Director salary and dividend calculator 2026/27.
How much tax will you pay on what you take from your own company? Enter a salary and dividends, or one total, and see the tax, the national insurance your company pays, and which split costs least.
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Director salary and dividend tax estimate, 2026/27
Salary plus dividends, before any tax. Pick the salary and the rest becomes dividends.
The salary cannot be more than the total, so it has been capped.
The total declared in the tax year, before any tax.
It takes up to £10,500 off employer national insurance. It is not available if you are the only employee liable for employer national insurance, which is the usual position for a one-director company. Leave it off unless you know it applies.
Scotland sets its own income tax bands and rates on salary, so the salary tax below will differ for you. This calculator uses the England, Wales and Northern Ireland bands throughout. Dividend tax rates and national insurance are the same across the UK.
Optional. A flat rate is used, so marginal relief between £50,000 and £250,000 of profit is ignored.
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This is a planning estimate, not tax or financial advice. It ignores corporation tax, pensions, other income and student loans, and it assumes the salary is paid across the whole tax year. Figures are rounded to the nearest pound.
The comparison counts the personal tax you pay and the employer national insurance your company pays, plus corporation tax if you choose a rate. Salary is a deductible cost for corporation tax and dividends are not, so leaving corporation tax out can change which split looks cheapest. A salary below the lower earnings limit also does not count towards your state pension. Your accountant can fill in what the calculator cannot.
Rates are 2026/27 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Every rate and threshold comes from GOV.UK: income tax rates and bands, tax on dividends, employee national insurance, employer rates and thresholds and the Employment Allowance. Check them yourself if anything here looks wrong.
Rates last reviewed against GOV.UK in . They are checked again every April, when the new tax year starts.
Also free: see what a salary is worth after tax, work out what dividends cost on the new rates, check whether AI knows your business exists or run a website health check. All our free tools.
Four rules do most of the work.
Salary and dividends are taxed in different ways, and your company pays on the salary as well. These are the 2026/27 numbers behind every result above.
Paying yourself from your company.
What is the most tax-efficient salary for a company director in 2026/27?
There is no single answer, because it depends on how much you take out and whether your company can claim the Employment Allowance. A salary at the £5,000 secondary threshold or the £12,570 personal allowance is a common starting point. This calculator compares several salary levels for the same total, so you can see the personal tax and the employer national insurance side by side. It leaves out corporation tax, which also changes the picture.
Why does the calculator show employer national insurance?
Employer national insurance is paid by the company at 15 per cent on salary above £5,000. It never appears on your payslip, but it is a real cost of paying a salary, so the calculator adds it to your personal tax to show the full cost of each split. Dividends carry no national insurance.
Can my company claim the Employment Allowance?
The allowance reduces employer national insurance by up to £10,500 a year. It is not available if you are the only employee liable for employer national insurance, which is the usual position for a company with one director and no other staff. Check the GOV.UK eligibility rules before relying on it. The toggle in the calculator is off by default.
Does this work for Scottish taxpayers?
Only in part. Scotland sets its own income tax bands and rates on salary, so the salary tax here uses the England, Wales and Northern Ireland bands and will differ if you pay Scottish tax. Dividend tax rates and national insurance are set across the whole UK.
Is this tax advice?
No. It is an estimate to help you plan. It ignores corporation tax, pensions, other income and student loans, so ask your accountant to confirm the figures before you change how you pay yourself.
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