VCM35120 | Venture Capital Schemes Manual: company and investor procedures: investor procedures: investor conditions

An investor cannot claim tax relief until the company has sent in a compliance statement as described at VCM35040, and HMRC has authorised the company to issue a compliance certificate(claim form SEIS3) to the investor. The company must record the Unique Investment Reference (UIR) number on the form SEIS3 before issuing it to the investor.

The investor must meet all the conditions needed to be a qualifying investor - see VCM32010.

An investor can claim relief up to five years after the 31 January following the tax year in which the investment was made. This is a longer period than for most reliefs, to take account of the fact that it is dependent on the company first making its application and having that approved.

An investor can claim SEIS relief up to five years after 31 January following the end of the tax year in which the shares are treated as issued—this may be either the tax year of actual issue (current year) or, if a carry-back election is made under section 257AB(5) ITA 2007, the preceding tax year. Therefore, it is essential to track which shares are treated as issued in which year to ensu re claims are made within the correct timeframe. The claim period is longer than for most reliefs, to take account of the fact that it is dependent on the company first making its application and having that approved by HMRC. See VCM35090 for the time limits for a company submitting a compliance statement.