Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D. Oct 6, 2019:

You should be teaching at a university, Professor.

mike23 Oct 6, 2019:

1) Share-option schemes are typically used as an incentive for employees.

A share option is the right to buy a certain number of shares at a fixed price, some period of time in the future, within a company.
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2) Share-award schemes involve giving employees actual shares rather than share options, free or for less than their market value. The value of shares given to employees is treated as employment income - subject to tax and National Insurance contributions, unless you opt for an HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) tax-advantaged (approved) plan which comes with specific rules and requirements.

3) Share-purchase schemes

Share-purchase schemes allow employees to:

buy shares
save money to buy shares
buy shares for a small deposit, paying the rest at a later date
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An employee share scheme can help a company's owners to transfer ownership to those working in the business, eg to family or to enable a management buy-out. You can sell your company gradually and obtain tax relief while doing this. The tax relief available depends on the share scheme, eg deferred capital gains tax on the sale of shares through an HMRC-approved share incentive plan.

mike23 Oct 6, 2019:

The Share Incentive Plan The Share Incentive Plan (SIP) is a tax-advantaged all-employee plan that offers companies the ability to award equity to employees flexibly.

The shares awarded under a SIP are held in a trust and provided they are held for at least five years, the SIP is tax-efficient for both the employer and the employees. There are a number of ways in which the SIP can be operated and the employer can mix and match these modules from year to year.
https://www.bdo.co.uk/en-gb/insights/tax/global-employer-ser...