Since 6 April 2018 companies have been unable to grant new EMI options, because the existing EU state aid approval expired without fresh approval having been received. So there has been much excitement today at the news that the EU Commission has now given state aid approval, and companies can now grant new EMI options. … Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to resolve a split between the Seventh and Eighth Circuits related to a federal program that is a well-kept secret. Nothing as intriguing as Russian spies or hacked emails… but, I think, interesting nonetheless. Of course, you have heard about the Social Security system. And you probably know … Continue Reading
On 1 July 2015 some important changes were made to the taxation of employee share schemes in Australia which will make employee option schemes more attractive for employees, particularly where the company qualifies as an eligible start-up. For all employee option schemes there is the possibility of deferring the taxing point until exercise of the … Continue Reading
Following on from our earlier blog post predicting that companies might have issues when using the new online service for registering employee share plans with HMRC, it appears that problems are indeed emerging. Despite the looming deadline of 6 July, we hear anecdotal reports that so far only about 25% of plans have been registered. In … Continue Reading
The Financial Reporting Council has published a consultation on amendments to accounting standard FRS102, which deals with share-based payments (such as options) with a cash alternative. The amendments are aimed at aligning FRS102, which tends to be used by smaller companies, with the international accounting standards used by listed companies. The closing date for responses … Continue Reading
In several posts last year, we charted the development of the new HMRC rules for the online registering, self-certifying and making of annual returns for share plans, and indeed all arrangements under which employees receive shares. Now the dust has settled, the teething troubles have been ironed out and the templates for the new “end-of-year” returns … Continue Reading
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recently released its first stand-alone UK and Ireland Proxy Voting Guidelines (previously, ISS and the NAPF issued guidelines through Research Recommendations and Electronic Voting, their joint venture which came to an end in June 2014). The guidelines apply to shareholder meetings held on or after 1 February 2015. In the area of … Continue Reading
For employees that move from country to country, the taxation of benefits in the form of shares is different from the way in which other types of remuneration are taxed in the UK. This can be a pain to administer and result in significant tax advantages to some employees, whilst others are worse off. The … Continue Reading
As trailed in our previous post, HMRC has just published the FAQs about its new online service for share plans. It’s clear that it’s very much do-it-yourself. If you want confirmation that your registration of a share plan or notification of an EMI option grant was successful, make sure you print and save a copy of … Continue Reading
The IRS has confirmed that stock-based plans of non-U.S. employers under which options and stock appreciation rights are settled in stock do not result in acceleration of income for US tax purposes. However, the ruling also confirmed that stock appreciation rights that may be settled in cash can result in acceleration of income for employees … Continue Reading
Since our last post on this topic, extra little nuggets have been emerging about how the new regime will work in practice. Here are some of the common traps for the unwary: 1. Paper filing is a thing of the past – it’s all online now No, annual returns for the 2013/2014 tax year for … Continue Reading
Just a quick reminder that if you have any forms relating to the notification of the grant of EMI options (on HMRC Form EMI1) to file, you should ensure that you get them to the Revenue by 5 April 2014 – so effectively by Friday of this week. After this, HMRC will no longer accept paper … Continue Reading
With the 6 April start date for the new self-certification regime for HMRC-approved share plans fast approaching, HMRC have published some helpful amendments to the proposed legislation but have also published new provisions that require further clarification. Questions remain on how both existing and new plans will be affected. For more details, read our alert.… Continue Reading
In common with many countries, Germany generally taxes an employee stock option at the time the option is exercised, rather than at the time it is granted. After all, that’s when the value is realised. A recent decision of the German Federal Fiscal Court opens up the possibility of reducing the tax cost to employees … Continue Reading
On October 31, 2013, shareholders of Oracle Corp. voted “no” to CEO and founder Larry Ellison’s pay package worth $78.4 million (which is actually down 18 percent from the $96.2 million package he received a year earlier for which he also received a “no” vote by Oracle shareholders) (see Oracle Form 8-K filing). Approximately 56.3 percent of … Continue Reading
