Answer
How long does HMRC SEIS advance assurance take?
Most SEIS and EIS advance assurance decisions land roughly four to eight weeks after submission, though HMRC's turnaround moves with their workload. There is no fast-track. What actually costs time is an incomplete application: each round of HMRC questions typically adds two to four weeks.
Typical timeline
| Stage | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| You gather plan, numbers and investor details | A few days |
| Mida OS eligibility review | 1-2 days |
| Application pack drafted and approved by you | 2-5 days |
| HMRC considers the application | Usually 4-8 weeks |
| Each round of HMRC questions, if any | Adds 2-4 weeks |
What makes it slower
- No named prospective investor included
- Use of funds described vaguely, or in a way that reads as acquisition rather than growth
- Figures in the plan that do not reconcile with the amount being raised
- Unexplained prior grants, subsidies or state aid
- A trading-age or first-commercial-sale date that is not evidenced
- Group or subsidiary activity that is not described
Plan your round around it
Investors usually want the assurance letter before they wire money, so work backwards from your target close and allow around two months for HMRC on top of the week or so it takes to prepare. If your round is tight, start the application before the terms are fully papered: advance assurance is based on a proposed share issue, not a completed one.
Primary sources
What Mida OS actually does
We are a boutique SEIS and EIS consultancy in the UK. We check your eligibility, draft and file the advance assurance application with HMRC, and answer HMRC's questions until the letter arrives. Fixed fee of £449 for SEIS, EIS or both, and every application we have filed has been approved. After your round closes we file the SEIS1 or EIS1 compliance statement and issue SEIS3 and EIS3 certificates at £50 per investor.