Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 529

Scope of tax advantages: option must be exercised within 10 years

Section 529 establishes the 10-year time limit within which an Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) qualifying option must be exercised in order for the associated tax advantages to apply.

• The tax advantages set out in sections 530 to 540 only apply if a qualifying EMI option is exercised within 10 years of its grant date.
• Where the option is a replacement for a previous option, the 10-year deadline runs from the date the original option was granted, not the replacement.
• If there has been only one replacement, the "original option" is the one that was replaced; if there have been multiple replacements, it is the option replaced by the very first replacement.
• Any exercise of a qualifying option after the 10-year anniversary falls outside the scope of these tax advantages.