HMRC has consulted on changes that would close the route most owner-managed businesses use to separate. Nothing has been legislated, but the direction is clear enough to be worth understanding now.
When a company buys back its own shares from a shareholder, the proceeds can be taxed in one of two completely different ways. On a large buyback the gap between them runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds. The transaction is identical either way; only the tax treatment changes. That is exactly why HMRC pays attention, and why you should too.