How much tax would you pay if you sold your UK company?

The Budget on 28 October 2026 halved the gains that Business Asset Disposal Relief covers and proposed a new Founders' Relief at 10%. Put in your company's figures, what it's worth and your stake, and see the tax you would have paid.

Tax calculator

Assuming you sell in 2027, the first year Founders' Relief applies. The growth tests can use any three years in a row since 2017.

Try an example

Accounting year
Turnover
Full-time staff
Research and development spend
2026
+5% on 2025
+25% on 2025
2025
+6% on 2024
+26% on 2024
2024
+6% on 2023
+27% on 2023
2023
Not counted

Tests for Founders' Relief

  • PassedTurnover of £10 million in 2026
  • PassedFifteen full-time staff in 2026
  • Not passedTurnover growth
  • PassedStaff growth
  • PassedResearch spend

Your gain

Your gain£3,750,000

We assume you pay tax at the higher rate, haven't used any of the lifetime limits before and have your £3,000 annual exempt amount free.

The tax

Two tax years ago, 2024 to 202520.2%£759,280
  • £3,000 at 0%Tax free, the annual exempt amount£0
  • £1,000,000 at 10%Business Asset Disposal Relief£100,000
  • £2,747,000 at 24%The main rate£659,280
Last tax year, 2025 to 202621.3%£799,280
  • £3,000 at 0%Tax free, the annual exempt amount£0
  • £1,000,000 at 14%Business Asset Disposal Relief£140,000
  • £2,747,000 at 24%The main rate£659,280
This tax year, 2026 to 202722.4%£839,280
  • £3,000 at 0%Tax free, the annual exempt amount£0
  • £1,000,000 at 18%Business Asset Disposal Relief£180,000
  • £2,747,000 at 24%The main rate£659,280
From 6 April 202710.0%£374,700
  • £3,000 at 0%Tax free, the annual exempt amount£0
  • £3,747,000 at 10%Founders' Relief£374,700
  • Founders' Relief saves you, compared with this tax year£464,580

Waiting until April 2027 would save £464,580 against selling today, because this company would qualify for Founders' Relief.

What the figures show

Founders' Relief needs both size tests and two of the three growth tests.

Size, in 2026

  • Passed Turnover of at least £10 million£10 million
  • Passed At least fifteen full-time staff30

Growth: two of these three

  • Not passed Turnover grew 25% a year for three years, from at least £10 millionClosest run: from £8.5 million in 2023 to £10 million in 2026, 5.6% a year. The start is below £10 million.
  • Passed Full-time staff grew 25% a year for three years, from at least fifteenQualifying run: from 15 in 2023 to 30 in 2026, 26.0% a year.
  • Passed Spent £1.5 million on research and development and claimed the relief£1.6 million claimed for 2024 to 2026.

This company clears the size tests and passes two of the three growth tests, so Founders' Relief would apply.

What we take as read

The calculator can't check these. Founders' Relief needs all of them.

You

  • Held at least a quarter of the shares when the company started trading
  • Held the shares for at least five years
  • Been UK tax resident for at least five years running

The company

  • Pays UK Corporation Tax
  • Is a trading company
  • Still does what it was set up to do

What rules you out

  • Trading in property development, land, financial services and more: see the list.
  • A business you bought or inherited rather than started.
  • A business specifically restructured to pass the tests.
  • A company that has changed what it does since your shares were issued.
  • Directors and contractors counted as staff, or a research and development claim that HM Revenue and Customs later overturns.
  • Claiming through a trust or a company.

Before you rely on this

Don't. Founders' Relief is a proposal. HM Treasury is consulting until November 2026 and will put it in the Finance Bill for 2026 to 2027, so this may all change.

Business Asset Disposal Relief has its own tests, which haven't changed: 5% of the shares and votes, a job as an officer or employee, and two years of both.

None of this is advice. Talk to a good accountant before you decide anything.

Sources: the Budget 2026 Red Book, paragraphs 2.53 and 6.257 to 6.261, and HM Treasury's Founders' Relief technical consultation of 28 October 2026, paragraphs 2.5 to 3.2.

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