Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 528

No charge on receipt of qualifying option

Section 528 ensures that no income tax charge arises simply from receiving a qualifying share option under an Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) scheme.

• When an employee receives a qualifying EMI option, no income tax is charged at that point
• The option must meet the conditions to be a "qualifying option" under the EMI rules
• This exemption applies specifically to the grant (receipt) of the option, not to any later exercise or disposal
• The provision derives from earlier legislation in Schedule 14 to the Finance Act 2000, carried forward into ITEPA 2003