Tax-Unapproved Share Option Scheme 

A discretionary scheme

The structure of the Tax-Unapproved Share Option Scheme mirrors the approved executive/company share option scheme without the tax relief at date of exercise and there is no £30,000 limitation for the tax-unapproved version on the market value of the shares over which the option has been granted. It is possible to compensate for the absence of tax relief by granting the option at a discount. This feature may be viable in the private company but would be highly unlikely in the publicly-quoted company in view of the position taken by the institutional investment committees.