Doesn't the company have to run an "approved" share option scheme to get all of the tax benefits? I've been offered "unapproved" options before (not recently though) and they would have been pretty ruinous as I think I would have to paid income tax on them and CGT on any gains.
Well then your employer should have done an approved scheme - but GCT only applies when you sell and have a gain greater than your CGT allowance unlike the USA
For non UK residents the first $16k of CGT in a year is not taxed.
It was a small company with no outside investors and they didn't want to spend the money to get an approved scheme setup. I left before it became an issue for me.
Of course, it's very early stage companies that you really want options in...
