In November 2025, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered the Autumn Budget. For pest control business owners who had been keeping one eye on the rumour mill, the key question was simple: did they change the tax rules on selling a business? For Business Asset Disposal Relief the answer is no. The changes that matter were announced a year earlier, in the Budget of October 2024, and they are significant enough to warrant careful attention from anyone considering a sale in the next twelve months.
Business Asset Disposal Relief: The Headline Change
Business Asset Disposal Relief, which was previously known as Entrepreneurs' Relief, has been the cornerstone of tax-efficient business sales for years. Before the Budget of October 2024, qualifying business owners could sell their business and pay Capital Gains Tax, the tax on the gain from a sale, at a reduced rate of 10% on the first £1 million of qualifying gains, rather than the standard CGT rates of 10% or 20% depending on income.
The Budget of October 2024 changed this in two stages. The BADR rate was 10% until Apr 2025 and 14% for disposals in the 2025/26 tax year. In Apr 2026 it rose again to 18%. The £1 million lifetime limit on qualifying gains remains unchanged.
To put this in context: a pest control business owner who sold their business before Apr 2025 and made a qualifying gain of £400,000 would have paid £40,000 in CGT under the old 10% BADR rate. The same sale made in the 2025/26 tax year attracted tax of £56,000 at 14%. The same sale made now, after April 2026, carries a tax bill of £72,000 at 18%.
What This Means in Pounds and Pence
Suppose you own a pest control business that a buyer is willing to purchase for £400,000. After deducting your base cost, which for most owner-managed businesses is relatively small, your qualifying gain is close to £400,000.
Each Budget carries the risk of further changes, and the direction of travel has been consistently towards higher rates and reduced reliefs for business sellers.
A sale made before April 2026 at the 14% BADR rate carried a CGT liability of £56,000. The seller kept £344,000 before any other costs.
A sale contracted from April 2026 onwards at the 18% BADR rate carries a CGT liability of £72,000. The seller keeps £328,000.
The difference is £16,000. For larger gains, it grows proportionally: £30,000 on a £750,000 gain, and £40,000 on the full £1 million lifetime limit. These are not trivial sums.
Employers' National Insurance: The Other Change That Matters
The Budget of October 2024 also announced an increase in Employers' National Insurance contributions from 13.8% to 15%, effective from April 2025. Alongside this, the threshold at which employers start paying NI was lowered from £9,100 to £5,000 per employee per year.
For pest control businesses with employed technicians, this is a meaningful increase in operating costs. On a £30,000 salary, employer NI goes up by about £870 a year per technician, so a business with five technicians on that pay pays about £4,330 more a year in employer NI alone.
This matters for valuations because it directly reduces net profit. A buyer will model their offer based on the profit they expect to inherit. If you are preparing for sale, make sure your financial projections reflect these increased costs so there are no surprises during due diligence, the buyer's detailed check of your business.
Should You Have Rushed to Sell Before April 2026?
This is the question that every pest control business owner with sale plans is now asking, and the honest answer is: it depends.
For owners whose businesses were already well prepared, a sale contracted before April 2026 saved money. That tax saving was real and quantifiable.
If your business is not ready, however, rushing to market is almost always a mistake. Selling for £350,000 instead of £400,000 because you were not properly prepared, just to save £16,000 in CGT, is poor arithmetic.
The right approach is to assess honestly where you stand. With the April 2026 date now passed, start preparing with a realistic timeline and focus on maximising the sale value rather than minimising the tax rate.
The 14% Window Has Closed, But BADR Still Helps
The April 2026 BADR rate increase has now taken effect. A pest control business sale typically takes six to nine months from first approach to completion, and the 14% rate applied only to disposals up to Apr 2026, so any sale starting now falls under the 18% rate.
For any sale contracted now, the 18% rate is still significantly lower than the standard higher CGT rate of 24% that would apply without BADR. The relief has become less generous, but it has not been abolished. Qualifying business owners will still benefit from a preferential rate on the first £1 million of gains.
What You Should Do Next
Speak to your accountant. Make sure you understand your personal CGT position, including how much of your £1 million BADR lifetime limit you have already used (if any), and what the tax implications of a sale would be at today's 18% rate.
Get a realistic valuation. Understand what your business is actually worth in the current market, not what you hope it might be worth. A valuation based on the specifics of your contract book, team, and geography will give you the information you need to make a sound decision.
Assess your readiness. Are your accounts clean? Are your contracts formalised? Is your team stable? Could the business operate without you for three months? If the answer to all of these is yes, you are in a strong position to move quickly. If not, start addressing the gaps now.
The tax changes have altered the arithmetic of selling a business. They have not changed the fundamentals. A well-prepared pest control business with strong recurring revenue, qualified staff, and good documentation will still attract multiple buyers and achieve a strong price. The difference now is that timing matters more than it did, and the rise to 18% in April 2026 has already put a tangible cost on delay.
Before a sale you will need an accountant and a corporate solicitor: who to bring in, and when.
