Employees’ share scheme meaning

A share incentive plan (SIP) A share incentive plan (SIP) permits companies that satisfy SIP eligibility criteria to grant tax-favoured share awards to all employees. The shares are required to be held by a trustee resident in the UK. Under a SIP, awards can comprise four categories in total: free shares, partnership shares, matching shares, and dividend shares...

A share incentive plan (SIP) enables employees to obtain shares in their employer, or a parent company of the employer, in a tax‑efficient manner, under a statutory scheme. The legislative framework for SIPs is found primarily in the following provisions: Schedule 2 to the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003), which describes how a SIP can be run and the principal conditions that must be met for the SIP to be a ‘Schedule 2 SIP’; ITEPA 2003, Pt 6 Ch 7 (ITEPA 2003, ss 488–515), which sets out the income tax treatment of shares obtained under a SIP. For more general background and context on SIPs, see Practice Note: What is a SIP? Set out below is a checklist of the key matters to consider before establishing or operating a SIP. It proceeds on the basis that the SIP Trust Deed and Rules comply with ITEPA 2003, Sch 2. See Precedents: SIP rules and SIP trust deed. Preliminary...

To grant save as you earn (SAYE) options, several conditions must be met at the grant date, relating to: the company issuing the options the employees receiving them the shares placed under option the options themselves the SAYE scheme itself This Flowchart focuses on employee eligibility, set against the income tax relief in Chapter 7 of Part 7 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003). For other conditions, see Practice Notes: SAYE—companies which qualify to operate an SAYE scheme, and SAYE—requirements for the options and timing for exercise SAYE—flowchart to determine employee's eligibility This Flowchart outlines the statutory tests at the date of grant for an employee to: be eligible for SAYE options and required to be invited to each operation of the SAYE scheme be eligible for SAYE options and eligible to be invited to join the scheme, or be ineligible for...

In this issue: Save As You Earn Corporate governance Useful information Dates for your diary Weekly highlights from other practice areas Save As You Earn HMRC updates guidance on SAYE savings arrangements and deductions from pay HMRC has revised its guidance at ETASSUM34120 to confirm that employees cannot use third‑party loans or other finance to boost the amounts saved under an SAYE scheme. The scheme must instead be operated in line with the SAYE prospectus, which specifies that contributions are made via deductions from pay. This further clarification appears to respond to market products where participants receive an immediate refund of monthly contributions from a third party funder, in exchange for an arrangement fee and a share of any profit ultimately realised when the SAYE option is exercised and the shares are sold. For more detail on the requirements applying to SAYE‑linked savings contracts, see Practice Note: How SAYE schemes work and key features. See: ETASSUM34120...

FTT holds payments to employees under tax avoidance scheme were taxable earnings despite purported repayment obligation (GW Martin & Co Limited & another v HMRC) GW Martin & Co Ltd & another v The Commissioners for HMRC [2025] UKFTT 1147 (TC). The appellants transferred sums to employees on the basis that those employees would subscribe for a newly created class of shares in the appellants (the Shares). These Shares conferred no voting power, no dividend entitlement, and only very limited rights in the event of a winding up. The structure was intended to sidestep PAYE and NICs liabilities while also delivering a corporation tax deduction. The sums advanced were not loans; rather, they were conditional on staff taking up Shares with a nominal value mirroring the payments. Only 1% of that nominal amount was paid up, leaving the remaining 99% uncalled, so the cash flowed to employees while the issued share capital largely remained unpaid...

In this issue: Corporate governance Tax treatment HMRC Manuals tracker Dates for your diary Weekly highlights from other practice areas Corporate governance Babcock suffers investor dissent over executive pay FTSE 100–listed Babcock International Group PLC faced significant shareholder resistance to its executive remuneration at this week’s general meeting. Over 32% of votes went against the Directors’ Remuneration Policy, and more than 32% also opposed amendments to the performance share plan (PSP), though in each instance a majority of those voting backed the resolutions. Under the plans, the PSP—which delivers annual equity awards that vest after three years based on a scorecard of performance targets—would gain an additional absolute Total Shareholder Return (TSR) ‘kicker’ for awards granted from the 2026 financial year. Consequently, once the existing ‘core’ scorecard has determined vesting of the current ‘core’ opportunities (set at 250% and 200% of salary for the CEO and CFO, respectively), a further multiplier, linked to the company’s absolute TSR,...

Introduction and context This Practice Note provides a summary of the taxation of internationally mobile employees in relation to securities options (Options) charged to tax within Chapter 5 of Part 7 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (ITEPA 2003). On 30 October 2024, as part of the Autumn Budget 2024 announcements, the Labour government confirmed that it would proceed with the former Conservative government’s plans to abolish the remittance basis of taxation and replace it with a residence‑based regime, scheduled to commence on 6 April 2025. These changes were enacted through Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025) and have also affected, in particular, the availability and operation of overseas workday relief. This Practice Note reflects the current position under the new tax regime; however, the previous regime is still relevant for Options granted before 6 April 2025, because any elements of the Options’ ‘relevant period’ (see discussion below—broadly, the vesting period) that occur before 6 April 2025 remain subject to certain aspects of the earlier rules. For...

The company establishing a SIP The company setting up a share incentive plan (SIP) does not need to be the same entity whose shares are allocated. However, both: the shares to be granted, and the connection between the SIP-establishing entity and the company whose shares are issued must satisfy the relevant legislative conditions. A SIP can be created either: solely for employees of the company that establishes it; or for those employees and for employees of other companies it controls (a group plan)—see Constituent companies below. In a group where the parent company’s shares are to be awarded, there are two options: the parent company may establish the SIP and extend it to the appropriate subsidiaries; or each subsidiary may establish its own SIP, provided the other statutory requirements concerning the shares under award are met—see Requirements for the shares. The advantage of each subsidiary operating its...

ARCHIVED This Practice Note is no longer being updated, as it relates to the operation of EU free movement rules in the UK before IP completion day, when the domestic measures giving effect to EU free movement were revoked, subject to specified savings and adjustments. For more information, including the applicable savings and the status of CJEU jurisprudence, see Practice Note: Brexit and the end of EU free movement law in the UK. The Note remains available in archived form for historical reference, since EU law as it previously applied in the UK continues to be of relevance in some limited contexts. For earlier iterations of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016, SI 2016/1052, including the version immediately before revocation, see Legislation.gov.uk. For continuing developments in EU free movement law within EU Member States, see: Immigration, employment & share incentives (EU Law)—overview. European Economic Area (EEA) nationals who are working as employees or carrying on self-employed activity, and in certain cases jobseekers, have a right of residence in...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: On 26 November 2025, within Budget 2025, the government confirmed that, from April 2029 onwards, only the initial £2,000 per year in total of any pension payment under a salary sacrifice scheme arrangement will escape National Insurance contributions (NICs). Amounts employees sacrifice beyond £2,000 annually will attract both employer and employee NICs, meaning any sum over that limit will, for NICs purposes, be handled in the same way as standard employee workplace pension payments. Employer pension contributions are unchanged, and income tax relief also remains intact. Businesses must record the aggregate salary given up using their existing payroll software systems, and HMRC has pledged to consult and engage stakeholders, as required. Further HMRC guidance will be published ‘before April 2029’...

This DEED is entered into on [ insert date on which this deed is executed by all parties ] Parties [ Insert name of Company ] whose registered office is at [ insert address of registered office ] and whose registered number is [ insert registered number of Company ] (the Company); and [ Insert name of Trustee ] whose registered address is at [ insert address ] [ and whose registered company number is [ insert registered company number of Trustee ] ] (the Original Trustee). Background The Company intends to establish a trust to be known as the [ insert name of EBT ] with the objective of encouraging, motivating and retaining Employees within the Group Companies by providing benefits to such Employees and their dependants. The Company has transferred to the Original Trustee the sum of £[ insert initial settlement amount ] as the initial Trust Fund. It is anticipated that the Trustees will...

Minutes of a meeting of the [ remuneration committee of the ] board of directors of the Company convened at [ insert place of meeting ] on [ insert date of meeting ] at [ insert time of meeting ] Present [ insert name of director to be Chair ] (the Chair) [ insert names of directors present ] In attendance [ insert names of those in attendance ] Apologies [ insert names of directors who are unable to attend meeting ] 1 Notice and quorum [ insert name of Chair ] took the chair for the meeting. It was confirmed that due notice of the meeting had been issued in accordance with the Company’s articles of association (Articles) and that the meeting was quorate. Accordingly, the Chair opened the meeting...

This Q&A considers whether This Q&A explores whether, when a company is planning multiple share buybacks, it must put in place distinct share buyback contracts, each addressing a single intended buyback, or whether a single, overarching share buyback contract may instead cover all the intended buybacks, with each completing on a separate date. It proceeds on the basis that the company concerned is a private company limited by shares proposing to buy back shares off-market and that the contemplated buyback is neither for the purposes of, nor pursuant to, an employees’ share scheme within the meaning of section 1166 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006)...

This Q&A proceeds on the basis that intended lowering of the hurdle attached to the growth shares is not one element of a pre‑arranged sequence of steps or a tax avoidance arrangement (for instance, where the plan from the outset was to grant the shares with a high hurdle and later reduce that hurdle to confer a benefit on employees). In that scenario, HMRC might effectively contend that the employment‑related securities rules are not engaged, and that employees are instead taxable to general earnings, by reference to the cases of PA Holdings Ltd v Revenue and Customs Commissioners and UBS AG v Revenue and Customs Commissioners...

In summary In summary, a business can design its share plan to grant employees who resign voluntarily an equity bonus equivalent to that given to retirees. That said, the tax outcome may differ: according to the form of employee share plan selected and operated, awards might be unable to obtain the same tax-advantaged treatment. Both tax-advantaged and non-tax-advantaged share plans exist in such schemes...