Finance Act 1991

42 Costs of establishing share option or profit sharing schemes: relief

The following section shall be inserted after section 84 of the Taxes Act 1988—

“84A Costs of establishing share option or profit sharing schemes: relief

(1) Subsection (2) below applies where—

(a) a company incurs expenditure on establishing a share option scheme which the Board approve and under which no employee or director obtains rights before such approval is given, or

(b) a company incurs expenditure on establishing a profit sharing scheme which the Board approve and under which the trustees acquire no shares before such approval is given.

(2) In such a case the expenditure—

(a) shall be deducted in computing for the purposes of Schedule D the profits or gains of a trade carried on by the company, or

(b) if the company is an investment company or a company in the case of which section 75 applies by virtue of section 76, shall be treated as expenses of management.

(3) In a case where—

(a) subsection (2) above applies, and

(b) the approval is given after the end of the period of nine months beginning with the day following the end of the period of account in which the expenditure is incurred,

for the purpose of applying subsection (2) above the expenditure shall be treated as incurred in the period of account in which the approval is given (and not the period of account mentioned in paragraph (b) above).

(4) References in this section to approving are to approving under Schedule 9.

(5) This section applies where the expenditure is incurred on or after 1st April 1991.”