Businesses can receive up to £150,000 through SEIS investments and individual investors can claim tax relief when buying shares in start-ups and incubator companies. The £150,000 figure includes any other de minimis state aid received in the three years up to and including the date of the investment, although any excess will not qualify for SEIS.

To qualify for SEIS, the company must have gross assets of no more than £200,000 at the time of the relevant share issue - this includes the group’s assets if the company has subsidiaries and less than 25 employees. Partnerships are not eligible for SEIS, nor are companies who have used investment from an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) or venture capital trust. It will also count towards any limits for later investments through other venture capital schemes 

The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) guidance sets out criteria the company must meet to be eligible for the scheme, requirements relating to the company’s trade, how the money raised must be spent, HMRC’s advance assurance procedure and the procedure to enable investors to claim relief (forms SEIS1, SEIS2 and SIES3).

The social investment tax relief (SITR) scheme is a tax relief scheme for investors designed to support the trading activity of social enterprises or charities, including community interest companies, community benefit societies with an asset lock or a charity, which can be a company or trust. Investors are eligible for tax relief on their investment if the qualifying conditions are met but the beneficiary must have no more than £15m in gross assets immediately before the investment is made.

Tax reliefs will be withheld or withdrawn from investors if the financed body does not follow the rules for at least three years after the investment is made.

The Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) guidance sets out how the scheme works, who can apply (including qualifying subsidiary and qualifying business activity criteria), maximum investment limits, how money raised from the investments must be used, HMRC’s advance assurance procedure and how to apply for the relief (the compliance statement and forms SITR2 and SITR3).