490 Limits on the relief

Summary

This section imposes certain limits on the relief available under the EII and SURE. . The minimum amount on which relief is available is €250 and the maximum amount is €100,000 (SURE) or €150,000 (EII) per tax year. Where due to the operation of these upper limits or due to an insufficiency of total income the full amount of the investment cannot be relieved, the unrelieved amount may be carried forward and relieved in subsequent years. Investment carried forward in this way cannot be relieved beyond the tax year 2020. .

Details

Limits

(1)(a)(b) No relief is given in respect of any amount subscribed by an individual for eligible shares in a company unless the amount or total amounts subscribed by the individual for eligible shares in that company exceeds €250 or more. However, where a married couple are jointly assessed under section 1017 or where civil partners are jointly assessed under section 1031C, any amounts subscribed by the non-assessable spouse or civil partner for eligible shares are deemed to have been subscribed by the assessable spouse or civil partner. Consequently if both spouse’s/civil partners subscribed for 125 €1 eligible shares in the same company, the minimum limit would be satisfied.

(2) Relief is unavailable to the extent that the amount of a qualifying investment made by an individual in one or more companies exceeds €100,000 in the case of SURE or €150,000 in the case of the EII per tax year.

Carry forward of relief

(3)(a)(b) Where due to an insufficiency of total income or the operation of the upper maximum limit of €100,000 or €150,000 per tax year an individual cannot fully utilise his/ her relief in the tax year in which the shares are issued, the unused amount may be carried forward to the following year of assessment and treated as an amount directly subscribed for eligible shares issued to that individual in that year. However, the carry forward of relief does not apply for any year of assessment after the tax year 2020.

(3)(a)(b) Any amount which has been carried forward to a following year may, if not fully relieved in that following year, be carried forward to the next year and so on until the full amount is relieved. Amounts so carried forward are treated as an amount directly subscribed for eligible shares in those later years. However, the carry forward of relief does not apply for any year of assessment after the tax year 2020.

Priority of relief

(5) Relief is given to an individual for a year of assessment in the following order —

• (a) firstly, in respect of amounts carried forward from an earlier year of assessment (where amounts are carried forward from more than one year of assessment the earlier amounts are relieved before later amounts), and
• (b) then, the amounts invested in the current year of assessment.

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2019