BUSINESS Succession Planning doesn’t always mean retirement. It could mean onward sale.

Retirement is not the only reason why you might need to extract cash from your business. Unexpected opportunities, illness or family circumstances can all trigger an earlier exit from your business than you might otherwise have planned.

Whatever the circumstances, if assets have built up, you will need to decide how best to extract them to fund your future plans.

The earlier you think about this, the better. At a minimum, you should be looking at a seven to 10 year plan which will allow you to take advantage of the various reliefs and tax planning opportunities available.

VALUE

When you are contemplating any kind of transaction involving your business, you need to know what it is worth. Businesses are usually valued using an income approach.

Low income businesses will have a lower value than similar-sized businesses with higher margins so optimising your business well in advance is the key to enhancing its value.

BUSINESS STRUCTURE

Your options for extracting cash will depend on your business structure. A sole trader contemplating retirement might plan to sell the business or bring in a partner to take over in due course.

For a partnership or company, the strategy might be to sell your share of the business to your co-owners or partners.

Where there is no cash in the company but the company is profitable, the company may be able to raise finance to buy you out.

Whatever the structure and circumstances, a comprehensive tax plan will need to be put in place covering Income Tax, Corporation Tax, Stamp Duty, Capital Taxes for the company and the individual, and VAT.

It is vital to seek professional tax advice as the decisions you make will have far-reaching consequences for your personal financial security as well as for your business.

NO SUCCESSOR

Depending on how your business is structured, where assets have built up and you do not have a successor, your options to access these resources potentially include running down reserves through salary payments, pension contributions and a retirement lump sum.

You may also consider withdrawing the balance of any director’s loan due to you, a termination payment of up to €20,000 plus €765 for each year of service, or even voluntary liquidation.

SUCCESSOR

Where there is a successor, it is likely that assets will not be taken out of the company. Instead, your shares in the company will be passed to your successor.

In this scenario, you will need to consider how much you require for the shares you are passing on.

Do you want a lump sum? If so, how much?

CAPITAL TAXES

If your exit strategy involves selling the business, or selling your share in the business, capital taxes will need to be considered.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is a tax on any gain that you make when you dispose of an asset. CGT is currently charged at a rate of 33%. You can offset a capital gain against a capital loss incurred in the same year – or in previous years if the loss has not already been offset against a subsequent gain.

Capital Acquisitions Tax (CAT) is a tax on gifts and inheritances. You may receive gifts and inheritances up to a set value over your lifetime before having to pay CAT.

Once due, CAT is charged at the rate of 33%. An important point to keep in mind is that if your business is sold or transferred under value to a person connected to you, there may be CAT implications.

Various reliefs are available that can minimise your exposure to capital taxes.

You might apply for Entrepreneur Relief if you are selling to invest in a new venture. However Retirement Relief could be a better option if you are planning to retire or pass on the business to a successor

ENTREPRENEUR REFLIEF

Under Entrepreneur Relief, a 10% rate of CGT applies in respect of the chargeable gain on disposal of qualifying business assets on or after 1 January 2017 up to a lifetime limit of €1 million.

Gains greater than €1 million are still charged at the Capital Gains Tax rate of 33%.

A qualifying business is a business other than the holding of securities or other assets as investments, the holding of development land or the development or letting of land. The relief applies to individuals only.

To qualify for entrepreneur relief, you must be a director and/or employee of the business and spend at least 50% of your working time in a managerial or technical capacity for a continuous period of three out of the last five years prior to the disposal.

RETIREMENT RELIEF

If you are 55 or older, you may be able to claim Capital Gains Tax relief when disposing of any part of your business. Although this is referred to as Retirement Relief, you do not need to retire from the business or farming in order to qualify. There are two types of retirement relief.

The first type applies when you pass your business on to your child, favourite nephew or niece, or foster child. Capital gains can be fully relieved if you are aged under 66 at the time of disposal. While there is no limit on the value of business assets that can be passed tax-free to your child in this way if you are under 66, a limit of €3,000,000 applies thereafter. Consequently, it’s important not to delay if you plan to avail of this relief.

The second type of retirement relief applies when you dispose of your business to a person other than your child. In this instance, if you are aged under 66, the gain can be fully relieved provided that the proceeds of the disposal do not exceed €750,000. This limit is reduced to €500,000 if you are over 66. Where the disposal proceeds exceed the limit, marginal relief may be available. It’s important to be aware that the limits are lifetime limits per individual.

The two types of retirement relief operate independently. So, if you had two separate businesses you could claim both. For example, you might pass your first business on to a family member but sell your second business to another person.

CONCLUSION

When contemplating exiting your business, the importance of planning cannot be overstated. It is never too early to start. Certainly, by the time you reach 50, you should be putting in place structures to minimise tax on the future sale or transfer of your business. Keep in mind that factors such age, value held in the company and how long the company has been trading can all have tax consequences. As is always the case in tax matters, obtaining professional advice will help you achieve the optimum outcome. #ifacReport