Good news – on 15 May 2018, the European Commission announced that it had approved the prolongation of State Aid Relief for Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) arrangements.
In our previous alert we explained that EU State Aid approval for EMI arrangements had expired on 6 April 2018. Shortly before the expiry, HMRC published a Bulletin in which it confirmed that EMI options granted before 6 April 2018 would continue to benefit from the tax advantages offered to EMI options. The Bulletin also said that options granted after 6 April 2018 "may not be eligible" for EMI tax reliefs.
Although HMRC has not confirmed the position since the European Commission decision, it appears that the intention is that EMI options granted both after the European Commission decision and in the period between 6 April 2018 and the date on which the decision was published will benefit from the tax reliefs applying to EMI options. HMRC noted in their April Bulletin that they would provide a further update in due course and we expect that will confirm the position.
The extension of the EU State Aid approval is stated to be valid until 2023, but the Commissioner notes that it will only apply until the UK ceases to be an EU member state.
This is welcome news for companies offering EMI options and for participants.
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