UK on shore
According to my sources those of us lucky/unlucky enough (you fill in the gap) to be living in the UK will indeed be exposed to PAYE and NI come april 6th 08. However UK tax law still applies and thus any of you chaps who live outside the UK (ie europe/us etc) and can convince or prove to the UK taxman that you are indeed non domiciled, non resident (meaning you do not and will not live in the UK) and file taxes elsewhere, will be exempt the PAYE or the major portion there of. There is a form you fill in and give to CX UK who then give it to HMIR who make a decision to withhold or no!.....NI contributions are likely to be due depending apoun your resdient nations agreement with the UK...Not much help I know for all you poms onshore and living in deepest darkest kent et al....suppose the only consolation is come your three years on the freighter and the move to honkers (hold your breath) your UK tax goes away unlike some poor sods whose worldwide income gets hit where ever they work (US for example). Hope this helps any euro types who were thinking of/offered a UK base.
cheers