If you’re running a share plan for employees, you must submit your annual share scheme return on HMRC’s online system by 6 July 2018. If you don’t, fines will likely apply.HMRC are not known for accepting excuses for late filing. Here are some...
A recent case in the high court gives some helpful pointers about decision making by trustees of employee benefit trusts (EBTs). This may be of particular interest to employees who have been appointed as trustees of an EBT or an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) to...
The point of an Enterprise Management Incentive scheme (“EMI”) (or giving share options / equity to employees in general) is not financial: it’s emotional. Specifically, it’s to change an employee’s emotional state to be more favourable to being recruited, retained and motivated. We’re always on...
Share plans talk in the last few weeks has focused on Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) options – with relief all round when EU state aid was reconfirmed for this tax advantaged share option plan. The EMI scheme is the best employee share option plan in terms...
Businesses and advisors breathed a collective sigh of relief on 16 May 2018, when the EU commission announced in a press release that Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) had received EU state aid approval. At the time, no official case note was available, so advisors were left...
In brief: In April 2018, HMRC announced that EU approval for Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) tax reliefs had been delayed, creating doubt and uncertainty for companies wanting to grant EMI options. On 15 May 2018, the EU confirmed their approval for EMI, so EMI’s status...
In brief: a temporary breach of EU law by the UK government could (in theory) negate the attractive tax reliefs for EMI schemes. In practice, this concern only arises for EMI schemes breaching generous financial thresholds, and the average EMI scheme will not be affected. What’s...
A recent case emphasises the importance of being clear about employment status in relation to share ownership. Here, the failure for the appellant to demonstrate that he was an employee resulted in a significant loss of tax relief on the sale of shares. ...
We’ve published a helpful checklist to set out some key steps to getting your share plan right. Step 1 - It's all about planning (see our previous blog "Your share plan - get the first step right"). Step 2 - Working how much to give away under...
There’s been plenty of noise in the last week or so about the fact that EU state aid permission relating to Enterprise Management Incentive ("EMI") options has not been renewed.If you assume the worst, this means that any EMI options granted after 11.00pm on Friday...
The High Court recently ruled in favour of two former employees of Lloyd Bank plc, finding that shares that they were awarded under a share plan had been wrongfully withheld. This happened when the board attempted to change the vesting conditions for share awards retrospectively by...
Author: Nigel Mason Performance targets are a common feature of share option awards, granted under plans such as the Enterprise Management Incentive Plan (EMI) but are they really necessary? That might be a controversial question, especially for companies in sectors with a strong culture of performance...
At the RM2 Partnership, we noticed that, as part of the recent Spring Statement, the government has decided (under the guise of a consultation process) to consider certain proposals that are likely to result in the introduction of legislation in Finance Bill 2018-2019. These proposals,...
Do you know that you should register your share plan with HRMC’s Employment Related Securities Service (“ERS”)? Do you know that an annual return is due by 6th July each year for each type of plan you operate e.g. Enterprise Management Incentive Plan (“EMI”), Share...
Fallings out between founders is sadly quite common among start-ups. What is just as frustrating is where there is no prior agreement on how to break the deadlock and move on – often with the result that continuing founders have to buy out other founders...
