I am trying to clarify how these two reliefs work in the majority of cases i.e. a person who owns and runs a business for a number of years. (I don't want to deal with the exceptions and obstacles in this post.)
First does he qualify for Retirement Relief?
If he is aged between 55 and 65 and the sales proceeds are under €750k, he pays no CGT.
If he is 66 or over, and the sales proceeds are under €500k, he pays no CGT.
If they are a bit above those limits, there is Marginal Relief.
Example of Retirement Relief
Aged 60
Set up a company with no costs.
Liquidates the company and distributes €600k of assets.
Qualifies for Retirement Relief so is exempt from CGT.
If he is 54 or under ...
He won't qualify for Retirement Relief but will get Entrepreneurial Relief.
He will pay 10% on the first €750k of gains.
Example or Entrepreneurial Relief:
Age 50
Capital gain €1,050,000
€750k @10% = €75k
€300k@33% : €99k
Total tax: €174k.
If he is aged 70 and sells a business with a Capital Gain of €1,750k
Retirement Relief won't be any use to him.
he will qualify for Entrepreneurial Relief
€750k @10%
€1m @33%