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An enquiry may, for example, be opened into –»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp declaration made by the company when notifying the CSOP to HMRC (see ETASSUM41130).

HMRC may send a notice of enquiry into the declaration made by the company secretary when notifying the CSOP to HMRC no later than 6 July in the tax year following the tax year in which the ‘initial notification deadlineâ€� falls. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp ‘initial notification deadlineâ€� is the 6 July in the tax year following that in which the first grant date falls. So for example, if a company grants the first option under a scheme on 31 December 2014, and notifies the scheme on 31 March 2015, HMRC can open an enquiry any time up to and including 6 July 2016.

HMRC can enquire into whether the scheme meets the requirements of parts 2-6 of Schedule 4 and whether the scheme has been operated in accordance with the scheme rules.

If a scheme is notified after 6 July following the end of the tax year in which the first grant of option is made, HMRC may send a notice of enquiry no later than 6 July in the second tax year following the ‘relevant tax yearâ€�. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp ‘relevant tax yearâ€� is the tax year in which notice is given in this instance. So for example, if a company grants the first option under a scheme on 31 December 2014 and notifies the scheme on 31 December 2015, HMRC can open an enquiry any time up to and including 6 July 2017. An enquiry may also, for example, be opened into the declaration made by the company when notifying an alteration to a key feature or variation of capital (see ETASSUM46140).

HMRC may send a notice of enquiry into a declaration made by the company secretary when notifying an alteration to a key feature or variation of capital at any time within 12 months from the date on which the return containing the declaration is given (paragraph 28F(3)).

A notice of enquiry can be issued at any time if HMRC has reasonable grounds for believing that any of the requirements of parts 2-6 of Schedule 4 are not met or have not been met in relation to the CSOP (paragraph 28F(4) and (5)). ‘Reasonable grounds� has no statutory definition and therefore takes its ordinary meaning.

A notice may be given and an enquiry undertaken even if the termination condition has been met in relation to the CSOP (paragraph 28F(6)).

Where a scheme was approved by HMRC prior to 6 April 2014, it is accepted that the scheme met the requirements of the legislation at the date of approval. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp approval will not be reviewed by HMRC as part of an enquiry unless new information comes to light which was not available at the time the approval was given.