The European Commission has announced that is has renewed state aid approval of the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) regime.
This is welcome news for the video games industry. SMEs use the EMI scheme to reward employees with share options. Employers can grant share options up to the value of £250,000 in a 3-year period without having to pay income tax or national insurance if the shares are bought for at least market value. It is a common way to reward talented and hardworking staff.
However, in April 2018 HMRC announced that the EU Commission had failed to give its decision on the renewal of EMI. Questions now remain about the status of EMI options granted between 6 April and 15 May.
TIGA will enquire with HMRC and keep its members updated