EMI scheme value recognised

The European Commission has announced its decision to grant the renewal of the EMI scheme’s state aid approval – a welcomed decision which removes the period of uncertainty we were left in following the HMRC bulletin published back in April.

As well as being satisfied that the EMI scheme conditions are in line with the EU state aid rules, the European Commission also recognised that the scheme is necessary to help UK SMEs attract and retain talented and skilled people in their workforce.

The new approval will run until 6th April 2023, but will be subject to the terms of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, which will be announced in due course.

Who is covered?

The formal decision letter has not yet been published but we expect this within the next few days. This will clarify whether the approval has been granted retrospectively to cover any options that were granted after 6th April 2018; an important detail for those businesses that granted EMI options between 6th April and 15th May 2018.

If you have any further questions about this, or for any other tax advice, please get in touch.

Lisa Baum, Senior Tax Specialist