Are you a new investor?

Are you interested in finding out about new investments but not sure of your options? You may have invested in ISAs and the stock market before, but you’ve never previously invested in an unquoted business. If this describes you, watch the short video below to find out more about SEIS investmenst to understand how you could benefit from this scheme.

SEIS Qualification & Benefits

An investor must meet certain criteria to qualify for SEIS and the associated tax reliefs. Similarly, a company that receives SEIS investment must also meet certain criteria in order to qualify and remain qualifying. As an investor in an early stage company, if the SEIS tax reliefs are important to you, you will want to know that the company you are investing in qualifies for SEIS and will remain qualifying for your investment period otherwise you may not be able to obtain all the tax benefits of SEIS. That is why 4oceans makes sure that any business we work with under the SEIS initiative meets all of the criteria and have already applied for advance assurance from HMRC.   Of course, the SEIS reliefs are there to reduce the risk of investment in what are inherently higher risk investments. Remember you should only ever invest in an SEIS company because you believe in the company’s prospects and not solely because of the availability of SEIS tax reliefs.

Below is a summary of some of the qualification criteria for investors and investments.

Qualification Criteria for Investors (Individuals)

  • Shares must be paid for in full in cash when they are issued
  • You must not have ‘substantial interest’ in the company i.e. you in aggregation with any of your associates must not hold more than 30% of the company’s issued share capital (Associates include business partners, trustees, and relatives – spouses, partners, parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, but not brothers and sisters)
  • Neither you nor any of your associates may be employed by the company (but you may be a director of the company)

You must make sure you satisfy the above criteria for three entire years from the issue date of the SEIS qualifying shares otherwise your tax reliefs will be withdrawn completely.

If you want to learn more about SEIS investment opportunities from 4oceans click here.