You can currently contribute between £10 and £150 per month. Your deduction is taken directly from your pre-tax salary and subject to a maximum of 10% of your monthly salary. Therefore, if you are a basic rate taxpayer every £1 you contribute only costs you approximately 80 pence. If you are a higher rate taxpayer, every £1 you contribute only costs you approximately 60 pence (or 55 pence, if you are an additional rate taxpayer).
The shares are purchased on the tenth day of every month or the next business day after. The shares are purchased in the stock market at the price at the time of dealing. The purchase price is announced shortly after the purchase and you can expect to receive a notification on your EquatePlus portal account. There is no commission charged on the shares that are bought.
The plan is flexible and you can stop paying monthly contributions at any time and even vary your monthly contribution any time you want. Changes can be made on your EquatePlus portal account.
Sharematch
Sharematch is linked to Sharepurchase. For every two Diageo shares you buy under Sharepurchase, you will be awarded one extra Diageo share free under Sharematch - Buy two, get one free!
If you sell your Sharepurchase shares before they are three years old, you will forfeit the corresponding Sharematch shares that were awarded. If you sell Sharepurchase or Sharematch shares aged between 3 and 5 years, there will be income tax and National Insurance to pay. It is only after they have been held for five years that they can be sold without deduction of income tax and National Insurance. Any increase in value of shares while they are held in the SIP Trust is free from Capital Gains Tax.
All shares bought under Sharepurchase and Sharematch are included when dividends are paid by Diageo plc.
Important Information
Applications or changes to Sharepurchase must be made online by the 5th of the month for the instruction to commence from salary that month. If your instruction is input after the 5th your request will commence from the following month’s salary.
If you sell any taxable SIP shares the proceeds are processed through payroll and included with your normal salary so that tax and National Insurance can be withheld. If you input a taxable sale on or before the 8th of the month (or previous business day if this falls on a weekend) the proceeds will be paid in the same month’s salary. Sales after the 8th of the month will be included in the following month’s salary.
For more detailed information please see the Share Incentive Plan Factsheet which can be found in the Library->Documents section of your EquatePlus portal account.
You can log into your EquatePlus portal account on the EquatePlus Login page