Plain Sums

Family businessEstimate, not advice

Estimate only · Not financial, tax or legal advice

Family business handover: 24% or 45%?

Type in the value of a family business being handed down and see the tax at 24% next to the tax at 45%, the two rates in recent press reports. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

Reported proposal, not law · as at 20 October 2026

The business

For example the value of the shares the company buys back.

Two headline rates side by side

Extra tax if the proposal went ahead
Capital Gains Tax at 24%, the rule today
Income Tax at 45%, as reported

This applies each rate to the whole value, as the press reports did. A real bill depends on the gain, reliefs, allowances and how any new rule is written.

What has been reported

On 18 October 2026 The Telegraph reported that the Chancellor is considering charging Income Tax, rather than Capital Gains Tax, in some cases where owners hand a family company to the next generation using redeemable shares that the company buys back. The Treasury has not confirmed it. Until it is announced and becomes law, today’s rules apply.