The seed enterprise investment scheme (SEIS), like the enterprise investment scheme (EIS), is designed to encourage investment in smaller, higher-risk companies by offering a range of tax reliefs to individual investors purchasing newly issued shares in those companies.

For full details of these reliefs, see Practice Note: SEIS—introduction to regime and description of tax reliefs. In summary, these reliefs include:

1. •

   income tax relief at 50% of the amount invested, up to an annual investment limit of £200,000

2. •

   CGT exemption on any capital gain realised on a disposal of shares that qualified for SEIS income tax relief and were held for three years, and

3. •

   CGT re-investment relief providing a capital gains tax (CGT) exemption for 50% of any gains realised on the disposal of assets in a tax year and re-invested within the same year in shares qualifying for SEIS income tax relief up to a maximum exemption of £100,000

When advising upon the availability of SEIS tax relief it is essential to note the potential for such relief to be subsequently