Employment related securities bulletin 65 (April 2026)

End of year filing reminder

If you operate an employee share scheme you must file an end of year employment related securities (ERS) return. 

For the 2025 to 2026 tax year, you must submit an end of year ERS return on or before 6 July 2026. If you miss this deadline, you will receive a late filing penalty. 

You must submit a return or nil return for every scheme that you have registered on the ERS online service. 

You must make sure you are submitting the correct end of year return template for the scheme you are operating. You must also make sure that you are using the most up to date version, or the ERS online service will reject your submission.

You should cease the scheme if you have:

• registered a scheme in error
• a scheme which is no longer operating

You must still submit an annual return for ceased schemes for the tax year in which the final event date falls. 

If you’ve stopped being an employer and have closed your PAYE scheme, you’ll also need to consider whether you need to cease your ERS scheme.

Read about how to submit an ERS return or submit a nil return.

Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) notifications

If you operate an EMI scheme and you have granted options on or after 6 April 2024, you must submit your EMI notifications by 6 July following the end of the tax year. Therefore, for options granted during the 2025 to 2026 tax year, the EMI notification must be submitted by 6 July 2026.

You must also submit an end of year return for all live EMI schemes by 6 July 2026.

The government announced at Budget 2025 that it will legislate to remove the requirement for employers to submit a notification for EMI options granted on or after 6 April 2027. An EMI notification is still required for options granted before 6 April 2027.

Saving copies of your return and notifications

Before you submit your ERS return or EMI notification, you must save a copy of it for your own records. 

If you are uploading an EMI notification attachment, you must save a copy of the file. If you are filling in the details online, you may want to take screenshots of each page and save them along with the confirmation page. 

You will not be able to access a copy of what you submit through the online service once you have submitted it.

Penalties for late filing

A £100 penalty will be issued automatically if the end of year ERS return, including nil returns where appropriate, is not submitted by 6 July 2026. 

Additional automatic penalties of £300 will be charged if the return is still outstanding 3 months after the original deadline of 6 July, and a further £300 if it’s still outstanding 6 months after that date. 

Even if you have received and paid the initial penalty, you must still submit an end of year or nil return to meet your filing obligations and prevent further penalties.

Dividend equivalents

Companies may give employees the right to receive dividends paid on shares between the award date and the date they receive the shares. These amounts mirror what would have been distributed if the shares were held during that period. 

Dividend equivalents can be paid in cash or shares and will be subject to Income Tax and in some cases National Insurance contributions. Companies often retain discretion over whether to settle the amounts in cash or shares, with this decision not made until the payment is due.

More detailed information can be found in the dividend equivalents section of the Employment Related Securities Manual (ERSM110030).

Enterprise Management Incentives changes to the scheme limits from 6 April 2026

Employment related securities bulletin 62 and Employment related securities bulletin 64 set out the changes to the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) limits from 6 April 2026 that were announced at Budget 2025. Find more guidance in the Finance Act 2026 section of the Employee Tax Advantaged Share Scheme User Manual (ETASSUM50500).

Find more information about all the EMI eligibility criteria, including information about disqualifying events and the types of companies that can operate an EMI scheme, in How employment related securities work if you’re an employer and the Employee Tax Advantaged Share Scheme User Manual (ETASSUM50000).