It may be wise to hold off selling your qualified small business stock if it is issued in 2009 or 2010. In general, you can exclude 50 percent of the gain on the sale of qualified small business stock that was held for more than five years. However, the remaining 50 percent of the gain is taxed at the 28-percent capital gains rate, so the entire gain on the sale is effectively taxed at a rate of 14 percent.

For qualified small business stock issued after February 17, 2009, and before January 1, 2011, the 50-percent exclusion is increased to 75 percent. Thus, only 25 percent of the gain is taxed at the 28-percent rate, which effectively taxes the entire gain at a rate of 7 percent. You still need to hold the stock for five years, so you’ll have to project your tax situation five years from now to determine if it’s worth the wait.