Employers who have awarded shares or options to their employees have an annual obligation to report any notifiable events that occurred in relation to Employment Related Securities (ERS), often known as a share scheme return.  The absolute deadline for making the share scheme return via...

If you’re just starting to think about rewarding employees in your company with shares, it can be difficult to decide what’s the best plan for you.  There are a variety of plans to choose from.  Some plans are tax efficient, and you can tailor many...

If you’re new to share plans, you’re probably going to be coming up against some pretty horrible jargon.  Here’s a quick and dirty guide to some of the terms you’ll come across at the outset of your employee share plan journey – what they mean and...

By the time this blog lands, it seems likely that the UK will have a new government. It's natural to wonder if this will mean a big change for employee share plans and employee share ownership generally. However, whether we’ve woken up on Friday 5th...

For some business owners, selling all their shares to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) is the complete solution to their succession worries.  Key benefits of selling to an EOT Sellers pay no capital gains tax if they sell a majority shareholding to an EOT.  This means that...

Many businesses understand the importance of incentivising their staff, and will often invest significant time (and money) in designing and setting up an employee share plan such as Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI). An EMI plan can play a central part in attracting, motivating and retaining staff. ...

Does my company really need an EMI valuation agreement from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) before granting EMI options?  That’s a reasonable question, especially for companies working with limited budgets.   It is true that it is not a legal requirement for an EMI valuation of the...

Every year the Employee Ownership Association (EOA) holds an annual conference aiming to bring together business owners who wish to celebrate or are considering employee ownership. It also includes businesses such as RM2 that specialise in helping them turn their vision into reality. This year’s event...

As summer holidays come to an end, business owners often start thinking about getting an employee share plan in place for a New Year launch.  With that in mind, it feels like a good time to go back to basics and think about the first...

Government has published draft legislation to extend the time limit for notification of the grant of EMI options.  Currently, companies must notify HM Revenue & Customs of an EMI option grant within 92 days of the date of grant.  This limit will be extended for...

Employee share plans are a wonderful way to attract new hires, incentivise key directors and motivate your staff.  There is plenty of choice as to what kind of scheme you can use, and it isn’t always obvious which is the best one to choose.  Before...

Contrary to popular belief, us share plan lawyers don’t really like making things complicated just for the sake of it.  So over the past couple of years, we’ve been delighted that the powers that be have taken the time to consider how tax-advantaged employee share schemes...

Companies with employee share plans in place have until Tuesday 6 July to file their annual returns with HM Revenue & Customs on their Employment Related Securities portal. If you have granted options to your employees, or given them shares, or let them buy shares –...

Many private companies use employee share option plans, including Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) and Company Share Option Plan (CSOP), to deliver a reward to employees when the company is sold.    If you’re considering selling your company, it’s important to make sure your share plan is in...