Dividend tax calculator
For 2026/27 the dividend rates are 10.75% at basic rate, 35.75% at higher rate and 39.35% at additional rate, after a £500 tax-free allowance. The basic and higher rates rose by two percentage points this year, many calculators still show the old 8.75% and 33.75%.
Dividend tax on £30,000
£3,171.25
You keep £26,828.75 of the dividends, 89.4%.
How the dividends are taxed
| Dividend allowance (0%) | £500.00 | £0.00 |
| Basic rate (10.75%) | £29,500.00 | £3,171.25 |
| Total dividend tax | £3,171.25 | |
No National Insurance is due on dividends, the reason the low-salary-plus-dividends structure exists. Tax on the salary itself is shown on the main calculator.
How dividends are taxed with a salary
Dividends sit on top of your other income. Your salary uses the personal allowance and the bands first; the dividends fill whatever band space remains, at the dividend rates rather than the ordinary ones. The first £500 of dividends is taxed at 0% but still occupies band space, a detail that catches people near the higher-rate line. Because no National Insurance is due on dividends at all, a small salary around the allowance plus dividends remains the standard company-director structure, though the gap has narrowed with each dividend-rate rise. At high incomes a further wrinkle applies: dividends count towards the £100,000 adjusted net income that tapers the personal allowance, so a large dividend can silently shrink the tax-free amount your salary was relying on, the calculator above handles that interaction rather than treating the two incomes separately.
What this calculator assumes
- UK-wide dividend rates and bands. Scottish rates apply only to the salary side, dividends are taxed the same in Scotland.
- Dividends paid into a pension or ISA are ignored: they are tax-free and don't belong here.
- Above £100,000 of total income the personal allowance tapers, the calculator handles it, and the ANI calculator shows the wider consequences.
- Corporation tax on the company's profits is out of scope, this is the personal side only.
Rates checked 2026-08-28 against gov.uk/tax-on-dividends. Method on the about page.