Two consultations were launched last month concerning employee share option schemes.

Consultation on the Office of Tax Simplification's (OTS) recommendations for employee share schemes was announced at Budget 2012. The Government is consulting on 15 of the OTS's recommendations. In some cases, the Government accepts the recommen-dation and is seeking views and evidence to inform the development of detailed proposals. In others, the Government is asking for views and evidence on potential costs and benefits of the proposed changes before deciding how to proceed.

The second consultation seeks comments on proposals to extend access to Enterprise Management Incentives to academics employed by a qualifying company, as announced at Budget 2012.

Comments are requested by 18 September. The consultations are available from the HMRC website http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk