Restricted Securities | Updated Guidance On Section 431 Elections

• Published date: 27 September 2022
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Employee Rights/ Labour Relations
• Law Firm: Osborne Clarke
• Author: Michael Carter, Anika Chandra, Mairi Granville-George, Rhiannon Jones and Samuel Marriott

Under the restricted securities regime, an employee and employer can elect to accelerate the taxation of a restricted share (using what is known as a "section 431" election)

HMRC updated its guidance on section 431 elections on 19 July 2022, to confirm that:

• Section 431 elections can be entered into using formats other than HMRC's standard form (so long as it can be shown that the employee and employer have agreed the key terms in no less detail than HMRC's standard form).
• Elections can be incorporated into other documentation (such as a subscription agreement) and can be agreed via email.
• The omission of a National Insurance number will not affect the validity of an election if one is unavailable at the time.
• The same election may cover more than one type of security issued by more than one company at the same time, although it should only cover...