Budget 2026: what it means for you and your business —
In short
Every owner leaves their business eventually — by design or otherwise. Succession planned five years ahead is a strategy; planned five months ahead it is damage limitation. We help you decide whether the business passes to family, to management or to a buyer, what it needs to be worth, and how to structure it so tax does not consume the reward. Reforms to Business Relief from April 2026 make this materially more urgent for family businesses.
Family. Emotionally appealing, frequently harder than expected. The questions to answer honestly: do they actually want it, are they capable of it, and how do you treat children who are not in the business fairly?
Management (an MBO). Preserves the culture and rewards the people who helped build it — but the team must be able to fund it, and the business must be able to service the resulting debt.
Trade sale. Usually the highest price, and usually the least continuity.
Wind down. Rarely chosen deliberately. Frequently what happens when nothing else was planned.
Historically, Business Relief could take a qualifying trading business out of inheritance tax entirely — which is what made passing a family company to the next generation viable.
Reforms from April 2026 restrict that relief, so business assets above a cap attract only partial relief rather than full exemption. The consequence is stark: an estate that would previously have passed a company on free of IHT may now face a real liability — one that has to be funded, potentially by selling part of the very business it was meant to preserve.
If you intend to pass a business to your family, this needs reviewing now. See Inheritance Tax & Estate Planning.
By systematically removing yourself from it. That means:
Reducing owner dependence — if the key relationships, knowledge and decisions all sit with you, there is very little to transfer. Building a management team that can run it without you, and demonstrably does. Securing key contracts and staff — ideally on terms that survive a change of ownership. Cleaning up the accounts — no personal expenses, no unusual related-party transactions, clean records. Documenting the things that only exist in your head.
Each of these takes time. All of them increase the value.
Three to five years before you intend to leave — and earlier if the business is family-owned and you want to use lifetime gifting, which needs seven years to work fully.
Owners who start planning a few months before a sale almost invariably leave money behind. The work of making a business valuable and transferable is the same work either way — so it is never wasted, even if you end up staying.
We start with the honest questions — does your family actually want it? Can it run without you?
Tax planned years ahead, including the April 2026 Business Relief changes.
Valuation in-house — you’ll know what it’s worth before you decide what to do.
All routes considered — family, MBO, trade sale — without a preferred answer.
Chartered (ICAEW) since 1947 — we’ve guided many families through this.
This page provides general information about the 2026/27 UK tax year and is not advice on your particular circumstances. Tax and regulatory rules change frequently. Please contact us before acting, or refraining from acting, on anything set out here. LMJ Group is a firm of Chartered Accountants regulated by the ICAEW. LMJ Group is not a registered auditor and does not provide audit services. Last reviewed: July 2026.
