Topical discussions about employee ownership and employee share plans
An Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) transaction is a key and exciting step on the employee ownership journey but is a long way from the ultimate destination. Exemplary governance and employee involvement are key to continued growth and to maximising employee ownership’s contribution to the UK...
It’s nearly budget time and the share plans world is excited to see if there will be changes to the rules relating to Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) share option schemes. Last year the Treasury launched a consultation calling for evidence from company owners and practitioners about...
Why is employment status so important for share schemes? The answer lies in a mixture of tax law, financial services law and company law. It is of course perfectly possible for companies to grant options or award shares to non-employees, board advisers or non-executive...
In spite of the challenges of the pandemic, or maybe because of it, 2021 has shown that the momentum for Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) has continued to increase, according to flash results of the EOT Survey, created and tracked by RM2 for the Employee Ownership Association. There were...
Further guidance on the use of directors’ discretions with particular reference to Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) is, in RM2’s opinion, long overdue. One of the biggest attractions of EMI options for private companies is the flexibility they offer. For example, while other tax advantaged employee share...
RM2 is delighted to welcome John Dormer as our new Share Incentives Director. John will head up our share schemes team, with Sarah Anderson stepping back as director as John takes up the reins! John brings with him many years of share plans experience, most recently...
HMRC announced that its Trust Registration Service (TRS) was open for non-taxable trust registrations with effect from 1 September 2021. Historically, it may not have been necessary to register an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) using the TRS if it was not subject to a tax liability....
Employee Benefit Trusts (EBTs) can be a useful part of employee share ownership plans, particularly for privately held companies. If you’re considering an EBT as part of your employee share scheme, it’s a good idea to understand how they work, what they can be used...
RM2 was interested to read about the views of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) on the use of Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) as vehicles for tax avoidance in their pre-budget submission, as reported in The ESOP Centre’s newspad. CIOT have suggested that EOTs are, in...
Managing any employee share plan or share option plan, and carrying out the administration, can be a huge task which can get on top of your already hectic work life. HMRC requires all plans and relevant events to be registered with them, and it’s all...
Too complicated Keep it simple. As a business owner, you want the financial interests of your employees as closely aligned with yours as possible. Give an employee shares (or an option) so that they do well if the business does well. That’s often complicated enough. A...
Employee ownership offers many benefits for businesses and employees, including helping to attract the best talent to a company, improving employee engagement and boosting staff retention. However, it’s inevitable that some employees will leave at some point, whether to move on with their career, due to retirement or...
It’s with huge sadness that RM2 announces that Nigel Mason has died, peacefully and after an illness which he faced with typical courage and positivity. He was a leading light in the sector and has been instrumental in the amazing growth in employee ownership schemes of...
While the government may have announced an increase in National Insurance contributions (NICs) of 1.25% for both employees and employers to help fund the NHS and social care reforms (with effect from 1 April 2022), RM2 note that the attractiveness of tax-advantaged employee share plans...
One of RM2’s mantras is “Keep it Simple” so we’re always keeping a weather eye on the work of the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS). Their most recent reports have focused on capital gains tax simplification, including a section in their second report suggesting simplifications for...
