Selling your business as a going concern
Selling your business as a going concern
Ordinarly if you sell your business, you will likely be liable for GST on the sale. However, if you sell as a going concern, the transaction will be GST-free.
A sale qualifies as a going concern if:
- Everything necessary for the business’s operation is included in the sale.
- The business activity is operated up until the sale date.
A sale of a going concern is GST-free if all of the following conditions are met:
- The sale involves a payment.
- The buyer is either registered or obligated to register for GST.
- Both the buyer and the seller have a written agreement stating that the sale qualifies as a going concern.
Can “going concern” apply to commercial properties?
Yes! “going concern” may apply to the sale of commercial properties in certain scenarios, such as:
- A commercial property that is subject to an active lease.
- A property that is essential to the operation of a business being sold.
- A fully tenanted building where all leases are included in the sale.
- A partially tenanted building, provided that vacant units are actively marketed or undergoing maintenance.
If you’re keen to explore changing accountants, we have a non-obligation process to do that. The first step is booking a strategy call with one of our accounting team. It’s a free 20-minute zoom or phone call where you get to meet us to manage your questions.
From that point, you can consider doing a “Look Under The Hood” with us. There is no obligation to change accountants, but we give you a second opinion if you’re paying too much tax.
Throughout that process, we can identify any problems we see with your current setup. Anything that your current accountant hasn’t claimed, or tax you may have overpaid, and strategies of how we might fix that going forward. We can run through with you once you book with us.
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