- Earlier in 2023, the government ran a call for evidence on the Save As You Earn (SAYE) and Share Incentive Plan (SIP) all employee share schemes. These are tax-advantaged schemes, which have to be offered to all employees (the government has already reviewed and made some change to the discretionary tax-advantaged schemes, Company Share Ownership Plan (CSOP) and Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI)).
- The aim of the call for evidence was to assess whether the schemes still achieve their purpose of motivating and retaining employees in their employment. In particular, the government sought views on:
- the effectiveness and suitability of the schemes and whether they are fulfilling their policy objectives
- current usage and participation and whether there are barriers to participating in the schemes
- whether the schemes’ rules are simple and clear as well as whether they offer enough flexibility to meet individual firms’ needs
- whether the schemes suitably incentivise share ownership for lower income earners
- what other performance incentives businesses offer their employees and how these compare with SAYE and SIP
- On 18 July 2023, the government announced an extension to the time limit for a company to notify HMRC of a grant of EMI options, until 6 July following the end of the tax year in which the grant was made. The current time limit to notify HMRC is 92 days after the grant was made. This change was enacted by Finance Act 2024 to EMI options granted on or after 6 April 2024.
- Timing: The call for evidence closed on 25 August 2023.
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