Furthermore, since the entrepreneurs’ relief regime was radically improved in 2010 and 2011, some have attempted to exploit it in situations that were not intended by the legislature. Of course, this is the familiar tale for so many well-intentioned tax reliefs. The unfortunate consequence of this is that the legislation now contains many traps for ‘unsuspecting’ entrepreneurs who are making genuine disposals of their business interests.

In my experience, there are many cases where competent claims for entrepreneurs’ relief could not be made or were rejected by HMRC due to a failure to consider the ‘small print’ of the tax law. This article is based on those practical experiences, setting out tips and potential pitfalls.