EIS, SEIS and VCTs in outline

Three schemes, and every exam question is a cell in the same grid: rate, ceiling, holding period, and what happens to dividends and gains. SEIS is the seed-stage scheme: the HIGHEST relief rate (50%) on the smallest ceiling (£200,000), 3-year holding, plus a reinvestment relief that exempts HALF of a chargeable gain reinvested into SEIS shares. EIS is the scale scheme: 30% relief on up to £2,000,000 a year — but everything above £1,000,000 must go into knowledge-intensive companies — with the same 3-year holding, CGT-EXEMPT disposals where the income tax relief was given and kept, and full CGT deferral relief on gains reinvested. The VCT is the income scheme: 30% relief on subscriptions up to £200,000, a LONGER 5-year holding, and — uniquely — TAX-FREE dividends alongside CGT-exempt disposals. Sell any of them before its holding period ends and the income tax relief is withdrawn. The distractor patterns are always swaps within the grid: giving EIS the top rate (it is SEIS's), one holding period for all three (3, 3 and 5), tax-free dividends everywhere (VCT only), or the whole reinvested gain exempted under SEIS (half only — full-gain treatment is EIS deferral).