Topic
VCT, EIS & SEIS · Explainer
The three venture capital schemes trade relief for risk: SEIS gives 50% income tax relief on the youngest companies, EIS 30% on larger unlisted ones and VCTs 20% on a listed fund. The April 2026 changes cut VCT relief and doubled the EIS and VCT company investment limits; SEIS was left alone.
VCT, EIS & SEIS · Explainer
If an SEIS company fails, you can set the loss, after deducting the 50% income tax relief you kept, against your income for that tax year or the one before. On £10,000, that leaves a net loss of £3,000 for a higher-rate taxpayer and £2,750 for an additional-rate taxpayer.
VCT, EIS & SEIS · Guide
SEIS relief only works if the company qualifies and keeps qualifying for three years, and it does nothing to rescue a weak business. These are the questions to put to a founder before you subscribe, and the documents that should back up the answers.
VCT, EIS & SEIS · Explainer
Advance assurance is HMRC's non-statutory, discretionary opinion that a company's planned share issue looks likely to qualify for SEIS or EIS. It does not guarantee any investor's relief, it does not vouch for the business, and it says nothing about whether the company will keep to the rules for the next three years.
VCT, EIS & SEIS · Explainer
SEIS gives UK taxpayers 50% income tax relief on up to £200,000 a tax year invested in new shares of very young companies, with capital gains and loss reliefs on top. The reliefs are generous because the risk is severe: most start-ups fail, and the shares are hard to sell.
VCT, EIS & SEIS · Analysis
On a £10,000 stake, SEIS relief cuts the money at risk to £5,000 and EIS relief to £7,000 before loss relief. If the company fails, an additional-rate taxpayer loses £2,750 net under SEIS and £3,850 under EIS: the reliefs change the size of the bet, not the odds.
