EMI schemes ― qualifying conditions for companies

Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
Produced by Tolley in association with Oliver John
Employment Tax
Guidance
tag-icon Autumn Budget 2025

EMI schemes ― qualifying conditions for companies

Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
Produced by Tolley in association with Oliver John
Employment Tax
Guidance
tag-icon Autumn Budget 2025
imgtext

Introduction

In order to qualify for the tax breaks that enterprise management incentives (EMI) bring, companies have to meet a number of requirements.

The legislation for qualifying companies is covered in ITEPA 2003, Sch 5, paras 8–23.

For more on the reasons for using EMI schemes, see the Why use an enterprise management incentive (EMI) scheme? guidance note.

The requirements broadly fall into three categories:

  1. •

    the size of the company / group and its structure

  2. •

    the terms of the option

  3. •

    the nature of the company / group trade

HMRC guidance on qualifying companies is at ETASSUM52010 onwards.

A number of changes to EMI limits were introduced in FA 2026. For EMI options granted on or after 6 April 2026, the limit on:

  1. •

    company options limit is £6m (£3m before 6 April 2026)

  2. •

    gross assets limit is increased to £120m (£30m before 6 April 2026)

  3. •

    the maximum number of employees is increased to 500 (250 employees before 6 April 2026)

  4. •

    the exercise period is increased

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Oliver John
Oliver John linkedinicon

Director at Azets , Employment Tax

Oliver John was previously at Mazars for just more than five years where he provided tax and share valuation advice to a range of businesses with regards to share transactions. In his role as director at Azets, Oliver will continue to share tax advice with clients over the life of a business, from companies looking to raise capital to shareholders looking to exit.

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  • 19 Mar 2026 07:40

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