New employee shareholding vehicle
Seeking views on the potential introduction of a new employee shareholding vehicle to make it easier for companies wishing to establish employee share schemes.
At Budget 2014 the government announced it would seek views on the Office of Tax Simplification’s (OTS) recommendation to introduce a new employee shareholding vehicle to make it easier for companies wishing to manage their employee share arrangements and create a market for employees’ shares. This discussion paper explores the case for change made by the OTS and the potential issues that the introduction of an employee shareholding vehicle raises. It aims to develop the understanding of the scope to introduce a simpler vehicle by seeking views on:
- the level of demand for such a vehicle should it be introduced
- the relative need and demand for the exemptions recommended by the OTS
- the effectiveness of the safeguards for the Exchequer recommended by the OTS and whether further safeguards might be necessary to protect against tax avoidance.
The government would like to receive evidence from anyone with an interest in employee share schemes, particularly employers, employees, tax professionals, and employee share scheme experts. The evidence provided will help the government decide whether or not to proceed.