Seed Enterprise Incentive Scheme (SEIS)
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.
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