The European Commission has approved the UK’s Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme under EU state aid rules. The previous approval expired on 6 April and the Commission’s announcement says the new approval will continue to apply until the UK leaves the EU.
‘This news will be extremely well received by companies operating EMI and those in the process of introducing new EMI arrangements,’ said Karen Cooper, partner at Cooper Cavendish LLP. ‘It has been an uncomfortable wait since 6 April 2018 when EU State aid approval for EMI expired, as companies were not in a position to operate EMI and there was no visibility as to when fresh state aid approval would be forthcoming.’
HMRC issued Employment Related Securities Bulletin No 27 in April, alerting companies to the possibility that EMI options granted between 6 April and the confirmation of fresh state aid approval might not qualify for tax relief.
Graeme Standen, remuneration expert at Pinsent Masons, commented: ‘At present, it is not entirely clear that options granted between 6 April and today will fall within the scope of the new clearance, but the Commission’s statement at least seems to imply that this may be the case.’
‘Companies should not be unduly concerned about the Commission’s warning at the end of its announcement that the latest decision about EMI options will expire at Brexit,’ Standen added. ‘On the effective Brexit date, the EU’s state aid rules and the latest Commission decision itself should be automatically domesticated under the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill currently before Parliament.’
The detailed state aid decision will be made available on the Commission’s competition website in due course. See https://bit.ly/2IHVvIR.
The European Commission has approved the UK’s Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme under EU state aid rules. The previous approval expired on 6 April and the Commission’s announcement says the new approval will continue to apply until the UK leaves the EU.
‘This news will be extremely well received by companies operating EMI and those in the process of introducing new EMI arrangements,’ said Karen Cooper, partner at Cooper Cavendish LLP. ‘It has been an uncomfortable wait since 6 April 2018 when EU State aid approval for EMI expired, as companies were not in a position to operate EMI and there was no visibility as to when fresh state aid approval would be forthcoming.’
HMRC issued Employment Related Securities Bulletin No 27 in April, alerting companies to the possibility that EMI options granted between 6 April and the confirmation of fresh state aid approval might not qualify for tax relief.
Graeme Standen, remuneration expert at Pinsent Masons, commented: ‘At present, it is not entirely clear that options granted between 6 April and today will fall within the scope of the new clearance, but the Commission’s statement at least seems to imply that this may be the case.’
‘Companies should not be unduly concerned about the Commission’s warning at the end of its announcement that the latest decision about EMI options will expire at Brexit,’ Standen added. ‘On the effective Brexit date, the EU’s state aid rules and the latest Commission decision itself should be automatically domesticated under the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill currently before Parliament.’
The detailed state aid decision will be made available on the Commission’s competition website in due course. See https://bit.ly/2IHVvIR.
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