Ironing out the creases

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KEY POINTS

• The criteria for the disposal of shares acquired under EMI options are to be relaxed.
• The 5% personal company shareholding test will be abolished.
• Will this help employees benefit from entrepreneurs’ relief?
• Share-for-share exchanges may be beneficial.
• The period of consultation may allow changes to be made to the rules.

Changes announced in this year’s Budget brought a couple of significant improvements to the ever-popular enterprise management incentive scheme (EMI).

Although very welcome digging a little deeper reveals that they might not have quite the beneficial impact first indicated.

Entrepreneurs’ relief

The first change relates to the interaction between EMI and entrepreneurs’ relief. The criteria for...