Income Tax Act 2007 section 159

Periods A, B and C

Section 159 defines three key time periods — Period A, Period B and Period C — used throughout the Enterprise Investment Scheme provisions to test whether various qualifying conditions are met in relation to shares issued by a company.

• Period A runs from the later of the company's incorporation or two years before the share issue date, and ends immediately before the termination date of the shares
• Period B runs from the date the shares are issued until immediately before the termination date
• Period C runs from 12 months before the share issue date until immediately before the termination date
• The termination date is defined separately in section 256 and represents the end point for all three periods