A G U I DE TO

C L A I M I N G TA X R E L I E F O N
YO U R E I S I N V E S T M E N T

octopusinvestments.com

FOR UK INVESTORS ONLY

2 A guide to claiming tax relief on your EIS investment

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
This guide provides general information about how to claim tax relief on your Enterprise
Investment Schemes (EIS) and you should not regard it as investment advice. You should
only invest on the basis of the information in an EIS brochure and terms and conditions, and
we recommend that you take independent financial advice before making your decision.

KEY RISKS
Like any investment, an EIS involves risks, and it is important that you understand them
before you decide to invest.

• Your capital is at risk

The rules by which companies qualify for EIS relief mean that investments have to be in
small, early-stage and high-risk companies. Investment returns are not guaranteed. Your
capital is at risk and you may not receive back all the money you invest.

• Investing in smaller companies

You should consider an EIS as a long-term investment. Investments in unquoted and
AIM-listed companies are likely to be more volatile and to present a higher risk to your
capital than holdings in companies on the main London Stock Exchange.

• Tax treatment
Tax treatment depends on the individual circumstances of each investor and may be
subject to change. The availability of tax reliefs also depends on the investee companies
maintaining their qualifying status.

SEEK ADVICE
This promotion does not offer investment or tax advice and, as this product is not suitable
for everyone, we recommend you seek independent investment and tax advice before
investing in our products.

2
 A guide to claiming tax relief on your EIS investment 3

Claiming your tax relief

You’ve invested in an Enterprise Investment Scheme that entitles you to claim
income tax relief and the deferral of capital gains tax. We hope you will find
this guide useful when you claim your relief.

WHEN CAN YOU CLAIM?

You can make your claim for tax relief once you have an EIS3 certificate – you’ll
receive one of these certificates for each EIS company you hold in your portfolio.
We send you each EIS3 certificate when they are provided by HM Revenue &
Customs. A realistic expectation would be to receive your certificates up to
12 –18 months after the date on which we make investments on your behalf in the
qualifying companies. In the case of Octopus Eureka EIS this period can be up to
two years due to the nature of the investments.
The date of your EIS3 certificate does not affect the tax year your claim relates
to – this is based on the year your shares are issued to you, no matter when your
EIS3 certificate arrives.

SOME POINTS TO BEAR IN MIND

• You can claim up to 30% income tax relief on EIS investments of up to
£1 million in any tax year. You can choose to claim all or part of your relief
for the tax year previous to the one in which your EIS shares were issued,
subject to the £1 million limit for that year.
• Remember that the amount of income tax relief you claim can’t be more
than the income tax you have to pay for the year your claim relates to. You
can only reduce your income tax bill to zero.
• Your capital gains tax deferral can relate to a gain made in the 36 months
before your EIS shares are issued or 12 months after.
• You only remain eligible for tax reliefs if you still hold your EIS shares three
years after the date they were issued or the date the company you invested
in started a qualifying trade, whichever is later. This date is set out for each
company on your EIS3 certificates as the ‘termination date’.

Call us on 0800 316 2295

3
4 A guide to claiming tax relief on your EIS investment

Claiming your
tax relief
TWO WAYS TO CLAIM YOUR
INCOME TAX RELIEF

1. Claiming with your EIS3 certificate

Complete the form attached to your EIS3
certificate to claim relief for:
• Shares issued in the same tax year
as the certificate is issued, if you pay
your tax through the PAYE system.
You will have less tax deducted from
your salary each month and HMRC
will change your tax code accordingly.
• Shares issued in a previous tax year.
If you’ve already completed your tax
return and paid your tax bill, HMRC
will offer you a rebate. If you have
submitted your tax return but not
yet paid your tax bill, your claim using
the EIS 3 certificate will be treated
as an amendment to your return
and your tax liability will be reduced
accordingly.
You can send your completed form
to your local tax office as soon as you
receive it. Remember to keep a copy, as
you will need to include details from it on
your tax return, if you have to fill one in.

4
 A guide to claiming tax relief on your EIS investment 5

 he amount on which you are claiming relief needs to be entered on the EIS3
T
form. This is the investment amount, not the amount of income tax relief at 30%.

2. Claiming through your tax return

You will need to complete the standard SA100 form. You will also need to
complete the supplementary SA101 form. On the SA101 there is a box titled
‘Subscriptions for shares under the
Subscriptions for shares
EIS scheme’. You will need to insert
the total value of your EIS investments
for the relevant tax year. This should
be the amount after charges which is
stated on each of your tax certificates under ‘Amount Subscribed’1. Then, in
the ‘Additional information’ box, give:
• the name of each company you invested in
• the amount you invested in each company
• the date your EIS shares were issued
• the HMRC office and reference number for each company.
Depending on when you claim your
EIS3 certificate and claim
relief and how much you are due, you
will receive the payment as either:
• a lump sum – via a cheque or a
direct payment into your bank
account
• a reduction of your overall tax bill.
Remember to keep your EIS3
certificates as HMRC may ask for them.

1
 e careful not to insert the nominal value which is shown on each certificate above the number of
B
shares. The nominal value is the minimum price at which shares can be issued and is required under
company law. It is not linked to the price you paid for your shares and does not affect the amount of tax
relief you can claim.

Call us on 0800 316 2295

5
6 A guide to claiming tax relief on your EIS investment

Claiming your tax relief

CLAIMING YOUR CAPITAL GAINS TAX DEFERRAL
Complete the EIS deferral section of your EIS3 form.

List each gain against which you are

claiming deferral relief separately

Full amount of each gain This may not be the same amount as
to be deferred, ignoring the full chargeable gain, for example
any loss relief¹ available if you utilise loss relief¹, claim your
and before taking annual exempt amount², or the
account of your annual gain simply exceeds the amount of
exempt amount² deferral relief available

¹ L oss relief may be available in respect of any losses realised for capital gains tax purposes in the current or
previous tax years . At the current rates of income tax, up to 45% loss relief is available on any holdings that
are realised at a loss (net of any income tax relief claimed on that investment), helping to offset the effect of
any assets which may underperform in the overall por tfolio.
²A
 nnual exempt amount is the annual tax-free amount you as an individual are usually entitled to each year
before you have to pay Capital Gains Tax

If your claim relates to a chargeable gain arising in a previous tax year, send the
EIS3 form to HMRC with your tax return, if not already submitted.
The SA100 form has a supplementary section called ‘Capital gains summary
pages’ where you should provide details of the gains you are claiming against.

6
 A guide to claiming tax relief on your EIS investment 7

CLAIMING INCOME TAX RELIEF

AND CAPITAL GAINS DEFERRAL
TOGETHER
First follow the procedure for
claiming income tax relief, set out on
page 4. Retain a copy of your EIS3
form if your claim for deferral will be
submitted at a later date.
If you’ve already sent your EIS3 form
to HMRC in support of a claim for
income tax relief (set out on page 4),
it is all right to send a copy.
Full instructions and terms and
conditions can be found on each EIS3
certificate once issued.
If your claim relates to a chargeable
gain arising in the current tax year
and the EIS shares were issued in the
current or previous tax year, send
the EIS3 form to the HMRC with
your tax return.

Call us on 0800 316 2295

7
 IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Issued by Octopus Investments Ltd, authorised
and regulated by the Financial Conduct
Authority. Registered office: 33 Holborn
London EC1N 2HT. Registered in England and
Wales under No. 3942880.
EIS products place your capital at risk and you
may not get back the full amount invested.
Tax treatment depends on the individual
circumstances of each investor and may be
subject to change. Past performance is not
a reliable indicator of future results and any
forecast is not a reliable indicator of future
performance. The availability of tax reliefs
also depends on the investee companies
maintaining their qualifying status. EIS products
invest into small unquoted and/or AIM-listed
companies, which are likely to have higher
volatility and liquidity risk than shares quoted
on the London Stock Exchange Official List.
Octopus-EIS-OEIS-a-guide-to-claiming-tax-relief-info-retail-CAM03742-1604
Octopus Investments, 33 Holborn, London EC1N 2HT
This promotion does not offer investment or
tax advice and as investing in EIS products is
not suitable for everyone we recommend you
seek independent investment and tax advice
before investing in any such products.
KEY CONTACTS
HMRC
For questions about PAYE, your tax code or
your tax return call 0300 200 3300 or your
usual tax office.
Octopus
The easiest way to check your investment,
or the progress of your EIS3 certificates,
is to log into our services portal at
octopusinvestments.com – if you haven’t used
this service before, you’ll need to register first.
You can also call us on 0800 316 2295 and
we’ll be delighted to help.
CALL US
0800 316 2295
EMAIL US
clientrelations@octopusinvestments.com
VISIT US
WEBSITE
octopusinvestments.com