The golden rule of business exit planning is to prepare your business for sale, both in terms of maximising the value you achieve from your buyer, and maximising the net value after taxes. 

Selling your business is one of the most important financial events of your life.  It is stressful, time-consuming and the stakes are high.  And by the way, while all this is going on, you still have to run a business!  

It is perhaps not surprising then that tax planning can take a back seat for the unwary.  

Unfortunately, failure to plan early for tax efficiency means you could lose significant value to the taxman. Many of the tax reliefs that apply on a sale of a business will have qualification rules, one of which is usually a time period.  In other words, your corporate ownership structure will need to have been in place for a “qualifying period”, defined by the legislation.  So if you don’t investigate the tax efficient exit routes early, it’s likely that you could miss them.

The good news is that if you get everything right, you can maximise the sale proceeds from your buyer, whilst minimising the tax liability on the sale. Truly a win win!

Contact us if you want to know:

●    The process and timelines for different types of exit.

●    How buyers value your business — and how to improve that valuation before selling.

●    The tax reliefs available for exits, and the qualification conditions that you need to meet.