RPSM05203030 - Member Pages: Contributions and tax relief: Miscellaneous issues: Shares

I have received some shares from my employer. Can I put these into my pension scheme?

Yes you may be able to providing the scheme rules allow. Also the shares must be eligible shares, that is:

• you acquired them on exercising a right under a SAYE option scheme (as defined in section 516 ITEPA 2003) or
• they were appropriated to you under the provisions of a share incentive plan (as defined by section 488 ITEPA 2003).

The shares must be transferred to the pension scheme within a set period. This is for shares in a:

• SAYE option scheme 90 days after you exercised the right to acquire the shares, and
• share incentive plan 90 days after you directed the trustees of the share incentive plan to transfer ownership of the shares to yourself.

The value given to the contribution for tax relief purposes is the market value of the shares at the date they were transferred to the pension scheme.