Can you keep talent without paying top dollar? Learn how employee share schemes can offer a compelling way to incentivise and retain staff. Sally breaks down the most common arrangements used to give employees a stake in your company, alongside the legal and tax considerations. With expert commentary from Ellie Murdoch, they unpack the pros, cons and obligations around schemes like discounted employee shares, share options, vendor financing and more. In this episode of the Smarten Up! The Tax and Business Podcast, you’ll learn: The most popular alternatives used to incentivise staff beyond salary (0:22) The key decisions to guide your employee share scheme approach (1:52) Where businesses should start when exploring their options (3:53) Tax obligations triggered by issuing discounted employee shares (6:45) Tax risks around vendor financing employees to purchase shares (11:54) How partly paid shares work and considerations before using them (13:38) Case study on structuring incentives for a tech startup (18:33) Reporting deadlines and admin needs with employee share schemes (25:01) Discover what you need to ask before offering equity, as well as how to structure incentives that excite employees without nasty surprises. Whether you want to issue shares upfront or tie them to tenure and performance hurdles, this episode will help you make better informed decisions.