pay tax on your income. The maximum personal tax rate is 20%, but most people are entitled to allowances that reduce the tax they pay to below 20%.

Tax is used to fund the services Government provides, from road maintenance, emergency services, rubbish collection, to our subsidised bus service and medical treatment.

Long-term care contributions (LTC) 

You also make payments into another fund used specifically to provide care to Jersey residents who need full time care for the rest of their life.

Payments are a maximum of 1.5% of your income, but most people pay less than this because of the tax allowances they receive.

How you pay

All these payments are taken directly from your wages by your employer and paid to the Government. Revenue Jersey is the part of Government that assesses and collects these payments. 

Calculating your tax

Everyone gets a basic tax allowance which is an amount of income you're allowed before you need to pay tax. If you're married or in a civil partnership you will be independently taxed.

If you worked in Jersey before 2022

​​Independent​ taxation was introduced in 2022. This means when you return to Jersey, you will be taxed just on your own income, but married and civil partnership allowances will not be available to you.

​Children​​

If you have dependent children, you may also​ get a child allowance. 

Children and tax relief

Expenses

You can claim expenses against your employment income if they are work related and you have to pay for them yourself.

You can claim the cost of your work permit as an expense but you can't claim for the cost of visa, flights or DBS checks.

Employment expenses and tax

​You pay tax on any income over your allowances and any benefits in kind you receive such as free or discounted accommodation.

We estimate the allowances you'll get and the tax you'll need to pay, based on how many nights you are in Jersey.

As a seasonal worker you pay tax to Revenue Jersey just on your Jersey income.

What you need to do​

1. Give accurate information when you register for tax

When you first arrive and apply for your Jersey registration card, you must tell us:

• what your wages will be
  
• details about your circumstances, such as whether you have dependent children
• any benefits in kind such as free or discounted accommodation 

We then work out what percentage of your wages you need to pay as tax and long-term care.

It's important you estimate what your wages will be accurately, including extra hours you think you may do.

If you're not accurate with your estimate, you might later find you've under or overpaid your tax. This would mean you'd either get a bill to pay for the tax due on the extra wages, or find you've paid too much tax and be due a refund.

Register as a Jersey resident

2. Give your ITIS effective rate notice to your employer

Once you've told us about your wage and circumstances as part of registering to work, Revenue Jersey will send you and effective rate notice to hand to your employer. This is called your ITIS (Income Tax Instalment Scheme) rate.

It includes your name, Tax Identification Number (TIN), Social Security number and your percentage of wages to pay as tax. It's our official confirmation for the employer, of how much tax they should deduct.

3. Check the tax on your pay slips

Your employer deducts the percentage of tax on your effective rate and your social security contributions and sends it to Revenue Jersey. Your wage slips should confirm the percentage and the amounts deducted for the combined tax and long-term care, and social security contributions each time you get paid.

You should check how your wages compare to the estimated amount you gave us regularly, to pick up any changes to what you'd told us.

4. Update us if your circumstances change

Your circumstances may change. Make sure you tell us as soon as you know, so we can adjust the tax payments you're making as soon as possible. The odd extra hour won't make much difference, but if it's anything more you should tell us.

You can do this online using the tax enquiry form.

Personal tax enquiry form

5. Tell us when you leave

Complete the leaving Jersey form when you finish working here so that we have an up top date address to post your tax return to.

Leaving Jersey

6. Complete your tax return

You'll need to confirm your income and circumstances in a tax return. You file one for the previous year at the start of the following year.

Even if you've left Jersey, you'll still need ​to complete one to provide a legal declaration confirming your Jersey income​, so we can check you've paid the right amount of tax.

If you don't file a return a default assessment will be issued and you may get penalties for not filing your return.

Digital ID and Onegov account set up

File your personal tax return

How much you'll pay in 2024

Examples with a basic allowance only, no benefits in kind

Examples with 1 child allowance, personal allowance, no benefits in kind