Closing your small business

• Choose a business cease date early in the process as you will need to include that on forms.
• Business cease date is after you have finalised your tax and super, legal and other business obligation tasks.
• How you close your business depends on your business structure.
• Capital gains tax may apply to assets you dispose of or sell.
• Any net capital gain is added to your assessable income and you pay tax on net capital gains.
• Concessions are available to reduce capital gain, eligibility rules apply.
• You must meet your employer obligations up to your business cease date (employee entitlements, STP, PAYG withholding, FBT).
• Tax obligations you must meet include lodging a final BAS, TPAR and tax return (sole traders lodge an annual tax return).
• Complete the cease trading tasks in a timely way to allow time for processing.
• Cancelling your ABN early may cause difficulties with processing and receiving refunds if due.
• Cancel your ABN last, 28 days after your business cease date.