Register your employment related securities scheme
When and how to tell HMRC about new employment related securities (ERS) schemes.
Important deadlines
If you fail to notify HMRC of your employment related securities (ERS) scheme by the following deadlines you risk losing any tax benefits for you and your employees.
Tax-advantaged schemes
You should register new tax-advantaged schemes by 6 July following the tax year they were set up.
If you miss this deadline, you’ll need to follow the late registration process.
Find out more about tax-advantaged schemes.
For Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI)
For Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) options granted before 6 April 2024 you must tell us within 92 days of the date of grant.
If the options are granted after 6 April 2024, you must tell us by 6 July following the end of the tax year in which the grant is made.
Non tax-advantaged schemes
You only need to register schemes without a tax advantage when there’s a reportable event, for example acquiring or disposing of securities, or assigning or releasing securities options.
You should register your non tax-advantaged scheme by 6 July following the tax year when the first reportable event happened.
Find out more about non tax-advantaged schemes.
Before you register
Before you can register your ERS scheme, you must first register as an employer.
If you need to register as an employer, it can take up to 30 working days to get your PAYE reference number.
Once you have an employer PAYE reference number, you must enrol for and activate the PAYE online service for employers.
Add the PAYE service to HMRC Online Services
You’ll need your PAYE reference and Accounts Office reference. These are included in the letter from HMRC confirming your registration.
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Sign in to HMRC Online Services for employers or create an account.
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Select ‘Add a tax, duty or scheme now’.
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Select ‘Employers or intermediaries, for example PAYE for employers or CIS’.
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Select ‘PAYE for employers’.
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Complete the information required on screen.
Once you’ve enrolled, we’ll send you an activation code in the post. You must use this to activate your account within 28 days of enrolling.
Register your ERS scheme
Once you’ve added the PAYE online service, you can register your ERS scheme with us.
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Sign in to HMRC Online Services for employers.
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Go to the section ‘Employment related securities (ERS)’.
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Select ‘Register or view your schemes and arrangements’.
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Select the ERS scheme type you want to register and select ‘Next’.
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Fill in the self certification declaration.
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Sign in again to complete your registration.
HMRC will issue an ERS Scheme reference number online within 7 days of registering your ERS scheme. You will be able to find this on your HMRC Online Services by viewing the ‘Employment Related Securities’ section and selecting ‘View schemes and arrangements’.
After you’ve registered
You must either:
- submit your ERS return
- submit a nil return — if you have nothing to report
You must submit a return or nil return by 6 July following the end of the tax year or you may have to pay a penalty.
How to authorise an agent to submit ERS returns
If you have asked an agent to manage your ERS scheme, you’ll need to authorise them if you want them to submit an ERS return on your behalf. To do this, you can either:
- ask the agent to complete the authorisation
- authorise an agent through your business tax account
Agents will only be able to view and file returns on employment related securities (ERS) schemes that are already registered. They will not be able to register or end a scheme.
Read more about how to authorise an agent through your business tax account.
Updates to this page
Last updated 10 October 2024 + show all updates
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We have removed sections covering late registrations and ending an ERS scheme and link to new guidance for both. We have also updated guidance on where to find your ERS reference number.
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Information has been added to support late registrations and submitting nil returns.
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We have updated the guidance with more information about when to tell HMRC about a grant of an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) option.
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Before you submit your employment related securities return or notification, you need to save a copy of it for your own records. This is because the online service will not save the details and you will not be able to access them again.
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If you need to register as an employer, it can now take up to 15 working days to get your PAYE reference number.
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A Welsh translation has been added,
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Information about the 2 ways an agent can be authorised has been added to the 'How to authorise an agent to submit an ERS return' section.
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Guidance has been added to explain how to add employment related securities to HMRC Online Services and how to register employment related securities with HMRC. Steps have also been added to show how to authorise an agent to submit employment related security returns on your behalf.
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Guidance on how and when you'll get your scheme reference number has been updated.
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More information about how to tell HMRC about your ERS schemes has been added.
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First published.