Award value to double

Employers can encourage their employees to take a stake in the company they work for by providing them with share options. There are a number of approved share option schemes, which can allow employees to receive share options without being taxed on that value as a benefit in kind.

The two most popular share option schemes are the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) and the Company Share Option Plan (CSOP).

The value of shares that employees can be awarded under the CSOP will be doubled from a market value of £30,000 to £60,000, for any new options granted from 6 April 2023. The condition that limits the types of shares eligible for inclusion within the CSOP scheme will also be removed to better align the scheme rules with the EMI, from the same date.

Another employee share scheme: Save As You Earn (SAYE) allows employees to earn interest on their savings while the funds are waiting to be invested in shares. However, since December 2014 that interest rate has been set at 0%. The mechanism for applying interest to the employees’ savings is being reviewed.