A buy-sell agreement is an agreement under which the proprietors of a business contract to buy the equity or interest of another proprietor in the event of death/trauma or total or permanent disablement. To finance the transfer or the equity, the parties usually take out some form of insurance. This paper looks at key tax and commercial issues associated with buy-sell agreements, with special focus on:
- self insurance and insurance trusts
- using super funds for this purpose
- share buy-back and unit redemption traps
- when equity is held by trusts but insurance proceeds are paid to individuals.