Planning for Profit Extraction

Charlie Watts, age 50 runs a profitable engineering limited company. Charlie pays himself by way of a mixture of salary and dividends similar to thousands of other businesses in the UK.

Our Client’s Needs

The company is starting to accumulate large amounts of cash and a sale of the business is likely to happen within ten years. Charlie wants to ensure that the business shares remain exempt from Inheritance Tax and that the shares can be sold at a 10% capital gains tax rate.

CST Advice

We met with Charlie to discuss all the issues and his preferred options, including increasing his dividends and making the maximum possible company pension contributions.

We recommended that Charlie increased his dividends and invested the proceeds into an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). Although the dividend will result in a higher rate tax liability, this will be offset by the 30% tax relief obtained through the EIS investment. Charlie will need to hold the EIS investment for at least 3 years but can then look to exit this investment and receive the capital free of tax.

End Result

Charlie has released cash from the business in a tax efficient way by using Government approved legislation. We helped retain the tax benefits of the company structure, as well as providing personal funds to assist with the personal needs of him and his family.