As the law governing the provision of benefits and incentives to employees becomes more complex, employers face new and demanding challenges.
Our incentives team delivers straightforward advice on employment tax issues and works with clients to design, draft and implement share plans with a strong commercial emphasis.
We have helped clients through the maze of tax and regulatory requirements for over 35 years and are renowned for our practical, business-focused approach. Our team comprises a range of disciplines, including lawyers, chartered accountants and chartered tax advisers providing seamless advice on sensitive remuneration and employment tax issues.
We help clients use share based incentive arrangements to achieve their business and strategic objectives. We also advise employers on practical issues as varied as the implications of employees becoming internationally mobile to the tax treatment of termination payments.
Our breadth and depth of experience means we help clients deal with the tax, corporate, employment and implementation issues efficiently and pragmatically.
Our incentives experts are part of the Share Plans Lawyers group and ifsProshare.
Areas of focus
Our expertise in shares plans and incentives includes the following:
- Advising on the design, drafting and implementation of Long Term Incentive Plans (LTIPs) for companies listed on AIM and the London Stock Exchange.
- Working with our international clients to implement qualifying share plans in the UK for locally based employees. This includes advice on the complex new rules on internationally mobile employees taking part in share and stock plans.
- Working with privately held clients to implement share plans designed to support their business plans, be it for long term growth or an exit in the short to medium term.
- Working with PE houses on the design of share structures for executive management teams and the next tier of management.
- Advice on the design, drafting and implementation of all the UK employee share plans which qualify for tax advantages, namely Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI), Company Share Option Plans (CSOP), Savings-Related Share Option Plans (known as SAYE or Save as You Earn) and Share Incentive Plans (SIP).
- Advising clients who cannot operate a qualifying share plan on alternative structures designed to meet their commercial needs, including growth share plans, deferred share plans, “phantom” share plans, restricted share plans and cash-based bonus plans.
- Advising companies and individuals on employment status for tax purposes including the implications of the use of intermediaries, such as personal service companies and agencies.
- Advising companies and individuals on the taxation of settlement and other termination payments.
- Advising companies on the taxation of a variety of elements of their reward packages.
- Providing advice on employee benefit trusts.