Limited Company BADR Calculator (2026/27)

Use this Business Asset Disposal Relief calculator to estimate the Capital Gains Tax due when you sell shares in your limited company or receive a capital distribution when the company closes.

The calculator uses the 18% BADR rate for 2026/27. It also takes account of the £1 million lifetime limit, your available Capital Gains Tax annual exemption and any part of the gain which falls outside BADR.

What does the BADR calculator show?

The calculator starts with the proceeds from the disposal and deducts the cost of your shares and any allowable buying or selling costs.

It then applies the figures you enter for:

• capital losses;
• your remaining Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount;
• BADR claimed on earlier disposals; and
• your taxable income for 2026/27.

The results show the estimated Capital Gains Tax payable with BADR, the amount which would be due without the relief and the resulting tax saving.

You will also see how much of your £1 million BADR lifetime limit remains after the disposal.

Which disposal figure should you enter?

Enter the amount you personally receive for your shares. If several shareholders sell the company, don’t enter the total sale price unless the whole amount belongs to you.

For example, if two shareholders own the company equally and sell it for £800,000, each would normally enter proceeds of £400,000.

The same field can be used for a qualifying capital distribution made during a Members’ Voluntary Liquidation. The calculator assumes that the amount receives capital treatment. It cannot decide whether a particular company distribution counts as income or capital.

Share cost and allowable disposal costs

Your gain is broadly the difference between the disposal proceeds and the amount you paid for the shares.

A director who formed a company may have subscribed only £1 or £100 for their original shares. Someone who bought shares in an existing company may have a much higher acquisition cost.

You can also deduct certain costs incurred when buying or selling the shares. These can include qualifying legal, valuation and broker fees. HMRC provides more detail on working out a gain and deducting share disposal costs.

The cost of running the company and the company’s own professional fees do not necessarily belong in your personal Capital Gains Tax calculation. Ask your accountant if you are unsure who incurred a particular cost or whether it can be deducted.

How taxable income affects the result

Enter your taxable income after deducting your Personal Allowance and any other Income Tax reliefs.

For 2026/27, ordinary gains within the unused basic rate band are taxed at 18%. Gains above that band are taxed at 24%.

BADR gains are taxed at 18% regardless of the remaining basic rate band. They use the available band before gains which do not qualify for BADR. HMRC explains this ordering in its guidance on calculating tax when some gains qualify for BADR.

This matters because the BADR rate now matches the ordinary basic CGT rate. If your whole gain would otherwise fall within your unused basic rate band, BADR produces no immediate tax saving. It still uses part of your £1 million lifetime limit.

Capital losses and the annual exemption

The Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount is £3,000 for 2026/27.

If you have already used some or all of the exemption against another disposal, enter the amount already used. The calculator will apply the balance to this gain.

You can also enter allowable capital losses which you intend to use. The calculator applies losses and the available annual exemption against gains outside BADR first where this reduces the tax bill.

Current-year losses and losses brought forward from earlier years do not always operate in the same way. Check the amount available before relying on the result.

How the £1 million BADR lifetime limit works

The £1 million limit applies across your lifetime, rather than separately to each company or disposal.

Previous claims for Entrepreneurs’ Relief count towards the same limit. Enter the amount of qualifying gains covered by earlier claims, not the tax you paid on them.

If your disposal exceeds the remaining limit, the calculator splits the taxable gain into:

• the part charged at the 18% BADR rate; and
• the excess charged at the ordinary CGT rates of 18% or 24%.

The progress bar shows the lifetime limit used after including the current disposal.

Does your share disposal qualify for BADR?

The calculator estimates the tax bill but does not test your eligibility.

For an ordinary disposal of shares in your personal company, the main conditions generally need to have been met for at least two years before the sale. Broadly:

• the company must be a trading company or the holding company of a trading group;
• you must be an employee or office holder of the company or another company in the same group;
• you must hold at least 5% of the ordinary share capital and voting rights; and
• you must satisfy one of the additional 5% economic entitlement tests.

Different conditions apply to some Enterprise Management Incentive shares and to shareholdings diluted by a later issue of shares. See the full HMRC BADR eligibility rules for the official conditions.

Read our full guide to Business Asset Disposal Relief and Capital Gains Tax before using the estimate.

Using the calculator when closing a company

BADR may apply when a company stops trading and distributes its remaining assets through a formal liquidation. The usual ownership, employment and trading-company conditions still matter, and the shareholder normally needs to dispose of the shares within three years after the company stops trading.

A distribution made when a company is simply struck off does not always receive capital treatment. The treatment of distributions above £25,000 is particularly important when choosing between a voluntary strike-off and a Members’ Voluntary Liquidation. GOV.UK explains the tax treatment when you close a company by voluntary strike-off.

The anti-phoenix rules may also treat a winding-up distribution as income where a shareholder continues the same or a similar trade through another business and the statutory conditions are met.

What the calculator doesn’t cover

The calculator covers one qualifying company-share disposal made during 2026/27. It does not calculate:

• whether you meet the BADR conditions;
• the tax treatment of deferred consideration or an earn-out;
• associated disposals of assets owned personally;
• EMI share-option disposals;
• share reorganisations or earlier hold-over relief claims;
• the anti-phoenix rules;
• multiple disposals made during the same tax year; or
• whether a company distribution qualifies for capital treatment.

Company sales and liquidations can involve substantial sums and strict qualifying conditions. Ask your accountant or tax adviser to check the disposal before completing your tax return.

Tax rates and allowances checked for the 2026/27 tax year. This calculator provides a general estimate and does not constitute personal tax or legal advice.