When you sell your business depending on whether or not you meet the criteria of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) Concessions for Small Business, you may be eligible for taxation relief upon the sale.

Refer: www.mcnamaraandco.com/news/2012/12/how-can-i-minimise-my-tax-liability-when-selling-my-business/

One of the concessions is the 15 year exemption this is covered in Subdivision 152-B of Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997).  Basically if a small business entity has owned a CGT asset for at least 15 years it can disregard a capital gain arising from the sale of that asset provided certain conditions are met.

The basic conditions are:

1.    Conditions of Division 152 A (ITAA 1997) are met - refer to the above link;

2.    The entity continuously owned the asset for the 15 year period leading up to the CGT event;

3.    If the entity is an individual, the individual retires or is permanently incapacitated;

4.    If the entity is a company or trust, the entity had a significant individual for at least 15 years during which the entity owned the asset and the significant individual retires just before the CGT event (sale of business) or is permanently incapacitated.