Finance Bill 2020
The first draft of the Finance Bill 2020 was published today, on 19 March 2020. As anticipated, it contains amendments to the legislation dealing with EIS approved funds as well as setting out the framework for the new EIS approved fund for investment in “knowledge intensive” companies, as announced in the Autumn Budget 2017 and as part of the government’s response to the Patient Capital Review.
Budget 2020
Our note in respect of the venture capital tax reliefs (and other reliefs and measures for SMEs and entrepreneurs) following today’s Budget can be found here
SEIS, Employment Allowance and de minimis State aid
The rules for Employment Allowance are changing from 6 April 2020.
HMRC new guidance on advance subscription agreements
On 30th December 2019, HMRC added new guidance to the Venture Capital Reliefs Manuals in relation to Advance Subscription Agreements (“ASAs”) in relation to the SEIS and the EIS.
Venture Capital Trusts – HMRC Statistics at December 2019
HMRC have published their latest statistics about the number and amount of funds raised by Venture Capital Trusts, along with the number of investors and amounts invested.
HMRC revise guidance and state that a failure to disclose the involvement of an intermediary will invalidate any assurance given
HMRC have been updating their Venture Capital Relief Manual over the course of the Autumn/Winter and we spotted a revision yesterday at VCM60130 that states “Failure to disclose the involvement of an intermediary will invalidate any assurance given”. ‘Intermediary’ isn’t a defined term, but when reading the paragraphs above an intermediary would seem to include a fund manager or other business promoter or crowdfunding platform, rather than a legal advisor.
HMRC revise Venture Capital Schemes guidance for advance assurance service
HMRC are publishing revised advance assurance guidance for the Venture Capital Schemes. The guidance will be contained in VCM60000+ and introduces a Checklist which must be completed and submitted alongside any advance assurance requests to the Venture Capital Reliefs Team.
Office Move
We are pleased to announce that we have moved to our new office, with our new address being:
