'I'm So Sorry'—Dave Ramsey Left Speechless After Hearing The Capital Gains Tax A Canadian Restaurant Owner Would Owe If He Sold His Business

Dave Ramsey is rarely left speechless. But when a Canadian restaurant owner revealed the capital gains tax he'd have to pay if he sold his business, Ramsey was stunned.

On a recent episode of the EntreLeadership podcast, a caller named Joe explained his dilemma. He and his wife own two restaurants, a quick-service smash burger joint that's been open for about a year and a half and a full-service dining restaurant that has been in business for 22 years. 

With 50 employees and $4 million in revenue, Joe has been working 65-hour weeks for over two decades. He's exhausted and wondering if selling one of his restaurants would be the right move to get some of his life back.

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Ramsey initially considered the idea. "If you sold the restaurant, you could pay off your mortgage?" he asked. Joe confirmed that he could, but then explained the major issue—Canada's capital gains tax.

"The issue with Canada is our capital gains tax—around 66%," Joe said. Ramsey couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Did you just say Canadian capital gains is 66%?" he asked in shock. "If you make $100,000, your government takes $66,000?"

"Basically," Joe replied. "I can't breathe," Ramsey responded. "I can't either," Joe admitted.

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The revelation completely changed the conversation. Initially, Ramsey was open to the idea of Joe selling a restaurant to relieve his workload and pay off his mortgage. But after learning about the massive tax burden, he quickly changed course.

"That's a disincentive to sell," Ramsey said. "You're giving it all to the government. That changes everything."

Instead of selling, Ramsey suggested a different approach—hiring a top-tier general manager to take over much of the daily operations. "I would pay them a base plus a percentage of profit that that place made," he advised. "That gives them a compensation package that gives some ownership—a sense of ownership, not actual ownership—and lets you get your life back."

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Joe admitted he had considered that option but was struggling with the idea of trusting someone else with so many responsibilities. "The problem with small businesses is you have to be there all the time," he said. "You wear so many hats—accounting, plumbing, dishwashing."

But Ramsey insisted that hiring the right person could be the key to reducing stress and maintaining profitability—without handing over most of the proceeds to the government.

As the segment wrapped up, Ramsey was still shaking his head over the tax rate. “To give your stupid government 66% of your profits on a business you built—they didn't build—that’s just so despicable, oh how horrible," he said.

Clearly shocked, Ramsey could only sum it up in one phrase: "I'm so sorry."

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