Last VCTs and EIS for the 2025/26 tax year – deadlines 2 April
Don't invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.
Estimated reading time: 2 min
Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.
What are the key risks?
- You could lose all the money you invest
- If the business you invest in fails, you are likely to lose 100% of the money you invested. Most start-up businesses fail.
- You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong
- Protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), in relation to claims against failed regulated firms, does not cover poor investment performance. Try the FSCS investment protection checker here.
- Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA-regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
- You won’t get your money back quickly
- Even if the business you invest in is successful, it may take several years to get your money back. You are unlikely to be able to sell your investment early.
- The most likely way to get your money back is if the business is bought by another business or lists its shares on an exchange such as the London Stock Exchange. These events are not common.
- If you are investing in a start-up business, you should not expect to get your money back through dividends. Start-up businesses rarely pay these.
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
- Putting all your money into a single business or type of investment for example, is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
- A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.
- The value of your investment can be reduced
- The percentage of the business that you own will decrease if the business issues more shares. This could mean that the value of your investment reduces, depending on how much the business grows. Most start-up businesses issue multiple rounds of shares.
- These new shares could have additional rights that your shares don’t have, such as the right to receive a fixed dividend, which could further reduce your chances of getting a return on your investment.
If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA’s website here.
There are only a handful of VCTs (Venture Capital Trusts) and EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) funds still accepting applications for the current tax year (2025/26) – all the deadlines are today, 2 April.
Remember, if you are considering investing in VCTs, investing today is the last opportunity to benefit from income tax relief of up to 30%, before it reduces to 20% in the new tax year.
There are detailed conditions and rules you should consider carefully before investing. Decisions should be based on investment merit, not the tax reliefs alone.
VCT and EIS deadlines
- VCT deadlines (£200k allowance) – last chance for up to 30% income tax relief and tax-free dividends
- EIS deadlines (up to £2 million allowance) – save up to 30% income tax plus defer capital gains made elsewhere
Tax benefits and allowances depend on circumstances.
Important: The information on this website is for experienced investors. It is not a personal recommendation to invest. If you’re unsure, please seek advice. Investments are for the long term. They are high risk and illiquid and can fall as well as rise in value: you could lose all the money you invest.
1. Invest in a VCT – last chance for up to 30% income tax relief and tax-free dividends
VCTs (Venture Capital Trusts) are companies listed on the London Stock Exchange that invest in young, innovative and often privately-owned companies.
When you invest, you could receive:
- Up to 30% income tax relief – save up to £60,000 on your income tax bill when you invest in newly issued VCT shares
- Generous allowance – invest up to £200,000 per tax year
- Tax-free dividends – no need to declare VCT dividends on your tax return and they won’t use up your dividend allowance, which is currently £500. VCT dividends are variable and not guaranteed.
- Tax-free growth – no CGT on gains
Note: From 6 April 2026, the rate of VCT income tax relief is being cut from 30% to 20%.
VCT deadlines today, 2 April 2026
Below are the VCT offers still accepting applications for 2025/26. The investment should qualify for up to 30% income tax relief in the current tax year – not guaranteed.
| VCT | Applications accepted until | |
|---|---|---|
 |
Pembroke VCT |
12pm (noon) |
|
Triple Point Venture VCT |
11am |
Fuel Ventures VCT |
12pm (noon) | |
Unicorn AIM VCT |
12pm (noon) | |
Our ‘Featured Offers’, marked with a gold ‘W’, are the current offers we consider to have the most investment merit – this is not personal advice and you should form your own view.
2. Invest in EIS – save up to 30% income tax plus defer capital gains made elsewhere
The EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) incentivises investment in small and usually privately owned or AIM-quoted companies.
When you invest, you could receive:
- Up to 30% income tax relief – up to £3,000 saving on a £10,000 investment
- Carry back – potential to use the income tax relief against a previous year’s tax bill
- Very generous allowance – up to £1 million per tax year (or £2 million if at least £1 million is in knowledge-intensive companies)
- Capital gains deferral – defer capital gains from other investments, potentially indefinitely
- Tax-free growth
- Loss relief – offset any future losses against your income
- Inheritance tax relief – potentially pass on your investment IHT free
EIS deadlines today, 2 April 2026
Below are the EIS offers still accepting applications for 2025/26. As ‘KI approved EIS funds’, an investment should qualify for up to 30% income tax relief in the current tax year – not guaranteed. In addition, you should be able to apply the tax relief to the last tax year (2024/25) using 'carry back'.
| VCT | Applications accepted until | |
|---|---|---|
|
Guinness Knowledge Intensive EIS |
5pm |
|
Parkwalk Knowledge Intensive EIS Fund |
1pm |
Mercia Knowledge-intensive EIS Fund |
12pm (noon) | |
Par Knowledge Intensive EIS Fund |
5pm | |
Our ‘Featured Offers’, marked with a gold ‘W’, are the current offers we consider to have the most investment merit – this is not personal advice and you should form your own view.
Deadline for 2025/26 contributions: 11.59pm, 5 April
Invest in the Private Markets SIPP – receive up to 45% income tax relief
Our Private Markets SIPP is a Self-Invested Personal Pension that allows eligible investors to invest in Private Markets funds from leading managers. This means you could benefit from the diversification and return potential of Private Markets through the tax-efficient structure of a SIPP:
- Up to 45% income tax relief on contributions – SIPP contributions should receive a government top-up of 20% for basic-rate taxpayers, with higher and additional-rate taxpayers able to claim back up to an extra 20% or 25% respectively via their tax return.
- Tax-free growth – within a SIPP, investments grow free from UK income tax and capital gains tax (CGT), and you are usually able to withdraw up to 25% of your SIPP fund tax free at retirement, with the rest taxed as income.
The current annual pension allowance is £60,000, although personal limits can vary (read more on pension tax relief).
Pensions are long-term investments: you cannot normally access your funds before age 55 (57 from 2028). You need to ensure you are eligible to make contributions and that you won’t lose valuable benefits / guarantees or incur excessive fees before transferring. Currently, Wealth Club is working on making retirement options available. In the meantime, to access your SIPP you will have to transfer it to a different provider first. Please consider this if retiring soon.
Wealth Club aims to make it easier for experienced investors to find information on – and apply for – investments. You should base your investment decision on the offer documents and ensure you have read and fully understand them before investing. The information on this webpage is a marketing communication. It is not advice or a personal or research recommendation to buy, sell or hold any of the investments mentioned, nor does it include any opinion as to the present or future value or price of these investments. It does not satisfy legal requirements promoting investment research independence and is thus not subject to prohibitions on dealing ahead of its dissemination.
Alex Davies
Chief Executive
Alex was a board director at Hargreaves Lansdown, where he worked for 15 years. He was responsible for building Hargreaves Lansdown into the biggest direct-to-consumer SIPP provider in the UK with more than 150,000 clients and over £12 billion under management. He is a keen investor with a portfolio of shares, funds, student property, EIS and VCT investments.