Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 511A

Shares acquired from an employee share ownership trust - ESOT

Section 511A provides that where shares are transferred from an employee share ownership trust (ESOT) to an approved profit sharing scheme (APSS) and then appropriated to a participant, the time the shares were held in the ESOT counts towards the retention and release periods that must be satisfied for tax relief.

• The section applies where APSS trustees appropriate shares to a participant, those shares were previously transferred from an ESOT, and the participant was a beneficiary of the ESOT throughout the holding period.
• The holding period runs from the later of the date the ESOT acquired the shares or the date the participant became a beneficiary, and ends on the date the shares are appropriated to the participant.
• The retention period ends on the day after the holding period if that period is two years or more; otherwise it ends two years after the holding period began (or earlier on retirement, redundancy, or death).
• The release date falls on the day after the holding period if that period is three years or more; otherwise it falls three years after the holding period began.