If a company has been trading for more than six years, but had an enterprise investment scheme (EIS) investment in the first six years of trading, is a new investor (who is not the initial investor, who invested in the first six years) able to claim EIS relief because of the previous claim by somebody else? How will this affect all investments which would normally qualify for EIS relief? Also, does the six-year rule relate to an investment from trade start date rather than incorporation date? If so, has this always been the case?

Arthur Weller replies:
If the individual subscribes for new shares in a qualifying EIS company, and these are his first shares in the company, then the EIS reliefs are available to him, and he is not affected by other investors (as long as he is not connected to the company). You mention six years, but I think what you mean is that after 18 November 2015 a company's first EIS investment must be within seven years of making its first commercial sale (http://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/venturecapital-schemes-manual/8150).