(c) the investor acquired the shares at a time when the investee company had not issued any shares other than subscriber shares and had not begun to carry on or make preparations for carrying on any trade or business. (b) the individual holds shares in the investee company, all of which were issued to the individual when the company was incorporated or shares subscribed for under the SEIS, EIS or SITR rules, for which the invested company submits a compliance statement to HMRC under section 205, 257ED or 257PB of the ITA 2007 respectively) Section 164A of the Income Tax Act 2007 imposes the requirement that for an existing investor of a company to claim tax relief under EIS, all shares held by him at the date of investment must be either: There are requirements that the investee company must meet both before the date of the investment and for three years thereafter as well as requirements that the investors must meet both before the date of the investment and for three years thereafter. The rules governing the availability of EIS relief are complex. It gives such investors a range of tax reliefs on their investment, the most notable of which are 30% up front income tax relief and 100% capital gains tax relief on a sale of the shares. The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is a tax relief scheme for investors making equity investments in startups. These rules still catch out investors with the result that they are unable to claim EIS on investments they make. Back in 2015, the Government announced changes to the availability of EIS relief to investors who already hold shares in the capital of the investee company.