Founders · 2026 Edition

Liquidity-Event Tax Planning for Founders: The Complete Guide

What the United Kingdom charges when a founder sells, whether leaving changes it and on what conditions, and what each of eight destinations would charge instead. Fifty-six pages, every government figure traced to a primary source and dated 2 September 2026.

Fourteen chapters on the tax of a founder’s exit: a twelve-question scored self-assessment that says whether the window is still open, the disposal date under TCGA 1992 s.28, the Statutory Residence Test as four reference tables, the 2026/27 rates and reliefs with the six-year rate history, the temporary non-residence rule in s.1M and s.1N set out in full, and the four-year regime for those arriving in the UK. Eight destination cards on identical rows for the UAE, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Switzerland and Monaco, with a single comparison matrix. Then Italy’s five-year problem, anti-avoidance and nine departure-state exit taxes, US citizens and green card holders, the eight treaties, two worked scenarios with the arithmetic shown line by line, what it costs and how advisers are paid, a chapter of official statistics, a glossary and fourteen frequently asked questions.

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This edition is candid about what the arithmetic shows. Business Asset Disposal Relief is now worth at most GBP 60,000 to a founder, a rounding error on a GBP 12,000,000 sale. Italy, the destination most often recommended, is the worst of the eight for a founder selling a controlling stake within five years, because its EUR 300,000 flat tax excludes exactly that gain. And a return to the UK within five years brings the whole gain back into charge, whatever any treaty says. The guide shows those results rather than asserting them.

Prefer to read online? The full text is published here.

Adviser

Tom Purdy

Founder & Managing Director