I have a client who is selling their business in town. They started it about ten years ago, have worked very hard and it is very successful. They are burned out They are listing it for sale and it will sell in the range of $2.5 million. I've run some preliminary tax number for them based on what they have indicated are their wishes. Biggest desire is to not be the bank, all cash deal or no deal. Result will be at least a quarter of a million or more in taxes the year of the sale. I tried talking to them about the possibility of carrying a note and to explain that it would spread out their gain and tax liability over a period of time at a lower tax rate. It's like telling a brick wall the same thing. They just want out, and with no possibility of ending up with the business back in their lap because the new owner defaults. She was talking about a potential buyer who wants to buy their name as well, asked if they were talking about doing a stock sale as opposed to an asset sale. She's completely closed to even hearing what the difference is. "That's the other guys problem" and no further discussion.
I worked so hard on the sale of another client last year and their tax return, not nearly in the range of these numbers, and just kept asking myself if I had done enough to help them keep the taxes down, and making sure everything was in order with the tax returns. It's kind of amazing to be in this situation where someone is willing to put that much on the table for taxes and not at all interested in learning about alternatives that would save some of that money.