The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) are tax efficient schemes established by the UK government and operated by HMRC through the income tax system. Based on figures published in May 2019:
Enterprise Investment Scheme
- Since EIS was launched in 1993-94, over 32,000 individual companies have received investment through the scheme, and over £20 billion of funds have been raised.
- In 2017-18 a total of 3,920 companies raised a total of £1,929 million of funds under the EIS scheme.
- In 2017-18 a total of 1,710 companies raising funds for the first time under the scheme raised a total of £759 million.
Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme
- In 2017-18, 2,320 companies received investment through the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme(SEIS) and £189 million of funds were raised. This compares with 2,425 companies raising a total of £187 million under SEIS in 2016-17.
- Of those companies raising funds in 2015-16, 1,680 were companies raising funds under SEIS for the first time, representing £144 million in investment.
Advance Assurance Requests
- Since 2006 -07, there have been a total of 30,965 AAR applications received for EIS and, of these, 25,430 (82%) have so far been approved.
- Since 2012 -13, 19,820 AAR applications have been received for SEIS of which 82% have been approved. In 2018-19 there were 2,585 applications and, of these, 1,550 (60%) have been approved.
Since EIS was launched in 1993-94, over 32,000 individual companies have received investment through the scheme, and over £20 billion of funds have been raised. The related SEIS scheme provides around £170 million to around 1,500 seed stage companies each year. Together these schemes provide around £2 billion to early stage companies, a significant sources of funds to around 4,000 companies a year.
The EIS Association (EISA) is the official trade body for the Enterprise Investment Scheme. Their web site is a good additional source of relevant information to both companies and investors.
HMRC through the GOV.UK web site provides extensive notes on the rules and operation of these schemes. Both companies and individuals using these schemes must be familiar with the qualifying requirements. Failure to meet these conditions will result in the loss of tax reliefs. Use the following links for detailed information on SEIS and EIS.
