Our website uses cookies to enhance the visitor experience (what's a cookieCookies are small text files that are stored on your computer when you visit a website. They are mainly used as a way of improving the website functionalities or to provide more advanced statistical data.). Are you happy for us to use cookies during your visits?
Please note: continuing without making a choice equates to giving us your consent, which you can withdraw at any time via our cookies policy page.

Laptop
Stay Updated & Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Be the first to know about our regular updates, latest resources and news. To receive our great newsletter all you need to do is enter your details and submit !

 

Sage
Bookkeepping
Training

Learn More Small

Services

Learn More Small

IHT & Estate
Planing

Learn More Small

Tax
Planning

Learn More Small

Incorporation of a business

Newsletter issue - January 2015

When a business incorporates and transfers its trade and assets to a company controlled by the seller, the assets must be transferred at open market value for tax purposes. The assets may include "goodwill" which is defined as the business reputation or customer relationships, including the value of continuing contracts.

The transfer of the assets may generate a taxable capital gain in the hands of the seller, as the assets will have appreciated in value during the time they were used or created by the first business.

Capital gains tax will arise on those gains, but there are various tax reliefs that can be used to postpone or reduce any tax payable. One of those reliefs is entrepreneurs' relief, which can reduce the tax payable to only 10%.

The use of entrepreneur' relief has been blocked for gains arising on the transfer of goodwill as part of an incorporation on or after 3 December 2014. Entrepreneurs' relief is still available to reduce tax from gains arising on other transferred assets, but not from the goodwill.

If you are thinking of incorporating your business, we should talk about which assets you want to transfer to the company, and which you want to leave in your own name. Transferring land and buildings will often carry an additional cost of stamp duty land tax. Planning the transaction well in advance is the best way to reduce any tax payable.

 

Charities & Not For Profit

We have been providing charity clients with high quality, specialist advice and service for many years, and our charity clients range from small village halls to large national organisations...

Learn More Small

Farming Industry

The largest industry sector that we deal with is farming, as you would expect in a rural practice. This means that we have developed considerable expertise in this field...

Learn More Small

 

Back to the top