Dividend tax
Should I take salary or dividends from my limited company? Most limited company directors take a mixture of salary and dividends, but the best split is not the same for every company. Salary can reduce Corporation Tax and help protect National Insurance entitlement, but it may create PAYE and National Insurance costs. Dividends are usually
Read More Salary vs Dividends in 2026/27: What Limited Company Directors Need to Know If you run a limited company, one of the most common questions is whether you should pay yourself through salary, dividends, or a mixture of both. The honest answer is that there is no single best answer for every director. Salary and dividends
Read More Can You Backdate Dividends?
April 15, 2026Can You Backdate Dividends? The Risk Most Directors Don’t Realise Dividends are one of the most common ways directors extract profits from their companies. They’re flexible, tax-efficient, and relatively straightforward—at least on the surface. But one area that continues to cause problems is timing. Specifically, whether dividends can be declared after the fact to deal
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Using a Spouse as a Shareholder for Tax Planning
March 31, 2026Using a Spouse as a Shareholder for Tax Planning (UK 2026/27 Guide) Many owner-managed businesses ask: Can I make my spouse a shareholder to reduce tax? The short answer is: Yes — in many cases this is legal and effective.But it must be structured correctly to avoid HMRC challenge. Using a spouse as a shareholder
Read More Dividend Tax Changes from April 2026
February 20, 2026Dividend Tax Changes from April 2026: Profit Extraction Planning for Company Owners For many years, operating through a personal or family company and extracting profits as dividends was one of the most tax-efficient ways for business owners to take money out of their company. While that approach can still make sense, the tax landscape for
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Why Most Directors Take Money Out of Their Company the Hard Way
February 10, 2026Why Most Directors Take Money Out of Their Company the Hard Way Ask most company directors how they pay themselves, and you’ll usually get a vague answer. “A bit of salary.”“Some dividends when there’s money.”“I just take what I need and sort it later.” None of those are wrong in isolation — but together they
Read More Illegal Dividends
February 5, 2026Illegal Dividends: How They Happen Even When the Company Has Money One of the most common — and misunderstood — tax problems facing company directors is the illegal dividend. Many directors assume that if the company has money in the bank, they are free to take dividends. After all, the business is profitable, cash is
Read More How to Pay Less Tax on Dividends in 2025/26
December 17, 2025How to Pay Less Tax on Dividends in 2025/26: Director Planning Tactics If you’re a company director or shareholder, you’ve likely felt the tightening grip of dividend taxation in recent years — and 2025/26 continues that trend. With the dividend allowance slashed to just £500 and new dividend tax rate increases coming into force from
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How to Pay Yourself from Your Company in 2025/26
November 29, 2025How to Pay Yourself from Your Company in 2025/26 If you run your own limited company, how you take money out of the business is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll make each year. With Corporation Tax rates now at 25%, dividend allowances reduced to just £500, and income tax thresholds still frozen
Read More Maximising Tax Efficiency Before April 2026
November 4, 2025Dividend Planning 2025/26: Maximising Tax Efficiency Before April 2026 Why This Is the Most Important Year Yet for Profit Extraction The 2025/26 tax year offers a narrowing window for company directors and shareholders to extract profits from their businesses in a tax-efficient way. With the dividend allowance already at its lowest point in over a
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