Key Employee Engagement Programme for Irish SMEs
The European Commission approved Ireland’s Key Employee Engagement Programme (KEEP) for state aid purposes. Following state aid clearance, the Minister for Finance signed the Commencement Order to bring the KEEP into operation from 1 January 2018.
The KEEP is provided for by section 128F of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 as inserted by section 10 of Finance Act 2017. Statutory Instrument – SI No. 643 of 2017 contains the Commencement Order.
The KEEP is available for qualifying share options granted between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2023.