Share Schemes welcome
Welcome…
… to the world of Share Schemes! We want these pages to be a ‘One Stop Shop’ for everything you ever wanted to know about Share Schemes. If you think there is information missing, or have any suggestions for improvements, please email Sahd Ullah.
If you have any technical queries on Share Schemes please email Shareschemes.
What we do
The Employee Shares and Securities Unit brings together all the policy, technical and operational work on the tax and National Insurance of employee shares schemes. This covers security/share option and security/share award schemes.
Share Schemes are at the heart of the Governments productivity and enterprise agenda. Research both in the UK and USA shows a clear link between employee share ownership and greater productivity.
The unit provides policy advice and support to Ministers and technical advice to companies, advisers and HMRC offices. We also examine and approve the rules of employee share schemes along with giving advice to companies and their advisors on the drafting of scheme documents so that they meet the statutory requirements.
There are currently four HMRC 'approved' or 'tax-advantaged' schemes that provide employees and employers with income tax and National Insurance advantages. These are:
- Company Share Option Plan (CSOP)
- Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI)
- Share Incentive Plan (SIP)
- Save As You Earn (SAYE or Sharesave).
Shares acquired under these schemes are free from income tax and National Insurance contributions.
The acquisition of shares and securities in connection with an employment other than through one of the above schemes are commonly referred to as ‘unapproved’ or 'taxed' schemes’. All this means is that neither the employee, nor the employer benefit from income tax or National Insurance advantages and do not require HMRC approval.
