MM&K’s thoughts on HM Treasury’s request for information regarding “Tax Support for Entrepreneurs”

The UK economy needs to grow. That is the simple message (and fervent hope) of the Government.

It is welcoming to see steps already being taken to support this, for example via the proposed changes to the Enterprise Management Incentive scheme (see our reporting of this here – Employee Share Schemes).

This quest for nurturing enterprise and entrepreneurship can also be seen in HM Treasury’s call for evidence in respect of how the tax system could be changed to provide further support for these individuals.

MM&K will be responding to this – both directly in our own capacity and as part of our membership of the Share Schemes Expert group of the QCA.

A summary of our key highlights includes:

• A recommendation that, in order to improve the position of “scaling companies”, the rules around CSOP (Company Share Ownership Plans) should be updated to give opportunities for fast scaling businesses that outgrow the EMI limits to still be able to offer a targeted tax advantage scheme.
• An adjustment to the minimum working time provision in order to better attract the support of successful entrepreneurs as non-executives for scaling companies (who are often “cash poor” for a significant part of their growth journey).
• Given the likely increases in receipts from inheritance tax, a return to higher levels of “retirement relief” (or similar) in order to give entrepreneurs increased funds to re-invest in the market.

If you would like to discuss anything raised in this article – please contact Stuart James (stuart.james@mm-k.com) in the first instance.

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