SURE is a tax relief that provides a refund of Income Tax that you paid in previous years. You can claim the relief if you are starting your own business and you are:

• an employee
• an unemployed person
• a person who has recently been made redundant.

The general conditions for SURE are that you must:

• establish a new company carrying on a new qualifying trading activity
• have mainly Pay As You Earn (PAYE) income in the previous four years
• take up full-time employment in the new company as a director or an employee
• invest cash in the new company by purchasing new shares  
• keep the purchased shares for at least four years.

There are a number of specific conditions that the individual and the company must meet in order to qualify for this relief.