EMI schemes ― qualifying conditions for companies

Produced by Tolley in association with

Employment Tax

Guidance

Introduction

In order to qualify for the tax breaks that enterprise management incentives (EMI) bring, companies have to meet a number of requirements.

The legislation for qualifying companies is covered in ITEPA 2003, Sch 5, paras 8–23.

For more on the reasons for using EMI schemes, see the Why use an enterprise management incentive (EMI) scheme? guidance note.

The requirements broadly fall into three categories:

•
the size of the company / group and its structure
•
the terms of the option
•
the nature of the company / group’s trade

HMRC guidance on qualifying companies is at ETASSUM52010 onwards.

Size and structure

Independence

In order to qualify, the company whose shares are being granted must not be a 51% subsidiary of any other company. Care must be taken to go beyond merely ensuring that current shareholdings meet this rule. When determining the shares that a company holds, it is necessary to look at not only their own shares but also those of associates (a concept which is extremely widely

Access this article and thousands of others like it
free for 7 days with a trial of Tolley+™ Guidance.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Oliver John

Director at Azets , Employment Tax

Oliver John was previously at Mazars for just more than five years where he provided tax and share valuation advice to a range of businesses with regards to share transactions. In his role as director at Azets, Oliver will continue to share tax advice with clients over the life of a business, from companies looking to raise capital to shareholders looking to exit.

Popular Articles

Owner-Managed Businesses

Allowable deductions for employee-related expenses

Allowable deductions for employee-related expensesThis guidance note covers the tax treatment of some common types of trading expenditure relating to employees. Some of these are disallowable under general principles, for example the wholly and exclusively test or capital versus revenue expenditure.

14 Sep 2022 09:49 | Produced by Tolley Read more

Personal Tax

Foreign self-employment

Foreign self-employmentTrading in another jurisdiction involves many issues, only some of which involve taxation. Advice should be taken, not only in relation to tax but on the wider business implications. For an overview of the points to consider for certain jurisdictions see Tolley's Global

14 Jul 2020 11:44 | Produced by Tolley Read more

Owner-Managed Businesses

Repairs and renewals

Repairs and renewalsThe key consideration in determining whether expenditure on repairs and renewals is allowable as a deduction for tax purposes is whether it is capital or revenue in nature. In some cases, it can be relatively straightforward to identify revenue repairs. HMRC provides the

14 Jul 2020 13:23 | Produced by Tolley Read more

UU��ֱ��