Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong.

SEIS and EIS

Startup having a meeting
The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and EIS are government-backed, tax-efficient schemes designed to incentivise investments into innovative British private companies. Introduced in 2012, SEIS offers a higher rate of income tax relief of 50% to encourage investments into early stage startups. Tax benefits are subject to individual circumstances and subject to changes.
Startup having a meeting

01 SEIS and EIS Benefits

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Income Tax relief

50% under SEIS, 30% under EIS. Possibility to carry-back the relief to the previous tax year. From 6th April 2023, you can invest up to £200,000 per year under SEIS and receive up to £100,000 in tax relief.

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No capital gains tax

Provided shares are held for at least three years, you will pay no capital gains tax on any profits you make from an EIS or SEIS investment.

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Loss relief

If you make a loss on an SEIS or EIS investment, you can offset that loss against your income tax at your marginal tax rate.

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No inheritance tax

There is no inheritance tax to pay on shares bought through EIS and SEIS as long as they have been held for at least two years.

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Capital gains reinvestment relief

EIS allows you to defer a capital gain, while SEIS allows you to reduce a chargeable gain by 50% of your investment under the scheme.

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Business Investment Relief

UK residents who are non-UK domiciled can invest via SEIS/EIS and bring in overseas capital without a UK tax charge.

02 How to invest and claim tax relief

1

Become an SFC Investor

The first step is to submit your registration form that includes your investor self-certification and contact details. Once received, one of our team members will reach out to you and guide you through the process of investing in our funds or directly into companies.
2

SEIS and EIS Fund

Log into your SFC Online Account and review our open Fund Investment Opportunities. Our SEIS and EIS funds are open throughout the year and you can subscribe at any point.
3

Fund Application Form

You can subscribe to our funds directly from our website by filling in our simple online application form.
4

Portfolio Investment

We will then deploy your investment in a portfolio of innovative S/EIS -eligible companies. On average, each tranche of our SEIS fund includes around 20 companies while each tranche of our EIS fund includes 10 companies.
5

SEIS/EIS tax certificates

A tax certificate (SEIS3 and EIS3) will be provided for each underlying investment made by the fund on your behalf. This means that if you have 20 companies in your SEIS portfolio, you will receive 20 SEIS3 certificates. We work with investee companies to apply to HMRC for these as soon as possible after closing an investment.
6

Keeping track of certificates

Once available, the SEIS/EIS certificates will be uploaded on you SFC online portal in the Documents section. It typically takes 6-8 months from the date of your subscription to receive all the certificates back from HMRC (subject to HMRC's turnaround times).
7

Investment Summary

An Investment Summary table will be generated containing all the investments made in a single tax year – and including all the details needed to make your tax relief claim when you complete your tax return.
8

Tax breaks claim

Once the SEIS3 or EIS3 certificates are available, you will be able to claim your tax relief from HMRC as part of your self-assessment tax return. If you wish you can carry your tax relief to the previous tax year as well. We recommend that you seek professional advice if you are unsure of your personal circumstances. Tax benefits are subject to individual circumstances. Subject to changes.