Company owners: tax planning guide and checklist
YOUR WPR PLANNING STARTING POINT
Connect the tax decisions for your company with your own income, family ownership and eventual exit plans.
Your planning checklist
Use these questions to organise your facts and prepare for a discussion with your adviser.
- Record the share ownership, different share classes, director balances and group structure.
- Review how profits will be retained, reinvested or paid out, alongside your personal cash needs.
- Consider the tax and commercial consequences before changing ownership or moving assets.
- If a sale is possible, check relief conditions and supporting evidence well before signing a deal.
- Distinguish a share sale, an asset sale and a winding-up when comparing likely outcomes.
- Consider succession, gifts and inheritance tax alongside the business plan.
- For cross-border ownership or a move abroad, review company residence, distributions and treaty issues together.
Start with a revised guide
Inheritance Tax Planning Handbook 2025/26
View the guide's coverage and member access details. Revised October 2026.
Tax Planning With Double Tax Treaties 2025/26
View the guide's coverage and member access details. Revised October 2026.
Selected member reading
- Selling your business in 2026/27 — member article
- Company dividends and a return to the UK — member article
Build your plan with WPR
Explore practical explanations, worked examples and detailed tax guides. Check the membership options and choose the level that suits you.
View membership options Browse the tax booksExplore another planning topic
This checklist helps you identify issues; it does not determine your tax position. Read the dates and scope of linked guidance and obtain advice for your circumstances.