Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has undertaken any studies to determine the potential merits for female entrepreneurs of extending from two to three years the maximum time someone has been trading in order to be eligible for SEIS.

HMRC does not require companies which receive investment through the SEIS to declare the genders of the individuals who are directors, shareholders, or founders of said companies. Therefore, HMRC does not hold any data on the number of female or male entrepreneurs which have participated in the SEIS scheme.

HMRC does however hold information on the genders of the individuals who invested in SEIS qualifying companies, since this is reported on Self-Assessment returns. In 2018/19, around 1,120 SEIS investors declared themselves as female on their Self-Assessment return, compared to around 6,240 male SEIS investors.

The SEIS provides a range of tax reliefs to individuals who invest in small, higher risk companies to support their growth and development. The SEIS has been designed to encourage investment in very early-stage companies that face the biggest challenges to accessing growth capital.

Whilst no study on the benefits to female entrepreneurship of changes to the SEIS has been undertaken, the Government keeps the scheme, including the company age requirement, under review in order to ensure it continues to meet policy objectives in a way that is fair and effective.