Sunshine Coast Tax Depreciation
ACCORD Quantity Surveyors

Tax depreciation sell small business Sunshine Coast

Owning a small business on the Sunshine Coast is a truly rewarding experience, but there usually comes a time when selling is the right thing to do.

It may well be that you don’t have the time to devote to it, or perhaps you are looking at bigger and better things. Whatever the reason, selling isn’t as straightforward as agreeing on a price, signing a few papers, and then handing the keys over. There are a number of consideration that need to be taken into account, not the least of which is the tax implications that come with the sale.

Do you have a tax depreciation schedule for your shop, unit or business premesis? It’s always a good idea to hire the services of a professional taxation specialist in these cases, but for now, let’s take a look at a few of the taxations issues you need to consider when selling your small business.

In the case of Goods & Services Tax (GST), there are a number of conditions that need to be satisfied in order for the sale to be GST free. Implications may arise when capital assets are disposed of, which means that it may need to be included in the price of any individual business assets that are part of the sale. GST is the most common of the tax implications that are likely to arise in the sale of a business, but it is certainly not the only one.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT) also has to be taken into account when selling your small business. CGT is a tax that is placed on the capital earned for the sale of assets. It is the Australian Tax Office (ATO) that determines how capital gains are calculated, as well as for providing concessions that might help you lower the amount of CGT liability that you incur during the sale of your business. Trying to wade through all of this information alone can be a tricky task, which is why, once again, it is recommended that you seek the help of a tax and accounting professional through every aspect of the sale of your business.

If your business was a partnership, you will be required to notify the ATO that all of your assets have been sold, and that the partnership is no longer in operation when you lodge your final income tax returns. At this point, the ATO will officially recognize that the partnership, and thus your business, is no longer in operation. There are other concerns to think about outside of taxes, and you will want to be sure that your have covered all the bases during the course of the sale.

If you have run your business successfully, chances are that you had some professional tax and accounting help along the way. Small businesses that seek this sort of help from day one are generally those that don’t find themselves with tax issues down the road. You should end your business with the same level of care attention that you showed when starting it, and that means making sure that all of the financial details and paperwork are properly attended to.