VCM34130 | SEIS: income tax relief: issuing company: amount raised through SEIS

ITA07/S257DL

The amount of all SEIS investment, together with any other de minimis State aid received by the company in the 3 years to the date of the latest SEIS investment, must not exceed £250,000 (£150,000 for shares issued on or before 5 April 2023).

Where a share issue takes takes the total aid received by the company above £250,000 (£150,000 to 5 April 2023) the total aid received by the company in the 3 years to the date of investment, the investment in the share issue is apportioned so that relief is given only on the proportion of the investment which doesn’t exceed the £250,000 (£150,000 to 5 April 2023) limit.

The purpose of S257DL is to ensure that any investment under SEIS is kept within the limits which allow SEIS to be regarded under EU regulations as providing de minimis and therefore non-notifiable State aid.

De minimis aid

The UK Government does not maintain a list of all State aids which are considered to be covered by the EU regulations on de minimis aid. For an aid to be considered de minimis the measure via which it is provided must be limited to providing no more than €200,000 over a three-year period, as well as containing a number of other restrictions. If a company has received any small amounts of funding or support from a Government measure (whether the UK Government or any other European Community member state Government) and is not clear about whether that funding should be counted towards the SEIS limit, the company should seek clarification from the provider of the funds or the administrator of the scheme as to whether that funding is State aid covered by the EU de minimis rules.