Do I need a business valuation if I am not selling?

Keeping your business does not switch off the 30 June 2027 rule

Under the new CGT law, if you are an Australian resident individual, or a trust with at least one eligible beneficiary, CGT assets you hold through 30 June 2027 are treated as sold and bought back just before 1 July 2027. That can include shares in a private company, units in a unit trust and your share of assets held in a partnership. It happens automatically. You do not elect it, nothing changes hands and no tax is payable in 2027 because of it.

The gain up to that date is set aside until a later event, usually when you really do sell. At that point the part built up before 1 July 2027 can still get the 50% CGT discount if the usual conditions are met. The part built up afterwards falls under the new rules: cost base indexation and, for resident individuals, generally a 30% minimum tax on capital gains.

Companies are different. A company cannot use the 50% discount, so assets a company owns are generally outside this rule, apart from any acquired before 20 September 1985. Your own shares in that company are a separate question: if you hold them personally or through a trust, they can still be caught.

Other times a valuation can matter when you are not selling

A sale is not the only time someone needs to know what a business is worth. Owners who plan to keep their business often need a figure when they are:

• bringing in a new shareholder or partner, or buying one out
• passing shares, units or control to the next generation
• moving the business into a new company or trust, where a transfer that is not at arm’s length and does not qualify for a roll-over can be taxed as if it happened at market value
• in a disagreement with co-owners about value, which we quote as a separate engagement
• going through a separation or divorce, which we refer to our dedicated family law practice, Family Law Valuations

The date, the interest being valued and the purpose all shape the work, so tell us which one applies. A figure prepared for one purpose is not automatically fit for another.

Waiting is allowed, but your records will not wait

Because the choice is made when you sell, some owners will decide with their adviser to do nothing yet. The risk is evidence. A valuation as at 30 June 2027 depends on what the business looked like on that date: its accounts, leases, customer contracts, staff and the market at the time. Years later, those details can be hard to rebuild.

Independent Business Valuation values businesses and business interests, not property or personal assets. A valuation as at 30 June 2027 is prepared after that date, once your records to 30 June 2027 are available. You can book your place now.

We charge one fixed fee of $999 + GST for a full valuation report on one business or ownership interest with annual turnover under $10 million. The fixed fee applies once we confirm the interest, purpose, structure and records fit the fixed-fee scope. Anything outside it is quoted in writing before we start. Fixed fee, confirmed in writing before we start. No hourly billing and no surprises.