Legislation – Finance Act 2026

Finance Act 2026, Section 15 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 16 April 2026. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.

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Pt. 15 excluded by S.I. 2026/331 reg. 19

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Whole provisions yet to be inserted into this Act (including any effects on those provisions):

Pt. 15 excluded by S.I. 2026/331 reg. 19

Part 1Income tax, capital gains tax and corporate taxes

Employee reliefs

15Venture capital trusts: rate of relief and amounts and asset requirements

(1)

Part 6 of ITA 2007 is amended as follows.

(2)

In section 263(2) (form and amount of relief), for “30%” substitute “20%”.

(3)

In section 292A(1) (the maximum amount raised annually through risk finance investments requirement ), for paragraphs (a) and (b) substitute—

“(a)

if at that date the relevant company is a knowledge-intensive company (see section 331A and subsection (6A)) and—

(i)

not a specified Northern Ireland company, £20 million;

(ii)

a specified Northern Ireland company, £10 million, and

(b)

if at that date the relevant company is not a knowledge-intensive company and—

(i)

not a specified Northern Ireland company, £10 million;

(ii)

a specified Northern Ireland company, £5 million.”.

(4)

In section 292AA(1) (maximum risk finance investments when relevant holding is issued requirement), for paragraphs (a) and (b) substitute—

“(a)

if at the investment date the relevant company is a knowledge-intensive company (see section 331A) and—

(i)

not a specified Northern Ireland company, £40 million;

(ii)

a specified Northern Ireland company, £20 million, and

(b)

if at the investment date the relevant company is not a knowledge-intensive company and—

(i)

not a specified Northern Ireland company, £24 million;

(ii)

a specified Northern Ireland company, £12 million.”.

(5)

In section 292AB(4) (maximum risk finance investments during the 5-year post-investment period requirement), for paragraphs (a) and (b) substitute—

“(a)

if at the investment date the relevant company is a knowledge-intensive company (see section 331A) and—

(i)

not a specified Northern Ireland company, £40 million;

(ii)

a specified Northern Ireland company, £20 million, and

(b)

if at the investment date the relevant company is not a knowledge-intensive company and—

(i)

not a specified Northern Ireland company, £24 million;

(ii)

a specified Northern Ireland company, £12 million.”.

(6)

In section 293 (the use of the money raised requirement)—

(a)

in subsection (1), for “The” substitute “A”;

(b)

after subsection (5A) insert—

“(5B)

Another requirement of this section is that, of the money raised by the issue of the relevant holding, only such part of that money as could have been raised by an issue of shares and securities falling within subsection (5C) is employed for the purposes of a qualifying business activity that is carried on by one or more specified Northern Ireland companies.

(5C)

Shares and securities fall within this subsection if the requirements in section 286(2) as they apply in relation to a relevant company that is a specified Northern Ireland company are met in respect of them.”.

(7)

In section 297 (the gross assets requirement)—

(a)

before subsection (1) insert—

“A1

The requirement of this section in the case of a relevant company that is a single company and not a specified Northern Ireland company is that the value of the company’s gross assets—

(a)

did not exceed £30 million immediately before the issue of the relevant holding, and

(b)

did not exceed £35 million immediately afterwards.

A2

The requirement of this section in the case of a relevant company that is a parent company and not a specified Northern Ireland company is that the value of the group assets—

(a)

did not exceed £30 million immediately before the issue of the relevant holding, and

(b)

did not exceed £35 million immediately afterwards.”;

(b)

in subsection (1), after “single company” insert “and a specified Northern Ireland company”;

(c)

in subsection (2), after “parent company” insert “and a specified Northern Ireland company”.

(8)

After section 331B, insert—

“331CMeaning of “specified Northern Ireland company”

For the purposes of this Part, a “specified Northern Ireland company” means a company that—

(a)

has its registered office in Northern Ireland, and

(b)

carries on a trade involving—

(i)

a trade in goods, or

(ii)

the generation, transmission, distribution, supply, wholesale trade or cross-border exchange of electricity.”.

(9)

The amendments made by this section come into force on 6 April 2026.