The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is an integral part of the UK’s investment landscape – it encourages vital support for the country’s SMEs while providing tax relief for investors who partake in the scheme.
Since EIS was launched in 1994, almost 22,900 individual companies have received investment through the scheme, with more than £12.2 billion of funds raised. However, despite its long track-record of success, EIS continues to evolve, and following amends to the scheme last year, will undergo further legislative changes in 2016.
To keep investors and businesses abreast of these amendments, IW Capital has launched a new series of monthly EIS reports to provide valuable insight into how the scheme is changing and, more importantly, to explain how investors can effectively capitalise on it. The January edition of the new series focuses on the aforementioned legislative changes expected in 2016.
Click here to read our ‘EIS in 2016: Legislative Changes’
In the 2015 Summer Budget, Chancellor George Osborne announced the Government’s intentions to make alterations to EIS – these came into effect on 30 November last year in the form of the Finance Act 2015. The changes were introduced to align EIS with European Union regulation, which has made renewable energy businesses exempt from the scheme.
Further legislative changes to EIS are afoot, with draft clauses published by the Treasury on 9 December 2015 for the forthcoming 2016 Finance Bill. The draft clauses are currently out for consultation before the Government will decide if they are to be included in its next Budget on 16 March 2016.
Full details about the legislative changes to EIS brought about by Finance Act 2015 and proposed in the 2016 Finance Bill are available in the new report. To ensure that investors are fully informed about EIS, we have also highlighted what sets EIS apart from other tax-efficient schemes.
Adapting to legislative changes requires up-to-date knowledge and targeted support. To keep our investor network and portfolio companies informed about changes to EIS, we will continue to produce monthly reports on the government and industry announcements that could impact the scheme.
To read our first EIS report of the year download ‘EIS in 2016: Legislative Changes’ here.