Company Share Option Plans (CSOPs) on Vestd

3 Endless admin-2

Spend less time on admin

Instead of juggling grants, agreements, vesting schedules, exercises, and reporting across spreadsheets and email threads, you can digitise and centralise everything in one place. And automate tasks to free up more of your time.

1 Compliance-1

Take the stress out of compliance

Statutory deadlines trigger automatic notifications on Vestd, HMRC submissions are managed via the platform, and all activity is captured in a structured audit trail. And cap table changes are reflected at Companies House automatically.

4 Automation an CH

Keep records accurate

Maintaining ownership records in spreadsheets is unsustainable as you scale. Enjoy a single source of truth for options, shareholders and ownership with a digital cap table that automatically syncs with Companies House.

7 Valuations-1

Get a defensible valuation

CSOP grants must be made at HMRC-agreed market value; otherwise you risk losing the scheme’s tax advantages. Valuations are available from our in-house experts as part of your subscription. Tax certainty for you and your team.

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CSOP expertise & support

As the first FCA-regulated platform of its kind and ISO 27001 certified, Vestd combines secure share scheme administration with a team of highly rated UK share scheme specialists who provide hands-on support when you need it.

Digitise your CSOP

Already have a CSOP? Switch to Vestd.

Migrating to Vestd gives you cleaner records, automation and a proper audit trail. Our team handles the transfer end-to-end, reviewing documentation to ensure that all records align before you go live.

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CSOPs explained

What's a Company Share Option Plan?

A CSOP is an HMRC-approved, tax-advantaged share option scheme available to UK companies of any size and kind.

It allows companies to grant options to qualifying employees at market value, with employees able to exercise up to £60,000 of options free of Income Tax and National Insurance.

The company can also claim a Corporation Tax deduction on the employee's gain on exercise, subject to qualifying criteria being met.
What are the qualifying criteria?
Qualifying for a CSOP is pretty straightforward:
- UK employees or directors with formal contracts are eligible
- Directors must work at least 25 hours per week (excluding meal breaks)
- Recipients cannot own more than 30% of the company's issued share capital
- Total CSOP options per recipient cannot exceed £60,000 (based on unrestricted market value at time of grant)
- The company must not be controlled by another company
What are the tax advantages?

No Income Tax or National Insurance is payable if the employee exercises their options between 3 and 10 years from the grant date. And if the exercise price equals the agreed market value at grant.

When shares are eventually sold, only Capital Gains Tax (CGT) applies on the profit between the exercise price and sale price.

The gains employees make on exercise are also deductible from the company's taxable profits, as are the costs of scheme setup and management.

Tax benefits are conditional on qualifying criteria being maintained throughout.

CSOP administration

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