What is EIS/SEIS?

​

Enterprise Investment Schemes (EIS) and Seed Enterprise Investment Schemes (SEIS) are investment schemes designed to encourage investment in small or medium sized companies. They do this by offering tax reliefs to individual investors who buy new shares in your company. Typically shares must be held for 3 years to gain this relief.

​

The UK government set up the Enterprise Investment Scheme in 1994. Today, it offers a number of tax breaks to investors who buy shares in small, private companies. The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) provides generous income tax and capital gains tax reliefs if all the qualifying conditions are satisfied. Our specialist tax advisers can help ensure that the company and the investors satisfy the necessary criteria. They can also assist with defending challenges from HMRC when the possibility of a claw back of EIS relief is raised.

​

Since launch, the scheme has promoted more than £10bn of private investment. The success of this scheme led to the introduction of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), which promotes investments in even earlier-stage (and therefore riskier) companies through even greater tax relief.

 

Please see below a link to the government website for more information.

​

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/venture-capital-schemes-tax-relief-for-investors