On 27 June 2012 HMRC published a consultation document in response to the Office of Tax Simplification’s report on tax-advantaged employee share schemes.
The most significant OTS recommendation which the government has accepted is that a company establishing an approved company share option plan SAYE option plan or share incentive plan should no longer need to obtain prior HMRC approval.
The consultation period runs until 18 September 2012 and self-certification will come into effect no later than 2014.
Practitioners who have always enjoyed the protection of HMRC’s rubber stamp will be understandably apprehensive about the responsibility which will now fall on their shoulders.
But resistance to this change will almost certainly be futile. HMRC can persuasively point to other...
