Dad
wants to eventually sell the family business to his daughter. She has the
smarts, drive and desire, and he doesn’t want to work forever. Not only does he
want the business to be a success for her; but, part of his retirement income
will be dependent on her making the payments for the business.
Your business is more than just
a job; it’s a very personal asset and the means of providing for your family,
your employees and yourself. So it’s no surprise that passing down the family
business is one of the most difficult experiences you’ll encounter along the
way.
The good news is that there are
plenty of tools for exiting the family business, with varying degrees of
complexity. Sometimes, however, a simple buy-sell arrangement is the right tool
for the task.
This was the subject of a recent
article in Forbes titled “Exiting The Family Business: Tax Tips And
Techniques,” which included some important tax and planning pointers.
At its most basic level, the simple efficiency of a buy-sell arrangement is
easy to understand and appreciate. Commonly, the owner (and parent, likely) is
going to need retirement income to retire. However, the family business was
their only source of income and their greatest asset. As a result, selling the
business within the family allows the successor generation to assume control in
a way that guarantees the financial well-being of the retiring parent and the
entire family.
This transfer can be
accomplished with an outright sale-purchase. On the other hand, a buy-sell
agreement can work the sale-purchase over time in installments. Consequently,
the founder may even gift some portions away and sell others. A key point,
whether gifting or selling, is having an accurate valuation of the business. If
the value is too low, then the “sale” price looks more like a “gift.” Problem:
if the value is deemed too low, then this catches the interest of the IRS. This
never is a good thing.
A sale of anything carries with
it tax implications. When it comes to selling (or gifting) a business, you will
want to connect all of the dots. The original Forbes article discusses many of those dots and offers practical
tax moves to stay out of trouble.
While there are significant
limitations to the buy-sell and there are other alternatives to evaluate, it is
one means to kill two birds with one stone by providing retirement income to
the seller.
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Reference: Forbes (March
6, 2013) “Exiting The Family Business: Tax Tips And
Techniques”