Blog
Understanding what you hold.
Plain-English guides to employee share schemes and tax-advantaged investment reliefs — written by the people building Equdash.
Employee share schemes
Sweet equity and restricted securities: the key principles under ITEPA
What makes shares “restricted”, when income tax can arise years after you bought them, and why a joint section 431 election within 14 days of acquisition matters so much.
Read the guide →EMI options explained: limits, vesting and what changed after the 2025/2026 Budget
How EMI options actually work, what changed for qualifying companies from April 2026, and the questions worth asking before you exercise.
Read the guide →Unapproved share options: how they're taxed, and what a s431 election actually does
Unapproved options don't come with EMI's tax breaks — and the s431 election you're asked to sign on day one can matter more than people realise.
EMI vs unapproved options: why the difference matters for your tax bill
Same idea — options over shares — but very different tax outcomes. A side-by-side look at where each one bites.
Investment reliefs
SEIS explained: qualifying conditions, the three-year holding period, and what voids the relief
The reliefs are generous, and the conditions are unforgiving. What has to stay true for three years for SEIS relief to survive.
EIS explained: how it works and where it overlaps with SEIS
EIS is SEIS's bigger sibling — similar shape, different limits. Where the two schemes line up and where they don't.
SEIS vs EIS: what's actually different
The single most-searched question in this space, answered directly — limits, relief rates, and which one a company usually raises under first.