VCM30100 - Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme : Overview of SEIS reliefs

The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (‘SEIS’) is designed to help small, early-stage companies to raise equity finance by offering a range of tax reliefs to individual investors who purchase new shares in those companies. It complements the existing Enterprise Investment Scheme (‘EIS’) which will continue to offer tax reliefs to investors in higher-risk small companies. SEIS is intended to recognise the particular difficulties which very early stage companies face in attracting investment, by offering tax relief at a higher rate than that offered by the existing EIS.

The income tax relief rules are in ITA07/Part 5A (see VCM31000+). The rules have been designed to mirror those of EIS as it is anticipated that companies may want to go on to use EIS after an initial investment under SEIS. More detailed guidance on the rules for EIS can be found at VCM10000+ onwards.

TCGA92/S150E provides relief from capital gains tax (‘CGT’) on the gains on shares which qualify for SEIS relief (see VCM40000+). TCGA92/SCH5BB provides relief from CGT on the disposal of assets where the proceeds are reinvested under SEIS (see VCM45000+)

The content in this manual covers a much higher level of detail compared to say a Helpsheet supporting the Self Assessment Return. If you are looking for an introduction to the main rules for these reliefs for a particular year then search for HS393 on gov.uk and select the year you are considering.