Selling or passing on your business: your options
There are many ways out of a company: selling it, handing it to your staff or family, or closing it down. We work out what you keep after tax from each, when the cash arrives, and what your family keeps afterwards, then put them in order by what matters most to you.
Your answer
Enter what the company is worth and answer the questions about it to see your options side by side.
About this calculator
For owners of a private limited company who want to compare their ways out: selling the shares, selling the assets, selling to an employee ownership trust (EOT), selling to your managers, having the company buy your shares back, giving it to your family, selling most of it to an investment firm, closing it down, or keeping it and leaving it to your family.
You type the value, what you paid and a few facts about the company. We don't value the business or look anything up. We assume you live in the UK, there are no fees, and money paid later counts at face value.
Keeping a say, looking after staff and speed are ranked on our own rough rating of each route, so that order is a rough guide. The cash and family figures are worked out from your figures.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
Your share of the value less what you paid is your gain. On a sale it's taxed at 18% in your basic rate band and 24% above, after £3,000 a year tax-free; with Business Asset Disposal Relief, the first £1m at 18% throughout. A sale to an EOT taxes only half the gain, with no Business Asset Disposal Relief.
Selling the assets or closing the company means the company pays Corporation Tax first, then shares out what's left, taxed as a gain. A buy-back is limited to what the company can pay now, and taxed as a dividend unless the rules for a sale are met. A gift of a trading company's shares puts the tax off: your family takes on your gain.
Then we work out the inheritance tax each route adds if you died soon after, with business relief on shares you still own or gave away, and what your family keeps. In the example, a £2m company you set up for £100, with £50,000 of other income and the relief: selling the shares leaves you about £1,580,744, and a sale to an EOT about £1,760,748, paid over 5 years.
Worked example
The best fit for the most cash is to sell to an employee ownership trust (EOT): you'd keep about £1,760,748 after tax.
2026/27 rates · your value of £2,000,000 · trading company · Business Asset Disposal Relief · other income £50,000 · married: tax on the second death · inheritance tax if you died soon after · paid over 5 years for a trust or managers · no fees, UK resident
| Your share of the company (100%) | £2,000,000 |
|---|---|
| Less what you paid for your shares | £100 |
| Your gain if sold at that value | £1,999,900 |
| Business Asset Disposal Relief at 18%: limit left | £1,000,000 |
| Business relief from inheritance tax: all up to £5,000,000 (both of yours), 50% above | £5,000,000 |
| Sell your shares to a buyer: cash to you before your tax | £2,000,000 |
| Sell your shares to a buyer: Capital Gains Tax you pay | £419,256 |
| Sell your shares to a buyer: you keep after tax | £1,580,744 |
| Sell your shares to a buyer: extra inheritance tax this route adds if you died soon after | £632,298 |
| Sell your shares to a buyer: what your family keeps | £948,446 |
| Sell the business's assets, then close the company: Corporation Tax the company pays | £425,000 |
| Sell the business's assets, then close the company: cash to you before your tax | £1,575,000 |
| Sell the business's assets, then close the company: Capital Gains Tax you pay | £317,256 |
| Sell the business's assets, then close the company: you keep after tax | £1,257,744 |
| Sell the business's assets, then close the company: extra inheritance tax this route adds if you died soon after | £503,098 |
| Sell the business's assets, then close the company: what your family keeps | £754,646 |
| Sell to an employee ownership trust (EOT): cash to you before your tax | £2,000,000 |
| Sell to an employee ownership trust (EOT): tax on half your gain (£999,950), no Business Asset Disposal Relief | £239,252 |
| Sell to an employee ownership trust (EOT): you keep after tax | £1,760,748 |
| Sell to an employee ownership trust (EOT): extra inheritance tax this route adds if you died soon after | £704,299 |
| Sell to an employee ownership trust (EOT): what your family keeps | £1,056,449 |
| Sell to your managers: cash to you before your tax | £2,000,000 |
| Sell to your managers: Capital Gains Tax you pay | £419,256 |
| Sell to your managers: you keep after tax | £1,580,744 |
| Sell to your managers: extra inheritance tax this route adds if you died soon after | £632,298 |
| Sell to your managers: what your family keeps | £948,446 |
| Have the company buy back your shares: not worked out. Tell us the profit the company has built up that it could legally pay out. It can only buy shares back out of that. | |
| Give the company to your family: tax you pay now | £0 |
| Give the company to your family: you keep after tax | £0 |
| Give the company to your family: extra inheritance tax this route adds if you died soon after | £0 |
| Give the company to your family: the most your family would pay on your gain if they later sold | £479,256 |
| Give the company to your family: what your family keeps | £1,520,744 |
| Sell most of it to an investment firm: cash to you before your tax | £1,400,000 |
| Sell most of it to an investment firm: Capital Gains Tax you pay | £275,263 |
| Sell most of it to an investment firm: you keep after tax | £1,124,737 |
| Sell most of it to an investment firm: extra inheritance tax this route adds if you died soon after | £449,895 |
| Sell most of it to an investment firm: what your family keeps | £1,274,842 |
| Close the company and take out what's left: cash to you before your tax | £600,000 |
| Close the company and take out what's left: Capital Gains Tax you pay | £107,442 |
| Close the company and take out what's left: you keep after tax | £492,558 |
| Close the company and take out what's left: extra inheritance tax this route adds if you died soon after | £197,023 |
| Close the company and take out what's left: what your family keeps | £295,535 |
| Keep it and leave it to your family: tax you pay now | £0 |
| Keep it and leave it to your family: you keep after tax | £0 |
| Keep it and leave it to your family: extra inheritance tax this route adds if you died soon after | £0 |
| Keep it and leave it to your family: what your family keeps | £2,000,000 |
| Best fit for the most cash: sell to an employee ownership trust (EOT) | £1,760,748 |
Worked out using HMRC's 2026/27 rates for Capital Gains Tax, Corporation Tax, dividends and inheritance tax, the employee ownership trust rules from 26 November 2025 and the business relief rules from 6 April 2026, on your own figures. The ranking for keeping a say, staff or speed uses our own judgement. Not legal or tax advice.
Questions people ask
Why does a sale to an EOT come out ahead on cash?
Since 26 November 2025 only half your gain is taxed on a sale to an employee ownership trust. Business Asset Disposal Relief doesn't apply to it, but half the gain at up to 24% is still less than all of it at 18%. The price is usually paid over several years out of profits, so the cash comes slower.
Why does a route say it isn't worked out?
Some routes need a figure only you know, such as the profit the company could pay out for a buy-back. Fill it in and the route appears. Others need a rule to be met, such as the company trading.
Is the tax due when the cash arrives?
Not always. The tax on a sale is due by 31 January after the tax year of the sale, even if most of the price is paid later. If the price is paid over more than 18 months, you can ask HMRC to let you pay the tax in instalments.
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