Measure
At Budget 2020, the government announced a consultation on the Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI), gathering views on the effectiveness of the scheme in its current form. It was announced in the Spring Statement that EMI will continue in its current form without amendment, but that the effectiveness of Company Share Option Plans (CSOP), the other discretionary tax-advantaged share plan, will now be considered.
Companies (and their chosen employees) who are currently able to benefit from EMI will continue to be able to, provided they continue to meet the current eligibility conditions. Other companies will remain unable to benefit from EMI – for example, because of their size or because they do not meet the other qualifying conditions.
No law changes are announced, so the current regime will continue for the time being.
While some companies will be disappointed that no changes to EMI are planned, others will be relieved that a valuable and flexible tool for the retention of key personnel is to continue. We welcome the government’s planned extension of the review to cover CSOP.