Employment Related Securities Bulletin 40 (March 2022)
Find out about submitting information on the ERS online service, filing or amending ERS returns, notifying EMI options and reasonable excuse for missing deadlines.
Employment related securities (ERS) bulletins give information and updates on developments relating to ERS, including the tax-advantaged employee share schemes.
HMRC publishes ERS bulletins when:
- articles or updates are available
- HMRC has any item to bring to your attention quickly
ERS online service
The ERS online service only accepts submissions up to 6 years after the 6 April, following the end of the relevant tax year. This means that:
- you can no longer register an ERS scheme, file or amend ERS returns or submit an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) option notification for 2014 to 2015
- from 6 April 2022, you’ll no longer be able to register an ERS scheme, file or amend ERS returns or submit an EMI option notification for 2015 to 2016
- from 6 April 2023, you’ll no longer be able to register an ERS scheme, file or amend ERS returns or submit an EMI option notification for 2016 to 2017
To register schemes, submit returns or notifications 6 years after the end of the relevant tax year, you need to use a special process set out in the following guidance for the 2014 to 2015 tax year.
Late registration of 2014 to 2015 employee share schemes
You can no longer register an employee share scheme if you should have done so by 6 July 2015.
You should register it for the next year available in the ERS online service (currently 2015 to 2016) and follow the process detailed in this guidance for late returns or late EMI notifications.
From April 2022, this will also apply for the tax year 2015 to 2016.
ERS returns 2014 to 2015
You should send your return to HMRC if you’ve already registered an ERS scheme and need to either:
- file a late return
- amend a return that has already been filed for 2014 to 2015
If you have not yet registered an ERS scheme, you should do this before sending a return.
You can send your return by post or email. The postal and email address are provided in ‘HMRC’s contact details for share schemes enquiries’ in this guidance.
You should send your return under cover of a letter or email, setting out your reasons for missing the filing deadline or why amendments need to be made.
All late and amended returns should be submitted using the ERS return templates.
From April 2022, this will also apply for the tax year 2015 to 2016.
Late notification of EMI options granted in 2014 to 2015
EMI options need to be notified to HMRC within 92 days of them being granted to meet the requirements of the legislation and qualify for tax advantages.
If you failed to notify options granted in 2014 to 2015 within the statutory deadline, they may not qualify as an EMI option.
To notify HMRC of options granted in 2014 to 2015, you should send details by post or email, using the online EMI template. The postal and email address are provided in ‘HMRC’s contact details for share schemes enquiries’ in this guidance.
You should send your return under cover of a letter or email, setting out your reasons why the deadline was missed. Find out more in ‘Missing submission deadlines and reasonable excuse’ in this guidance.
From April 2022, this will also apply for the tax year 2015 to 2016.
Missing submission deadlines and reasonable excuse
The deadline for filing annual ERS returns is 6 July, following the end of the tax year for which the return is due. Missing the deadline may result in you being charged late filing penalties. Late filing penalties will not be charged if HMRC are satisfied you have a reasonable excuse for failing to file within the statutory deadline.
There is also a deadline for notifying HMRC of new EMI options granted within 92 days of the date of grant. If you have a reasonable excuse for failing to notify within the statutory deadline (in any year), you must provide full details at the time you submit your late notification to HMRC.
If HMRC are satisfied you have a reasonable excuse for missing the deadline, options granted will qualify as EMI options, provided that all other requirements of the legislation:
- were met at the date of grant of the option
- have continued to be met throughout the life of the option
When you claim for reasonable excuse for late returns or late EMI notifications, you should submit full details with documentary evidence for HMRC to consider. We will inform you of our decision once a review is complete.
Find out more about reasonable excuse.
HMRC’s contact details for share schemes enquiries
If you’re submitting enquires by post, our address is:
Charities, Savings and International 1
HMRC
BX9 1AU
Alternatively you can submit you enquiries by emailing: shareschemes@hmrc.gov.uk.
If you need to disclose sensitive information, and have concerns about sending this by email or post, you should send a short email:
- without any sensitive data
- with details of how we can contact you
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible to arrange an alternative.
HMRC will store any correspondence you send securely and for information purposes only.
Contacting HMRC for advice
Make sure you include the relevant share scheme reference number (if you have one) when you contact us about share schemes. If you do not provide the share scheme reference, HMRC may not be able to respond to or answer your query.
You can find more information on how to identify your share scheme reference number in ERS Bulletin 25.
Changes to HMRC email addresses
We’ve been making changes to our email addresses in HMRC.
You may have noticed that instead of our email addresses ending in @hmrc.gsi.gov.uk, they end @hmrc.gov.uk.
Any emails that you send to our old email addresses will still redirect to us.
Contact HMRC about ERS Bulletins
If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions for future articles, email: shareschemes@hmrc.gov.uk