What a sale means for your staff
Shows what a bonus, share options and leaving pay cost the company, and the tax your staff pay, if you sell your shares, sell the business's assets, or sell to an employee ownership trust (EOT). All three are shown side by side.
Your answer
Enter the sale date and a typical salary to see what your staff will cost you.
About this calculator
For owners planning to sell who want to look after their team and know what it will cost. You type the sale date, how you plan to sell, a typical salary, and any bonus, tax-favoured share options (Enterprise Management Incentives, EMI) and people who will lose their job. We don't connect to your payroll or option records: one typical person stands for each group.
We show what the company pays (bonus, employer's National Insurance, leaving pay) and the tax your staff pay, for all three ways to sell. Option gains come out of the price the buyer pays, so we show them apart. Income tax is for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with standard National Insurance and no Corporation Tax saving.
Whether staff move to a buyer, and whether anyone can be let go, is employment law (TUPE). We don't advise on it: if anyone will lose their job, speak to a solicitor first. Options given at a discount, options that may have run out, and options in a sale of assets are passed to us to check.
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
Each person's bonus goes on top of the typical salary: we work out the extra income tax and National Insurance, and the company's 15% employer's National Insurance. With a trust, the first £3,600 of each bonus can be free of income tax if everyone is offered it on the same terms.
Tax-favoured options are taxed as a gain on shares when sold, at the lower business rate if they were given about 2 years or more before the sale. If the options fail the size limits, or the assets are sold, the gain is taxed as pay instead. We also show the last day they can be used.
In the example, 10 people share a £50,000 bonus and 3 people each gain £10,000 on their options in a sale of shares. The company pays £57,500 (the bonus plus £7,500 of employer's National Insurance), and staff pay £17,780 in tax.
Worked example
With a sale of your shares, your staff would cost the company about £57,500.
2026/27 rates · a sale of your shares · one typical salary of £40,000 · England, Wales and Northern Ireland income tax · standard National Insurance · no leavers (asked for a sale of assets) · no Corporation Tax saving
| The bonus pool | £50,000 |
|---|---|
| Each person's bonus, shared between 10 | £5,000 |
| Income tax staff pay on the bonus | £10,000 |
| National Insurance staff pay on the bonus | £4,000 |
| Employer's National Insurance on the bonus, 15% | £7,500 |
| Gain on each person's options (1,000 shares) | £10,000 |
| Tax staff pay on the gain on their shares (lower business rate) | £3,780 |
| Option gains paid to staff out of the price (not counted below) | £30,000 |
| Tax and National Insurance your staff pay | £17,780 |
| What the company pays for staff | £57,500 |
Worked out using HMRC's income tax, National Insurance and Capital Gains Tax rates for the 2026/27 tax year, the tax-favoured share option rules (Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003, Schedule 5 and sections 529 to 534) and the statutory redundancy pay rules. Not legal or tax advice.
Questions people ask
What is the last day my staff can use their options?
Options given from 6 April 2026 can be used up to 15 years after they were given, or by the date in the agreement if that's earlier. Older options usually run for 10 years unless the agreement was changed. If a company buys your shares, staff have 90 days after it takes control, so most use their options at the sale.
Why does a sale to an employee ownership trust cost my staff less?
A company owned by a trust can pay each person up to £3,600 a year free of income tax, if every employee is offered it on the same terms. National Insurance is still due. Options are taxed the same as in a share sale.
Does this tell me whether I can let staff go?
No. When a business's assets are sold, staff usually move to the buyer on the same terms (TUPE), and letting them go because of the sale can be unlawful. Speak to a solicitor before you tell anyone.
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