FEDERAL BUDGET May 2021

BUSINESS TAXATION

Employee share schemes: cessation of employment removed as a taxing point

The Government will remove the cessation of employment as a taxing point for tax-deferred employee share schemes (ESSs). There are also other changes designed to cut “red tape” for certain employers.

Cessation of employment change

Currently, under a tax-deferred ESS and where certain criteria are met, employees may defer tax until a later tax year (the deferred taxing point). In such cases, the deferred taxing point is the earliest of:

  • cessation of employment;
  • in the case of shares, when there is no risk of forfeiture and no restrictions on disposal;
  • in the case of options, when the employee exercises the option and there is no risk of forfeiting the resulting share and no restriction on disposal; and
  • the maximum period of deferral of 15 years.

The change announced in the latest Budget will result in tax being deferred until the earliest of the remaining taxing points.

Other regulatory changes

The Government will also:

  • remove disclosure requirements and exempt an offer from the licensing, anti-hawking and advertising prohibitions for ESS where employers do not charge or lend to the employees to whom they offer the ESS; and

increase the value of shares that can be issued to an employee utilising the simplified disclosure requirements (and exemptions from licensing, anti-hawking and advertising requirements) from $5,000 to $30,000 per employee per year (leaving unchanged the absence of such a value cap for listed companies) – this will apply to employers who do charge or lend for issuing employees shares in an unlisted company.

Post navigation