@rayneanddavid , even though the disposition of the business looks like a loss and should not cause any tax events, it would be good idea to have professional help on this . This is because to compute the basis of the business, you have to go through the books and determine the book value of the business i.e. its assets and intangibles like brand name , location etc. Not knowing the type of business, and the details, I strongly urge you to have a professional do your return for the year in which you sold the business.
Also any interests earned by you ( from "land contract" / installment sale ) is earnings to you and needs to be recognized ( and possibly taxed ). So again I urge you seek professional help ( a cpa or a tax professional familiar with business returns of the type of business you are in ).
Can you do it by yourself -- yes of course but unless you are quite familiar with tax returns of the type of business you are in and the type of entity it was ( C-Corp, S-Corp, Partnership, sole proprietor, agri , etc. etc. ), I would much rather have professional help to make sure things are done right and of course in case of an audit, you have somebody standing by you.
Hope this helps. Is there more I can do for you ?
pk
