FA 2014: The new social investment tax relief

Finance Act 2014 includes provisions for the new social investment tax relief (SITR), which is available to individuals making investments in those social enterprises that meet certain conditions in respect of their structure, activities, size and use of monies raised. HMRC has recently released guidance for social enterprises and investors, including for the process they must follow in order to enable their investors to make a valid claim to SITR. Helpfully, a social enterprise may make an advance assurance application in advance of receiving investment from investors. At present, the scope of the scheme is limited, but HMRC is consulting on enlarging the scheme.