Free PDF Guide
The Business Exit Planning Guide
Who buys your business decides how the sale is taxed. The eight exit paths, the deal structures, and the tax plan for the year you sell — in plain English.
What’s inside
Start with the two questions
Who is the buyer, and what exactly are they buying? The eight exit paths, and why those answers drive every tax outcome downstream.
Asset sale vs. stock sale
The negotiation inside the negotiation: what each side wants, the tax bill each structure creates, and where the middle ground lives.
QSBS, with two decision flows
When Section 1202 can exclude millions of gain — one flow if you already hold qualifying stock, another if you could still create it.
Installment sales and earnouts
Spreading gain across tax years, the risk trade-offs, and how earnouts are taxed when the price depends on the future.
The ESOP route
Selling to your employees: how an ESOP works, the Section 1042 rollover deferral, and who the structure actually fits.
The year of the sale — and the years before it
Year-of-sale tax planning, the estate and gifting overlay, and the checklist for owners two to five years out.
Written by Jim Crider, CFP®, founder of Intentional Living FP — a fee-only fiduciary wealth management firm in New Braunfels, Texas.
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This guide is educational only and is not specific financial, tax, or legal advice. Tax figures reflect 2026 rules and are subject to change. Fee-only fiduciary · No commissions · Always on your side of the table.