Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 73–76

Approved CSOP schemes

Sections 73 to 76 deal with the transitional rules for discretionary share option schemes that were approved before 6 April 2003 under the old ICTA rules, explaining how they are treated as approved CSOP schemes under the new legislation.

• Discretionary share option schemes approved under ICTA Schedule 9 before 6 April 2003 are automatically treated as approved CSOP schemes under Schedule 4 of ITEPA 2003, even if their provisions do not fully conform to the new requirements
• References to CSOP share options in the legislation include options granted under the old approved discretionary schemes before 6 April 2003, and any scheme provisions or rights that were valid under the old rules remain valid
• Schemes approved before 29 April 1996 continue to operate as though they include a £30,000 cap on the aggregate market value of shares under outstanding options and a requirement that the exercise price must not be manifestly less than market value at the time of grant
• Options granted between 17 July 1995 and 28 April 1996 that were retrospectively treated under the old law as not having been obtained in accordance with an approved scheme continue to be treated as granted outside the approved CSOP scheme for the purposes of the new CSOP code