1. The Glance – a summary of key facts, figures and tax rates for share schemes
2. New Worked Example for EOTs from the Worked Examples Group (WEG)
3. Protecting your tax-advantaged share schemes
4. Annual reporting deadline for share schemes
5. Pett Franklin Welcomes New Partner
6. Shifting Sands: Changes to Entrepreneur’s Relief
7. Accounting for Share Schemes – the Brexit effect
8. Upcoming Event: Pett Franklin EOT seminar
The Glance
Pett Franklin’s 2019/2020 at a glance tax information for share schemes—the Glance has been published on the Pett Franklin website and is available for download here.
New Worked Example approved by HMRC and the Worked Examples Group (WEG)
A worked example developed by William Franklin of Pett Franklin has been approved by HMRC and the share valuation Worked Example Group (WEG). The new worked example, called “Pamela” is a share valuation for a minority interest in an Employee Owned Trust (EOT). See the worked example here.
Protecting Your Tax-Advantaged Share Schemes
The use of government tax-advantaged share schemes continues to grow in the UK. In order to qualify for the reliefs, it is imperative that employer companies satisfy HMRC’s on-going compliance requirements whilst the schemes are in operation.
Unfortunately, the compliance requirements are not always clear and companies can sometimes fail to keep up with their obligations. This means that when it comes time for the employees to benefit from their participation in the schemes, usually on an exit event such as a sale or IPO, due diligence can reveal that the tax reliefs may no longer be available to the employees.
Read some of HMRC’s key on-going compliance requirements for share schemes here.
Annual Reporting Deadline for Share Schemes
The deadline for filing the 2018-19 share schemes annual returns is 6 July 2019. This applies to any new share schemes established, or any “reportable events” which have occurred under existing share schemes, in the 2018-19 tax year. If you have already registered a share scheme, even if no events have taken place, you will still need to file a “nil return” for the year.
Penalties will apply for late filing, so we suggest submitting your return as soon as possible – HMRC will not be sending out reminders.
Read more here.
Pett Franklin Welcomes New Partner
Pett Franklin is delighted to announce that Jane Jevon, a solicitor with over 25 years’ worth of experience in share schemes, will be joining the firm as a partner from 3 July 2019.
Shifting Sands: Changes to Entrepreneur’s Relief
Stephen Woodhouse and Charlotte Fleck of Pett Franklin have published an article in the May edition of the Tax Adviser, the UK’s leading monthly magazine for tax professionals.
The article discusses changes to Entrepreneur’s Relief over the past year and the potential impact of these changes on UK companies.
To read the article in full, please click here.
Accounting for Share Schemes—the Brexit effect
Some have suggested that Brexit may see a relaxation in the UK’s accounting standards. However, we consider that it would be bold to assume that leaving the EU will in practice result in greater freedom for the UK to diverge from international accounting standards and allow a more relaxed application of share based payment accounting for smaller companies.
Read more about the possible impact of Brexit on share schemes accounting here.
UPCOMING EVENT
Webinar: Employee Ownership in the UK and US
Employee ownership is one of the few policies which enjoys bi-partisan support in the USA. Similarly, there has been cross-party support for the policy in the UK and this has led to an increase in the number of companies converting to employee-owned companies through acquisitions by Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs).
On 28 June 2019 at 11:00am, Paul Mark, a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and advocate for employee ownership will join William Franklin, Partner at Pett Franklin and Chairman of the Worked Examples Group (WEG) in a webinar discussing how employee ownership is developing in the US and potential lessons for UK companies and policy.
To register for this webinar or for general enquiries regarding the webinar, please contact Pauline Atkins on 0121 348 7878 or at pauline.atkins@pettfranklin.com.
If you would like to receive our quarterly bulletins, please email Pauline Atkins at pauline.atkins@pettfranklin.com