Before you can submit your annual return to HMRC, you first need to register the scheme.
Registering a scheme (whether unapproved options or growth shares) is straightforward and completed through HMRC's Employment Related Securities (ERS) system.
First, make sure your HMRC business account has PAYE set up.
If you already have an HMRC account with PAYE set up, log in here and follow the steps.
Important: If you don’t have PAYE on your account already, please note that it can take up to 3 weeks to set up. There’s also a delay of 24 hours or more between registering a scheme (step 1) and being able to complete the initial notification (step 2). So be sure to leave enough time to carry out the notification before the 92-day deadline.
If you need help adding PAYE to your account, watch this video from HMRC.
Once you have logged in locate the ERS link towards the bottom of the new style website or in the sidebar of the old style HMRC website.
Once in the ERS system select the option to register a scheme and then select Other.
You need to select the tax year, this is going to be the year the shares or options were first issued. You also need to enter a name, this can be anything you want and acts as a reference for you. The corporation tax reference and company number should be filled in automatically but if not you should enter these.
The next page will give you a summary of the entered information and the opportunity to go back and make any changes.
Clicking confirm will take you to a declaration screen where you need to confirm the information you have submitted is correct.
Clicking next on this screen may prompt you to re enter your login details to confirm the submission.
Finally an acknowledgment screen is displayed with a reference number.
Once this request has been processed the scheme will be setup and the annual notification can be made.
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