NeatHouse Partners
EMI Share Option Agreement
Our team of lawyers are experienced in drafting EMI Share Option Agreements for all types of businesses
- Our expertise will ensure that your EMI options scheme is successfully established
- Discover whether your company is eligible for the EMI scheme
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What are EMI Option Schemes ?
The Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) share scheme is an HMRC-backed initiative that helps eligible SMEs in the UK to tap into the benefits of providing employees with the option to purchase shares in the company in a tax-efficient manner.
Given that they offer several benefits for both employers and employees, EMI share option plans have become one of the most attractive schemes for new and established SMEs alike. With our support, joining the scheme becomes quicker and more convenient than you ever thought possible. To find out more, contact us now.
How Do EMI Share Option Plans work?
Having initially launched in the year 2000, the Enterprise Management Incentive scheme enables eligible businesses to grant employees the chance to purchase shares worth up to £250,000 (at the time of purchase) over a three-year period without incurring Income Tax or National Insurance during the purchase.
When sold, any Capital Gains Tax obligations are reduced from 20% to 10% too.
While it is an attractive prospect for businesses and workers, the EMI share options scheme is only available to companies that satisfy the following criteria:
- Any qualifying company must have a permanent UK base with at least 50% of sales coming from the UK. Or if the company isn’t yet trading, it must be actively looking to begin ‘qualifying trade’.
- The company must not have more than 50% of its ordinary share capital controlled by another company or parent organisation.
- Any qualifying company (or group) must have total assets worth no more than £30 million while it can also have a maximum of 250 full-time (35+ hours per week) employees.
There are a few additional requirements from both employer and employee.
Companies are not eligible if their work is based in accounting, banking, or legal services.
Individuals are only eligible to access shares if they work 25+ hours per week for the company, while no one person can hold more than 30% of the total shares.
The EMI options scheme can also cover both newly issued shares and shares that have been transferred from existing shareholders or trusts.
Eligible companies can offer shares totalling £3m at any point.
Companies that do not meet the above criteria may look to alternative shares incentives like Company Share Option Plans (CSOPs), Save As You Earn (SAYE), and Share Incentive Plans (SIPs).
Whatever the situation, our experts will quickly determine which plans are best suited to your SME.
Why Join The EMI Share Option Scheme?
The Enterprise Management Incentive has become an attractive scheme for a variety of reasons.
The significant tax advantages offered to employees make it a valuable tool that can help SMEs attract top talent to their companies while it additionally encourages loyalty throughout the early phases of business development as individuals who leave the business will waive their share options.
Furthermore, the scheme serves as a source of motivation to keep workers focused on medium or long-term objectives.
For an employer, then, offering the perk of EMI share options is a great way to build a stronger workforce that is engaged and less likely to experience high staff turnover rates.
However, the system only works because of the benefits to employees. When using EMI as a bargaining tool to attract top candidates, SME owners can focus on the following employee-driven rewards;
- Income Tax and National Insurance are not payable at the point of being granted the option. Moreover, they are not payable when the option is exercised either as long as the price meets the market share value of when the option was granted. Basically, this means Tax is only required if the shares were provided at a discount - in this case, employees will be taxed on the difference between the purchase price and the actual value of the shares.
- Thanks to Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR), and Capital Gains Tax due at the point of sale is halved to 10%. While some criteria points will have to be met, the requirements are minimal, especially if the sale comes at least two years after the EMI share option was granted. The BADR benefit covers employees for the first £1m of gains, meaning they could potentially see a huge benefit from a tax obligations perspective.
- Employees do not have to exercise their option to buy shares and can decide to execute a percentage of their allocated shares if preferred. This gives them full flexibility over how they utilise the EMO offering. Better still, even if they execute the option at a later date, they can complete the purchase at the price from when the option was granted. So, employees won’t miss out on value even if they delay the execution of their share purchase.
It’s a powerful incentive for employees, which should make it a great solution for businesses too – not least because happy workers are 13% more productive.
Whatever stage of the journey a company is at, eligible businesses can join the EMI options scheme with almost immediate effect.
How To Apply For The Enterprise Management Incentive
Applying for the EMI share options scheme is a relatively quick process, but it needs to be completed correctly.
Not least because there is a 92-day limit to notify HMRC of your scheme.
Our team of experienced professionals have helped dozens of SMEs like yours.
We would be more than happy to draft and implement your EMI share options scheme so that shares may be granted to eligible employees.
To guide you through every step of the process, we will:
- Build a scheme that satisfies HMRC regulations and is fully aligned with your goals to deliver the best results for your company as well as its relevant employees.
- Help you authorise the share options before subsequently confirming the offers to your employees.
- Verify and register the list of EMI shares, including those that have been granted as well as those that have been executed, within the 92-day window.
- Working alongside your Accountants, conduct a full valuation report that delivers accurate Unrestricted Market Value and the Actual Market Value figures. This report is completed via a VAL231 Form, which remains valid for 90 days.
Our expertise will ensure that your EMI options scheme is successfully established in a quick, affordable, and highly convenient fashion. And when you let us take care of the procedures, it allows you to focus on running the business operations without distractions.
Book a full consultation today to discover whether your company is eligible for the Enterprise Management Incentive.