Knowledge Base: How to notify HMRC about an EMI option grant

Once your EMI Option Scheme is registered with HMRC, you must notify HMRC about any EMI options granted under that scheme. Even if multiple grants are made within the same financial year, HMRC only requires a single notification per tax year (but you must still submit each grant date separately).

Key Deadlines

• For EMI grants made before 6 April 2024: Notify HMRC within 92 days of the grant date.

• For EMI grants made on or after 6 April 2024: Notify HMRC by 6 July following the end of the tax year in which the grant occurred.

Reminder: Don’t wait until the deadline—report regularly to reduce the risk of missing a filing.

Before You Begin

Ensure:

• Your EMI scheme is registered with HMRC. If you don't see an Employment Related Securities section in the main page then head to the Manage Account section. When asked what Tax you want to add to the account, select "Employers or intermediaries, for example PAYE for employers or CIS". On the next page, select "Employment related securities (ERS)"

• You have received approval for your EMI valuation (via VAL231 and reference code).

• You’ve granted the options on the platform and they are marked as “Granted.”

Need help with the setup? Follow our Share Options Guide for details on defining your EMI scheme and obtaining a valuation.

How to Notify HMRC

1. Log in to HMRC

• Go to the HMRC login page and log in using your Government Gateway ID and password (used to register your EMI scheme).

• Navigate to the Employment Related Securities (ERS) section.

• Click ‘In-year notification’ to begin.

2. Select Your EMI Scheme

• You’ll be shown a list of registered schemes.

• Select your EMI scheme by name.

Note: If your scheme status shows as “Pending”, wait until HMRC updates it before proceeding.

3. Choose the Tax Year

• Select the tax year in which the grant(s) occurred.

• Click ‘Next’.

4. Enter Grant Date

• Enter the date your company signed each Option Agreement.

• This is the official grant date.

5. Initial Questions

• You’ll be asked two questions:

  • “Is this a replacement option?” → No

  • “Is this a new EMI grant?” → Yes

• Click ‘Next’.

6. Enter Employer Details

• Click ‘Employer company details’ and fill in the requested company information.

• Click ‘Next’.

7. Enter Share Details

You’ll need to provide:

• Are the shares already issued ordinary share capital?

  • If yes → click ‘Yes’

  • If no (e.g. you're using a new class like B Ordinary) → click ‘No’

• Does the company have more than one class of ordinary shares in issue?

  • If only Ordinary shares exist → click ‘No’

  • If multiple classes exist (e.g. A Ordinary, B Ordinary) → click ‘Yes’

• Unrestricted Market Value (UMV) at date of grant; use the value from your HMRC-approved valuation (found in your acceptance letter)

• Is the company listed on a recognised stock exchange?

  • Most likely → No

• Was the market value agreed with HMRC?

  • Normally → Yes

• Valuation Reference Number; use the number from HMRC’s VAL231 approval (e.g., CRN1234567 → enter 1234567 only)

• Click ‘Next’.

8. Enter Employee Details

You can either:

• Manually input each employee and grant, or

• Upload an Excel file (xlsx) if there are multiple grants.

Note: We provide an HMRC-ready xlsx file you can download directly from the platform.

Where to find it:

• Navigate to Share Options

• You’ll see an option to Download EMI Notification Spreadsheet in the top corner

The file is also available in the Intelligent Data Room (IDR)

This file includes the employee details, share classes, and grant dates in the correct format for HMRC.

Note: If your grants were made on different dates, submit a separate notification per grant date.

9. Upload & Review

• Once uploaded, HMRC will show a summary of the uploaded data.

• Check all entries carefully—this is your last chance to make corrections.

• We recommend taking a screenshot or saving the summary as a PDF, since HMRC doesn’t allow you to revisit this page later.

• Click ‘Next’ to continue.

10. Finalise Notification

You’ll now see:

• Green ticks next to: Employer company details, Details of shares, Employee details

• A final Declaration section to complete

• Click Submit once everything is correct.

11. Confirmation & Record Keeping

• You’ll be presented with an Acknowledgement Page containing a reference number.

• Make a note of the reference number and save a screenshot for your records.

• This confirms HMRC has received your EMI notification for that grant date and tax year.