Relief for investment in corporate trades for individuals

Employment Investment Incentive (EII)

EII is a tax relief which aims to encourage individuals to provide equity based finance to trading companies.

You can claim tax relief on your investment when certain conditions are met. For shares issued up to and including 8 October 2019, the relief is split into two tranches:

• thirty fortieths (30/40) in the year of investment
• ten fortieths (10/40) in the fourth year after the initial investment.

For shares issued after 8 October 2019, the relief is available in full in the year of the investment.

Companies will issue shares to you for the amount you invest. You need to hold those shares for at least four years.

EII is available to qualifying individuals who make qualifying investments. You will  qualify if you, or your family, do not own any capital in the company.

The maximum investment on which you can claim relief in a year is:

• €150,000 in respect of the years up to and including 2019
• €500,000 in respect of the years after 2019, subject to those shares being held for a minimum period of seven years
• or
• €250,000 in respect of the years after 2019 where those shares are held for a minimum period of four years only.

Details on the EII can be found in the manual Relief for investment in corporate trades.

Next: Start-up Capital Incentive (SCI)