SEIS & EIS

If you are looking to attract investment into your business our EIS and SEIS specialists can advise you on these Government backed schemes, which offer valuable tax reliefs to individual investors in high growth businesses.

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The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) are Government backed schemes designed to support UK innovation by encouraging investment in high growth businesses.

The schemes provide valuable tax relief to individual investors, but are different with SEIS focussed on very early stage companies and EIS targeted at larger, longer established companies. The table below outlines the differences between the schemes.

Our EIS and SEIS specialists provide advice to businesses on

  • The right scheme for your business
  • Ensuring your application is compliant with the latest HMRC guidelines
  • Applying for advance assurance
Seed EIS EIS
Relief & Benefits Tax Breaks for Investors 50% Income Tax Credit regardless of individual’s marginal rate, to £200,000 annual maximum.

Investor subscribes for shares on own behalf. Definition of eligible shares is the same as EIS.

Seed EIS relief conditional on investment in company of less than 30% and shares held for a minimum of 3 years.

Deferral Relief for earlier Capital Gains.

Disposal of SEIS shares CGT free after three years.

Capital Loss Relief (seed EIS loss relief) against income tax, rather than current and future years’ Capital Gains.

30% Income Tax Credit against income of current or previous year.

Tax relief is given on a maximum of £1 million invested

No Capital Gains Tax on disposal if shares held for 3 years

Deferral Relief for earlier Capital Gains

Capital Loss Relief against income tax, rather than current and future years’ Capital Gains

Tax Relief Conditions
Qualifying Trading Company
Must be unquoted and trading less than 3 years

Must be a standalone company or the parent company of a group

Must carry on a qualifying trade and have a UK permanent establishment.

Max Gross Assets £350,000.

Fewer than 25 employees

Tax favoured cumulative investment limit of £250,000 for the company.

Must be unquoted

Must be a standalone company or the parent company of a group

Must have been trading for less than 7 years or had a previous EIS fundraising

Must carry on qualifying trade and have a permanent establishment in the UK

Max Gross Assets £15 million before the Share issue and £16m after

Fewer than 250 employees

Not more than 20% of activities consist of excluded trades

 

Application of Funds Funds raised by Share issue must be used to fund a qualifying activity

No previous Seed EIS or VCT investment in company.

Within 3 years of issue of shares all monies raised must be spent on a qualifying activity.

Funds raised by Share issue must be:

Applied for purpose of Business Activity

100% of funds used within 24 months of Share issue, or commencement of trade, if later.

Used to fund a qualifying activity

No more than £5m raised in any 12 month period from investments made under EIS, Venture Capital Trust and Corporate Venturing Scheme

Lifetime limit of £12m or £20m for knowledge intensive companies

Qualifying Individuals UK Tax Payer

Neither a current employee or associate of an employee, unless also a director.

Subscribe for cash in “full risk” ordinary shares with no preferential rights.

No pre-arranged exit.

UK Tax Payer

Subscribe for cash in “full risk” ordinary shares with no preferential rights. Some relaxation under consultation.

Need not be UK Resident

If connected with the company income tax relief and CGT disposal relief are not available, however, Capital Loss Relief and Deferral Relief remain available.

Directors, employees and their associates are treated as connected

Individuals who, with their associates own more than 30% of the shares

Non exec directors are not automatically connected, if unpaid.

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    SEIS & EIShttps://www.alliotts.com/expertise/personal-tax/seis-eis/
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    Clair Dart | Alliotts

    Clair
    Dart

    Partner, Corporate Tax

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    SEIS & EIS

    Clair provides our clients with support for their EIS and SEIS certification throughout the process in respect of the taxation relief available and the advance assurance process. Clair will help to ensure that the application is compliant with the latest HMRC guidelines and help with the completion of the relevant submissions and certificates as required so that you can focus on finding the investors.

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    David Gibbs | Alliotts

    David
    Gibbs

    Partner

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    David is an International Corporate Tax specialist. He has over 30 years’ experience in providing commercially focused tax advice and support to a wide range of clients, from technology start-ups to large inward investing corporates.

    A qualified Chartered Accountant, David went on to qualify as a Chartered Tax Adviser and prior to joining Alliotts as a partner in 2014 he held the position of tax partner in Grant Thornton and subsequently in PwC.

    David focuses on providing strategic tax advice to entrepreneurs and privately owned businesses. By investing time in understanding clients and their businesses he is able to provide advice which is practical and appropriate to clients’ circumstances in order to keep taxes to a sensible minimum. He advises on a wide range of taxes including transaction planning, UK outbound and inbound structuring, corporate tax, technology tax reliefs, investor and shareholder planning, capital gains tax and LLPs. David advises both UK and overseas business owners on international tax planning.

    David also specialises in advising individuals and businesses in the media sector on UK film tax credits, video games tax reliefs and other creative sector tax incentives. He also advises on EIS and SEIS.