There will also be a cap on total investment that a company can receive from VCTs and EIS of £15m, increasing to £20m for knowledge-intensive companies. Again this is not expected to affect many prospective investments as there is already a rule which prevents VCTs and EIS investing in companies with gross assets of more than £15m.

The government also plans to increase the employee limit for knowledge-intensive companies to 499 employees, from the current limit of 249 employees. The legislation will not be retrospective, so it will not affect existing investments in VCTs and EIS. It will be implemented from the date of Royal Assent, expected Summer 2015.

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