What are the new changes to SEIS?

It’s good news for young companies and startups looking for investment.

The chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced the new government’s Growth Plan 2022 on 23 September 2022, which introduces tax cuts for people and businesses, along with a host of other policies to ‘significantly reduce inflation and support growth in the short term.’ 

One of the updates that caught our eye was the expansion of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS). 

SEIS is a highly popular, government-backed investment scheme that encourages investment in early-stage companies. It’s survived many governments, and our newest government has set about increasing the generosity and availability of the scheme. 

Changes to SEIS

Under the new rules as of April 2023, companies can:

• Be trading for up to 3 years (up from 2 years) 
• Have gross assets valued up to £350,000 (up from £200,000) 

The total amount companies can raise has also been increased to £250,000 (up from £150,000) and the annual investor limit has doubled to £200,000 to help support these changes. 

Investors can claim up to 50% of their investment back through Income Tax relief – with further tax write-offs should the business fail – amongst other attractive tax benefits.

As you can see, these changes to SEIS are all positive and will help young companies and startups grow, which in turn will lead to more jobs being created and ultimately a more successful economy. 

What about EIS? 

There won't be any changes to the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), but the Growth Plan stated: 

"The government remains supportive of the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCT) and sees the value of extending them in the future."

So you can expect EIS to be around for at least a few governments more...

How do I apply for SEIS/EIS?

Your first port of call is to see which scheme your company is eligible for, then get advance assurance. 

Advance assurance is like a mortgage agreement in principle where your company - and potential investors - are pre-approved and eligible for the schemes. It's essential for investors too, as it's their assurance they will be able to get tax relief before investing in your company. 

And customers can apply for advance assurance hassle-free with Vestd. Our guided workflow takes out all the guesswork and we even submit your application on your behalf.

Then, once you've received investment, you can issue shares to your investors directly through the platform. Everything lives in one place which makes compliance much easier. 

If you're already a customer, just head to your dashboard and click SEIS/EIS to get started. If not, what are you waiting for? Join Vestd today!