Selling your business: tax moves to make before you sign
The most valuable tax moves in a business sale happen before the deal is signed, not after. A few of them have hard deadlines.
Before you sign a sale, the tax outcome is still movable: entity structure, whether stock qualifies for special treatment such as QSBS, the timing of the sale, and how proceeds are diversified. After signing, most of those levers are gone. Coordinate early with your CPA and attorney.
Plan the structure early
How the deal is structured, and how your entity and stock are treated, can meaningfully change the tax. These questions are hard to fix once terms are set, so raise them early with your advisers.
Plan the after
A sale turns years of work into a single check with a single tax year and a big concentration problem. Planning the income, diversification, and estate picture in advance is what turns a windfall into lasting wealth.
Common questions
What is QSBS?
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