Can I raise under SEIS and EIS at the same time?
By SuLe · Updated 13 June 2026
Yes — a single round can include both schemes: up to £250,000 (lifetime) under SEIS, and further investment under EIS within its caps of £5m in any 12 months and £12m lifetime. The rule that trips founders is sequence: SEIS shares must be issued before the EIS shares. Put both tranches in one same-day batch and the SEIS investors' 50% relief is at risk.
Key facts
- You can raise under both schemes: SEIS up to £250,000 lifetime, EIS up to £5m in any 12 months and £12m lifetime (£20m knowledge-intensive).
- SEIS shares must be issued before EIS shares — same-day issues are a known trap.
- SEIS money counts towards the £5m 12-month cap, which covers all venture schemes combined.
- Relief differs by tranche: 50% income tax relief on SEIS shares, 30% on EIS shares.
- Both sets of shares must be held for 3 years, or the income tax relief is withdrawn.
How does a combined SEIS and EIS round work?
You split the round into two tranches. The SEIS tranche takes the company up to its £250,000 lifetime allowance; the EIS tranche takes the rest, from the same investors or different ones.
Each tranche is its own share issue with its own paperwork: the SEIS shares are issued first, the EIS shares later, and the company eventually files a compliance statement for each — SEIS1 for the SEIS tranche, EIS1 for the EIS tranche — once it has traded for 4 months or spent 70% of the relevant money.
Investors then receive the certificate matching their tranche (SEIS3 or EIS3) and claim 50% or 30% accordingly.
Why must the SEIS shares be issued first?
Because ordering is what preserves the SEIS relief: HMRC's schemes treat the sequence of issues as decisive, and shares issued after (or alongside) the EIS shares can fall out of SEIS. The same-day batch is the classic version of the trap — one board meeting, one bulk issue, both tranches dated the same day, and the 50% relief is in jeopardy.
The fix costs nothing: issue the SEIS shares first and the EIS shares on a later day, with board minutes and filings that make the two dates unambiguous.
Sequencing protects the asset test too. SEIS requires gross assets of £350,000 or less immediately before the SEIS issue — bank £500,000 of EIS money first and you may fail that test before the SEIS shares exist.
How do the caps interact?
Three caps matter, and they nest. SEIS is capped at £250,000 across the company's lifetime. EIS allows £5m in any 12 months — but that cap counts all venture schemes combined, so your SEIS money inside the same 12 months uses part of it.
Over the company's life, EIS runs to £12m — £20m for knowledge-intensive companies — and each scheme keeps its own company tests: the SEIS limits (assets, headcount, trade age) for the SEIS tranche, the EIS limits for the EIS tranche.
Investors have per-scheme caps too: £200,000 per tax year under SEIS and £1m under EIS (£2m where the excess is in knowledge-intensive companies).
| SEIS tranche | EIS tranche | |
|---|---|---|
| Company cap | £250,000 lifetime | £5m in any 12 months (all venture schemes combined); £12m lifetime (£20m knowledge-intensive) |
| Investor relief | 50% | 30% |
| Issue order | First — before any EIS shares | After the SEIS issue — not the same day |
| Gross assets test | £350,000 or less immediately before the issue | £15m or less before the issue, £16m after |
| Compliance route | SEIS1, then SEIS3 certificates | EIS1, then EIS3 certificates |
What does the paperwork look like in practice?
Start with one advance assurance exercise covering the whole raise: HMRC's non-statutory pre-clearance, sought with details of your plans and expected investors. Most angels in both tranches will wait for the letter.
Then run two clean completions. Separate board approvals, separate issue dates (SEIS first), separate entries in the register — so that when the compliance statements go in, nobody has to reconstruct which shares were issued when.
After completion the two tranches live under the same rules: money into the qualifying trade, shares held for 3 years, and no status-losing events such as repaying share capital or being acquired.
Worked example
Ben and Chloe are raising £750,000 for their AI hiring platform: £250,000 under SEIS — their full lifetime allowance — and £500,000 under EIS. Gross assets are £210,000 before the SEIS issue, safely under £350,000.
The board issues the SEIS shares on Tuesday and the EIS shares on Thursday, two days later, with separate minutes for each. SEIS investors share £125,000 of relief at 50%; EIS investors share £150,000 at 30%.
The whole £750,000 counts towards the 12-month venture-scheme cap, leaving £4.25m of headroom. Had both tranches been issued in one Tuesday batch, the £125,000 of SEIS relief would be at risk.
Where founders go wrong
Completing everything in one same-day batch
— the known trap; issue SEIS first and EIS on a later date, with minutes and filings that prove it.Banking the EIS money first
— gross assets are tested immediately before the SEIS issue, and a £500,000 deposit can blow the £350,000 limit.Forgetting SEIS counts towards the £5m
— the 12-month cap combines all venture schemes, so plan follow-on EIS raises around it.Mixing up the certificates
— SEIS investors need SEIS3s and EIS investors EIS3s; cross-wired paperwork stalls every claim in the round.
Related questions
What's the difference between SEIS and EIS?
Scale and rate. SEIS covers a company's first £250,000 with 50% income tax relief for investors and tight limits — gross assets of £350,000 or less, fewer than 25 staff, a trade under 3 years old. EIS runs to £5m in any 12 months and £12m lifetime at 30% relief. [More: SEIS vs EIS — what's the difference?]
Do we need separate advance assurance for each scheme?
No — advance assurance is HMRC's non-statutory pre-clearance for the venture capital schemes, and a raise spanning SEIS and EIS can be covered in one exercise. Set out both tranches, your plans for the money and your expected investors, and most angels will wait for the letter before completing. [More: How do I get SEIS/EIS advance assurance?]
What happens if we issued SEIS and EIS shares on the same day?
You may have hit a known trap: SEIS shares must be issued before EIS shares, and a same-day batch puts the SEIS investors' 50% relief at risk. Do not try to paper over it after the event — take advice from a solicitor or accountant immediately, before filing compliance statements.
Can the same investor take both SEIS and EIS shares?
Generally yes, within each scheme's own limits — up to £200,000 per tax year under SEIS and £1m under EIS (£2m where the excess is knowledge-intensive). The connection rule still applies across the piece: more than 30% of shares, votes or capital, counting associates, disqualifies them. [More: Can founders or directors claim SEIS relief on their own shares?]
A combined SEIS/EIS round fails quietly: the money arrives, everyone celebrates, and the sequencing error only surfaces months later when HMRC reviews the compliance statements. A SuLe solicitor can choreograph the tranches — dates, minutes, filings — so both reliefs survive contact with completion day. Book a free SEIS/EIS readiness call before you set an issue date.
Keep reading: What is SEIS and how does it work? · What is EIS and how does it work? · SEIS vs EIS — what's the difference? · How do I get SEIS/EIS advance assurance? · What are SEIS1 and SEIS3 forms? · How do I issue new shares in a UK company?
Primary sources: HMRC — Apply to use the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme · HMRC — Apply to use the Enterprise Investment Scheme · HMRC — Apply for advance assurance on a venture capital scheme
