If you’ve been considering exiting your business, now is the time to act due to fast-approaching tax rate changes which will further reduce the discount you can get on Capital Gains Tax.
Business Asset Disposal Relief (previously known as Entrepreneurs’ Relief) is about to become less generous. Currently, qualifying business owners benefit from a reduced rate of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) when they sell shares in their personal company. But from April 2026, that relief is due to shrink again, cutting further into the benefit for eligible business owners.
What the rates are and how they’re changing
Until recently, eligible business owners could sell their business and pay just 10% CGT on the first £1 million of lifetime gains. That relief has already begun to erode. As of April 2025, the discounted rate increased to 14% and, from April 2026, it’s due to rise again to 18%. Plus there’s a double-whammy with standard CGT, payable on the remainder of your gains, climbing to 24%.
So while business owners still get a tax break, time is of the essence if you’re looking to maximise the relief available.
How to maximise the value of your sale
If you want to maximise the value of your sale, you’ll need to complete the transaction before 6 April 2026 to benefit from the current rate. That might sound like plenty of time but, in reality, a business sale typically takes 9 to 12 months from first thought to final handshake.
That means if you’re not preparing already, you’re cutting it fine.
Getting a business ready for sale is a detailed and complicated task which needs a robust data room, solid financials, clear forecasting and comprehensive due diligence prep if you want to see it complete in a short timeframe. It’s therefore of paramount importance to get an advisor who understands how to manage the moving parts.
At The CFO Centre, we specialise in helping business owners get exit ready—swiftly and smoothly. Many of our CFOs have sat on both sides of the deal table, meaning they know exactly what buyers are looking for and how to remove the friction from the process.
Because of the way we work, we’re able to deploy experienced CFOs almost immediately to build or tidy your data room, pull together the financial narrative of your business, liaise with advisors, buyers, and lawyers and fully prepare you for due diligence and buyer scrutiny.
And if you already have a finance lead or CFO who’s flat out running the day-to-day business, we can use our CFO’s CFO model to focus solely on your exit project. That way, nothing gets dropped, and the sale keeps moving forward at pace.
Of course, we’re not saying everyone needs to sell tomorrow – or that every business will be ready to, even if it’s part of the plan. But if exiting is on your radar, you owe it to yourself to explore what’s possible now, not later.
By maximising your chances of being ready to complete on a sale before April 2026, you could save yourself thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of pounds.
Taking action starts with a simple conversation. Get in touch with us today.