Options for the team

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Options for 60 people

Course 1 met share options: the right to buy shares later, at a price set today. Kai and Remy want every one of Shard Garden's 60 people to have some.

Shard Garden is a UK company, and the UK has a scheme that lowers the tax on options for the people who get them: Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI). Theo checks whether the studio can use it.

Who can use EMI

GOV.UK sets these limits for options given from 6 April 2026:

A company with up to 500 employees and up to £120 million of gross assets.
Up to £6 million of options in the whole company.
Up to £250,000 for one person in 3 years.

Before that date the limits were 250 employees, £30 million and £3 million.

Check the rules

Shard Garden today
Employees          60Gross assets  £8 million

Can Theo give EMI options at Shard Garden?

  1. Yes: it is under 500 employees and £120 million of gross assets
  2. No: a studio needs 250 employees first
  3. Only if each person gets exactly £250,000
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Yes: it is under 500 employees and £120 million of gross assets

60 employees and £8 million of assets are both well inside the limits. £250,000 is the most one person can get in 3 years, not a fixed amount.

Why the price is set today

Each option has an exercise price: what the person pays for each share when they use it.

GOV.UK: if they pay no less than the market value on the day the option was given, and buy within 10 or 15 years, no Income Tax or National Insurance is due. Capital Gains Tax may be due later, when they sell.

So Theo prices each option at what a share is worth that day, and asks HMRC to check the value first.

Quick check

Priya was given options at £2 a share, the market value that day. Six years later a share is worth £10, and Priya buys at £2. What tax is due when Priya buys?

  1. No Income Tax or National Insurance
  2. Income Tax on the £8 gain per share
  3. Capital Gains Tax on £10 a share
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No Income Tax or National Insurance

Priya paid the market value from the day the option was given, so buying is free of Income Tax and National Insurance. Capital Gains Tax may be due later, if Priya sells.

Tell HMRC on time

For options given on or after 6 April 2024, GOV.UK says HMRC must be told "on or before 6 July following the end of the tax year in which the grant is made". The UK tax year ends on 5 April.

Theo puts the date in the studio calendar on the day the options are given.

Find the date

Theo gives options on 1 September 2026. When must HMRC hear about them?

  1. By 6 July 2027
  2. By 6 July 2026
  3. By 31 December 2026
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By 6 July 2027

1 September 2026 falls in the tax year that ends on 5 April 2027. The deadline is the 6 July after that: 6 July 2027.

Outside the UK

Other countries have their own option schemes, limits and tax rules. When Shard Garden hires abroad, Theo asks an adviser in that country before promising anyone options.

Quick check

Kai can promise EMI options to a new artist in another country on the same terms, with no checks.

Show the answer

False

EMI is a UK scheme. Each country has its own rules, so the studio checks with an adviser there before promising anything.

Working from anywhere

Some of Shard Garden's best people live far from the office.

Bolt says: Next: remote and hybrid studios.

Fact-checked 12 October 2026