The Seed Enterprise Incentive Scheme (also called SEIS) is a tax relief scheme that lets you save on tax by investing in new businesses just starting up.

SEIS is possibly the best tax-efficient investment scheme in the UK – others are EIS, VCT, SITR, CITR, ISAs, etc.

The tax reliefs that you can get from investing in SEIS-eligible businesses are:

• Income Tax relief: you can get 50% of your investment back from HMRC – you can do this as early as April of the next tax year
• Capital Gains Tax (CGT) relief: if you hold the shares for 3 years, you don’t pay any CGT when you sell them
• Loss relief: if the startup fails and you lose money, you can also claim relief on your loss.

Because of these reliefs, you can only invest up to £100,000 per tax year.

The most important thing you need to remember is that you need to file a Self Assessment and claim your Income Tax relief first – otherwise you’re not eligible for the other reliefs, either.