Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 18

Shares must be ordinary shares of certain companies

Section 18 specifies which companies' ordinary shares are eligible for inclusion in a Schedule 3 share incentive plan.

• Eligible shares must be ordinary shares, not preference shares or other special classes of share capital.
• The shares may be in the company that organises the scheme (the scheme organiser).
• The shares may alternatively be in a parent company that has control of the scheme organiser.
• The shares may also be in a company that is, or controls, a member of a consortium that owns either the scheme organiser or a company controlling the scheme organiser.