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SEIS and EIS, from advance assurance to the certificates in your investors’ hands.

We get advance assurance before you pitch, issue the shares in the right order, file the compliance statement and send your investors the certificates they need. The fee is fixed and agreed before we start.

Talk to us about a raiseSEIS or EIS?
We handle SEIS and EIS end to end for UK startups: checking the company and the share issue qualify, applying for advance assurance before you pitch, sequencing the share issue so SEIS shares are not accidentally invalidated, filing the compliance statement after the round, and issuing each investor the certificate they need in order to claim their relief.

For an early-stage UK company raising money from individuals, SEIS and EIS are often the reason an investor puts money in at all. An angel investor putting £50,000 into SEIS shares gets 50% income tax relief, and further relief if the company fails.

A good deal of the work happens before the round. HMRC will not consider a speculative application, so you need named prospective investors and a share structure that already works. More happens after the round, when the money is in, because your investors cannot claim their relief until they have their certificates.

A share issue done in the wrong order costs your earliest investors the relief you promised them, and it cannot be amended later.

The company limits for SEIS and EIS

Sources: HMRC SEIS and HMRC EIS. EIS limits doubled on 6 April 2026. Knowledge-intensive companies have higher limits again.
SEISEISNorthern Ireland specified company
Company can raise£250,000 lifetime£10m a year, £24m lifetime£5m a year, £12m lifetime
Gross assetsno more than £350,000 at issue£30m before, £35m after£15m before, £16m after
Employeesfewer than 25fewer than 250fewer than 250
Age of tradeno more than 3 yearswithin 7 years of first commercial salewithin 7 years
Investor relief50% income tax relief30% income tax relief30%
Northern Ireland is different

A Northern Ireland company trading in goods, or in the generation, transmission, distribution, supply, wholesale or cross-border exchange of electricity, is a “specified company” and gets none of the April 2026 uplift. If you manufacture in Northern Ireland, this is likely to apply to you.

How an SEIS or EIS round runs

  1. 1
    Get the company into shape

    We check the share structure, share classes, the trade itself and the assets test against the conditions before anything is submitted. At this stage we also look for anything that would disqualify the company, such as an excluded activity that has become a substantial part of the trade, or arrangements that look pre-planned to HMRC.

  2. 2
    Advance assurance, before you pitch

    HMRC will not deal with a speculative application, so the application has to name individuals who are seriously expected to invest. We apply and manage the correspondence (HMRC advance assurance). Provisional 2025-26 figures show 76% of SEIS and 72% of EIS applications approved, both lower than the year before.

  3. 3
    Issue the shares, in the right order

    SEIS shares are issued first, and EIS shares on a later day. The shares must be ordinary shares, fully paid up, with no preferential rights. A wrong date on a board minute at this stage can cost the SEIS shares their relief.

  4. 4
    Compliance statement, then the certificates

    After the round we file the compliance statement, and once HMRC authorises it we issue each investor the certificate they need to claim their relief.

SEIS and EIS prices

Advance assurance

£499 + VAT
  • Eligibility checked against the risk-to-capital test
  • Your plan and forecast prepared in the form HMRC expects
  • Submitted as your agent, and followed up with HMRC until the decision arrives

Compliance and certificates

£599 + VAT
  • The SEIS1 or EIS1 compliance statement to HMRC
  • An SEIS3 or EIS3 certificate issued to every investor
  • Each certificate lets that investor claim their relief

Engagement letter

Included
  • HMRC wants to know who your investors will be
  • The letter gives HMRC that information, so you can apply before every investor has committed

The same prices are published on Find Investment, where founders listing a raise can order this work.

The rest of the investor pack

Advance assurance is one of the things an investor's advisers check. The others are current books, filed accounts, a forecast with its assumptions written down, and a share history that agrees with Companies House. Our investor readiness page sets out how we prepare them and how that work is priced.

If you want investors to find you, Find Investment is a platform where UK companies raising £100,000 to £2 million can list. Professional investors, certified high net worth individuals and self-certified sophisticated investors then make the first approach. It is run by Founder Capital LLP, and a listing does not mean an investor will get in touch.

Investor readinessFind Investment for founders

The risk-to-capital condition

HMRC applies a test in two parts, and most refusals come from it. First, the company must have objectives to grow and develop its trade over the long term. Second, there must be a significant risk of loss of capital to the investor greater than the net return. The net return includes the tax relief itself.

In practice, the test rules out companies set up to look like a low-risk investment product, such as those with asset backing that makes the downside look covered, secured or contracted income, a pre-determined exit, or a company that exists to run one project and then stop. These schemes were not built to fund those companies, and an application for one uses up time you need for the round.

We tell you which side of that line you are on before we apply. A refusal stays on the record, and your investors will ask about it.

SEIS and EIS questions

What is SEIS advance assurance and do we need it?

It is HMRC confirming, before you raise, that a proposed share issue looks like it will qualify for the scheme. You can raise without it, but most angel investors will not invest without it, because their relief depends on your company qualifying and they have no way of checking that themselves. We apply for it before any other work on the round.

How much can our company raise under SEIS and EIS?

SEIS is capped at £250,000 over the company's lifetime, with gross assets of no more than £350,000 at the point shares are issued, fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees, and a qualifying trade carried on for no more than three years. EIS runs to £10 million in any 12 months and £24 million over the company's lifetime, with gross assets of no more than £30 million before the issue and £35 million immediately after, fewer than 250 employees, and within seven years of first commercial sale. The EIS limits doubled on 6 April 2026.

Do the new EIS limits apply to a Northern Ireland company?

Not to every Northern Ireland company. A Northern Ireland company trading in goods, or in the generation, transmission, distribution, supply, wholesale or cross-border exchange of electricity, is a “specified company” and keeps the old limits: £5 million a year, £12 million lifetime, and gross assets of £15 million before and £16 million after. If you manufacture in Northern Ireland, this is likely to apply to you.

Does the order we issue shares in matter?

Yes. SEIS shares must be issued before EIS shares. If they are issued on the same day, the SEIS shares do not qualify, and your earliest investors lose the 50% relief they were promised. Putting that right afterwards needs a court application, so we set the order of the issue before anyone signs anything.

Why do advance assurance applications get refused?

HMRC's guidance lists several grounds. The one founders most need to understand is the risk-to-capital condition, which asks whether the company genuinely intends to grow and develop its trade long term and whether the investor is genuinely at risk of losing more than they get back in relief. Structures that look asset-backed, income-secured or built around a pre-planned exit fail it. Other grounds include an excluded activity forming a substantial part of the trade, an application that names no actual prospective investors, and failing to disclose an intermediary, which invalidates any assurance given.

How long does advance assurance take?

HMRC's internal aim is to deal with most applications within 15 working days and complex ones within 40. The approval rate has been falling. Provisional 2025-26 figures show 76% of SEIS and 72% of EIS applications approved, down from 85% and 76% the year before. Allow for this time when you plan your raise.

What happens after the money arrives?

You file a compliance statement with HMRC, and once it is authorised you issue each investor their certificate. Investors need that certificate to claim their relief, so until it arrives they cannot claim, and they will chase you for it. We handle the compliance statement and the certificates for you.

Apply for advance assurance before you pitch

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