HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has announced changes to the way that new and existing employee share schemes and arrangements are administered.
HMRC said on 21 January that the changes would affect:
- Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI)
- Company Share Option Plans (CSOP)
- Save As You Earn option schemes (SAYE)
- Share Incentive Plans (SIP)
- any non-tax advantaged arrangements.
The changes include registering all existing and new employee share schemes and arrangements online with the Employment Related Securities (ERS) service.
HMRC said: “The service will be part of the PAYE Online for employers service. To use the service you must be registered for HMRC taxes and signed up as an organisation for online services.
“If you’re registered with HMRC as a business but don’t operate PAYE on employees, you’ll need to add PAYE to use the ERS service.”
From April 2015, all information returns must also be filed online, with automatic penalties for late filing. Other changes include a requirement to self-certify that any tax advantaged schemes meet certain requirements.
HMRC said it would no longer approve any new tax advantaged schemes, adding: “You must self-certify CSOP, SAYE and SIP to confirm that they meet legislative requirements. If you don’t do this, any tax advantages will be lost.”
