Tax Aspects of Buying & Selling SMEs

Introduction

There is a myriad of tax issues and different taxes to consider when advising on either the sale or purchase of an SME or its business. Whether you are acting/advising in the purchase or sale of a family business or private company getting the tax right is one of the key essential elements.

This in-person seminar will give you all the latest thinking on this thorny subject. Delegates will gain a deeper understanding of the various aspects of and different methods of sales and purchases. A series of examples will enable you to get to grips with the risks involved in advising clients in these circumstances.

What You Will Learn

The sale and purchase process: the crucial tax issues.

Structuring the contract: horror stories from tax cases.

Sale of assets or sale of business?

Asset sales

• Allocation of consideration
• Goodwill
• VAT and TOGCs
• Intangibles
• SDLT

Selling shares

• Cash, shares or loan note?
• Deferred consideration
• Entrepreneurs' relief and its interaction with types of consideration
• Substantial shareholding exemption on sale of a subsidiary

Buying shares

• Company losses
• De-grouping charges
• Secondary liabilities

Dealing with debt

• Buying or waiving debt as part of the sale process