Firm slams Brown over tax stance on share schemes ;TECHNOLOGY START-UPS: UK policy is overly complicated ;City firm Taylor Joynson Garrett has criticised the government for hindering technology start-ups with its tax treatment of employee share schemes. ;Following the findings of its survey of initial public offerings for technology, media and telecoms companies in the UK and US, the firm has written to Chancellor Gordon Brown to call for a comprehensive review of his complex schemes. In particular, the firm highlighted the 15 million and 15-employee cap on Enterprise Management Incentives and the 30,000 cap and three-year exercise period for approved share option schemes. ;Share schemes are seen as a vital mechanism for locking in key staff to a new technology company. ;The letter to Mr Brown concluded: The whole system relating to the taxation of share options has now become overly complex and hedged around with unnecessary and sometimes illogical regulation. It suffers from the introduction of a number of schemes on a piecemeal basis. ;Half the 46 UK technology and media companies surveyed said they were discouraged by the ;governments treatment of employee incentive share plans, compared with only 9% of the 55 US ;respondents. ;The survey said: The results have highlighted a wide gap between the UK governments rhetoric about supporting the knowledge-based sector and the actual implementation of its policy. ;TJG partner Gordon Jackson added: The dramatic differences between the US and the UK are clearly alarming. UK government policy makes share plans overly complicated we are asking the government to simplify them. ;The survey was carried out in conjunction with London Business School. ;Anne Mizzi ; ; ;