The same options pay the same employee £41,540 or £29,000. The difference is paperwork done in the right order
Share Options Tax Calculator
EMI against unapproved on your grant: what the employee keeps at exit under each route, the employer NIC bill, and the advantage per head in pounds.
Share Options Tax Calculator
EMI against unapproved options: what the employee keeps under each at exit, and what the company pays that nobody mentions.
Why the same gain lands so differently
EMI: no income tax at grant or exercise when the strike is at the agreed market value, capital gains on the growth at sale, and business asset disposal relief at 18 per cent after two years FROM GRANT, with no 5 per cent shareholding test.
Unapproved: income tax and employee NIC on the whole spread at exercise, at the employee's marginal rate, plus employer NIC at 15 per cent that the company carries, £7,500 on the demo gain.
The conditions that keep EMI alive: a qualifying company, a valuation agreed with HMRC, the grant notified by 6 July after the tax year, and the disqualifying events watched. The EMI Scheme Setup Checklist walks all of it.
Take the workbook
Both routes in Excel at your own numbers, with the employer cost line and the BADR conditions stated.
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