Corporation Tax Act 2009

999 Deduction for costs of setting up SAYE option scheme or CSOP scheme

(1) This section applies if—

(a) a company incurs expenses in setting up a scheme within subsection (2) that is approved by an officer of Revenue and Customs, and

(b) no employee or director acquires rights under the scheme before it is approved.

(2) The schemes within this subsection are—

(a) SAYE option schemes within the meaning of the SAYE code (see section 516(4) of ITEPA 2003), and

(b) CSOP schemes within the meaning of the CSOP code (see section 521(4) of ITEPA 2003).

The references in subsection (1) to a scheme being approved are to it being approved under Schedule 3 or 4 to ITEPA 2003 (as the case may be).

(3) A deduction for the expenses is to be made in calculating for corporation tax purposes the profits of a trade or property business carried on by the company.

This is subject to subsections (4) and (5).

(4) If the company is a company with investment business (as defined in section 1218), the expenses are treated as expenses of management of the company.

But this subsection does not apply if the company’s business is a property business (in which case subsection (3) applies instead).

(5) If the company is a company in relation to which section 76 of ICTA (expenses of insurance companies) applies, the expenses are treated as expenses payable falling to be brought into account at Step 1 in subsection (7) of that section.

(6) If the approval is given more than 9 months after the end of the period of account in which the expenses are incurred—

(a) for the purposes of subsection (3) the deduction is to be made for the period of account in which the approval is given, or

(b) for the purposes of subsection (4) or (5) the expenses are treated as referable to the accounting period in which the approval is given.

(7) So far as this section provides for a deduction to be allowed, it has effect despite section 53 (no deduction for items of a capital nature in calculating trading profits), including that section as applied by section 210 to the calculation of profits of a property business.