I have previously written articles discussing various aspects of transaction structures to minimize taxes. As a result, I am often contacted by a panicked seller that is a week from closing his business sale as he looks in disbelief at his accountant's spreadsheet detailing the tax burden of his impending sale. By the time he realizes this tremendously unfavorable tax situation, it is far too late in the process to change the deal.
If you are the owner of a C Corp and are planning on selling your company, you must understand the ramifications of the stock sale versus the asset sale. Here is what happens when there is an asset sale of a C Corp. The assets that are sold are compared to their depreciated basis and the difference is treated as ordinary income to the C Corp. Any good will is a 100% gain and again is treated as ordinary income. This new found income drives up your corporate tax rate, often to the maximum rate of around 35%. This tax must be paid as the result of the asset sale.
You are not done yet. The corporation pays this tax bill and then there is a distribution of the remaining funds to the shareholders. They are taxed a second time at their personal long term capital gains rate. This is often called the double taxation issue of a C Corp asset sale.
Compare this to a C Corp stock sale. The stock is sold and there is no tax to the corporation. The distribution is made to the shareholders and they pay only their long term capital gain on the change in value over their basis in the stock. The difference can be hundreds of thousands of dollars and for larger transactions, millions of dollars.
Most corporate buyers have it drilled into their heads by their attorneys that they should not agree to a stock sale because the buyer will inherit all of the assets and all of the liabilities of the selling corporation, even the scary hidden liabilities. A second reason buyers want to do an asset acquisition is that they get to take a step up in basis of all the assets and can depreciate them at a higher amount than inheriting those assets under their current depreciation schedule.
Early in the process with the seller, communicate to them your desire for a stock sale because of the punishing double taxation you will face with an asset sale. You could give him two purchase prices, one for a stock sale and a much higher one (30% higher) for an asset sale. If you try to introduce this concept late in the process, you will find it very difficult to recover.
We are always looking for ways for our business sellers to maximize their transaction proceeds while keeping as much as possible through the use of intelligent tax planning and deal structure. Sometimes our sellers are just not able to convince the large company buyer to agree to a stock acquisition that is more tax favorable to the seller. We wanted to come up with some solutions that would be more tax favorable.
So I began my quest for a better solution. After several dozen phone calls to my professional network, I was directed to a provider of a creative new application of a vehicle called an Installment Sale. They call this The Installment Sale with Guaranteed Annuity Payments. This vehicle has passed the scrutiny of the IRS and the Tax Court. It is not a way to avoid the payment of taxes, rather a method of reducing and deferring them with substantial economic benefit to the owner and the owner's beneficiaries. I asked Chris Princis from Brook Hollow Financial to explain this unique way to both reduce and defer capital gains taxes that are the result of a C Corporation asset sale.
Large Tax Bill Due upon Sale
Capital Gains, Depreciation Recapture and even Income taxes may be levied against the proceeds of the sale of the business. Depending on the initial amount invested and how much the business has grown, these taxes can consume much of the sale price. Currently the maximum Federal Corporate Tax stands at 35%. Most states have a Corporate Tax rate of 5% as well, with the total amount often nearing 40% of the business sale proceeds. Remember, a C Corp asset sale is treated as ordinary income to a corporation. Currently the Federal Capital Gains Tax stands at 15% for the individual. Most states have a Capital Gains Tax as well, with the total amount often exceeding 20% of the gain. We believe that these rates will have near term upward pressure caused by the need for the Treasury Department to make up for the $800 billion shortfall that will result from the repeal of the Alternative Minimum Tax.
Loss of Regular Income
When a business is sold, the owner's cash flow stops as well. Therefore, the amount of money that was being produced needs to be replaced. Without this regular income, former business owners are left with a significant gap in what they receive each month and must alter any plans or budgets accordingly.
What to do with the Proceeds
Another major challenge that a business owner will face is what to do with the proceeds of any sale. There are many ways to put this money to work for you, but this often means accepting significant risk and investing in markets without much experience. Alternatively, sellers might mitigate risk, but only at the cost of getting a very low return. Either way, inadequate returns and potential loss of capital are serious risk factors that must be considered.
Need to Mitigate Future Risk
Among the challenges presented by investing the new capital is that there may be different goals for the individual at this stage of his or her career. If the sale is prompted by a desire to move away from daily management and responsibility, or simply to cash out at a good time in the market, the owner may want to revisit his or her goals. A review of the financial needs and expectations may reveal a requirement for total investment certainty. While these alternatives do exist, most do little to provide a reasonable return and can make planning more difficult with these limited resources. The need and desire to mitigate future risk should play an important role in any decisions about your investment plans.
The Traditional Business Sale - Cash Transaction
The cash transaction option is fairly straightforward. The seller is paid cash from the buyer. After any loans or other debts are paid, the funds are then made available to the seller. At this point, the seller must pay federal and state taxes on the proceeds, and then the remaining balance is left to invest. This drastically reduces the principle and lowers any future returns. The stock market and other liquid investments carry very significant market risk, and the individual could lose some or all of the money. On the other hand, the individual could place the money into a guaranteed investment such as a certificate of deposit, but the returns will drastically lag other possible alternatives. Investing on your own requires some planning and active management of the portfolio, but more importantly, it may provide for unpredictable future income necessary to manage and care for an investor and his or her family.
Another Approach - The Installment Sale
The Installment Sale is a mechanism that has been available since the 1930's. In this type of transaction, the buyer of a business agrees to pay the seller a certain amount of money over a fixed period of time. Under this approach, the IRS has ruled that only the amount of distribution in any given year is subject to any applicable taxes in proportion to the total due. The problem here had been reliance upon the buyer to continue to make the payments promised. Often times the business is run poorly and is no longer producing enough revenue to make the promised payments. There has always been recourse in these transactions, so that if the buyer did not live up to his obligation, the seller could foreclose and reclaim ownership of the business. However, this offered little protection if the business has not been run properly or the value lowers for other reasons, since the original seller would now reclaim a much less valuable business.
An Improved Approach - The Installment Sale with Guaranteed Annuity Payments
There is a way to ensure that these types of transactions could still be utilized while eliminating the possibility of default. The transaction takes place as described above, only there is a second transaction that occurs simultaneously. At the time of closing, the buyer purchases an annuity from an A+ rated Annuity company. Therefore the seller receives a guarantee that regardless of the future strength of the business, the payments will be made as agreed upon, and all of the tax deferral benefits remain intact.
The benefits of this type of transaction are as follows:
· Seller is able to sell the business without future risk
· Tax-deferral creates much greater taxable equivalent return
· Flexible planning allows for specific plans tailored to individual needs
· Stabilizes future income with certainty for life
· Much larger total benefit over time - guaranteed
· Payments can continue to pass on to heirs in the event of death
· Eliminates need for expensive life insurance
· Requires no management responsibility
· There are no direct or on-going fees
· Expedited closing
A simple way to look at this plan is to compare it to an IRA. With the IRA your investments get to grow on a tax deferred basis for many years and you get the benefit of earning investment returns on the amount not paid in tax. When you draw the funds out of the account, you are then taxed at your then current rate. With the guaranteed annuity installment sale, you may elect to take a portion of the business sale proceeds at close and pay all of the appropriate taxes on that portion.
You then could structure the guaranteed annuity to begin paying you a certain amount starting in 5 years for another 20 years. The investment would be allowed to grow tax deferred for that 5-year period. When you started taking distributions, you would be taxed at the rate you would have been from the original sale transaction. The important thing to remember here is that instead of receiving the entire distribution at closing and paying a huge tax bill up front, you are taking 1/20th of the distribution each year and paying 1/20th of the tax. The remaining portion of the deferred tax stays invested and earns income over the 20-year period. This substantially increases your return on the deferred portion of your sale proceeds.
This mechanism is a great way to secure your proceeds with guaranteed payouts, no ongoing involvement or management responsibility, and beneficial tax treatment. This will ensure the highest possible taxable equivalent return when compared to any fixed-income, guaranteed investment. Remember in a business sale the important number is how much you get to keep.
Dave Kauppi is a Merger and Acquisition Advisor and President of MidMarket Capital, providing business broker and investment banking services to owners in the sale of lower middle market companies. For more information about exit planning and selling a business, click to subscribe to our free newsletter The Exit Strategist
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