How to take dividends from a limited company (2024)

As outlined on our Ways of working advice page, there are many pros and cons to setting up your own limited company. However, what is often seen as the biggest advantage of setting up this way is that you can legitimately pay less personal tax than if you were a sole trader.

While you’ll pay Corporation Tax at 19% (the current level), many directors and shareholders choose to pay themselves with a small salary and a dividend which is more tax efficient.

In this guidance, Integro Accountingtalk you through dividends: How they work, the benefits, the restrictions and whether payingyourself through dividends is right for your business.

So, lets start with the basics. What are dividends?

A dividend is a payment of profit from a limited company to a shareholder. This is the money remaining in a company after all business expenses and liabilities, including tax and VAT, have been paid.

Who are dividends for?

Dividends are paid to shareholders of the company – for the purpose of this article we will assume there is one shareholder, i.e. you the freelancer. For ordinary shares, the amount of dividends a shareholder can receive is based on the percentage of shares that they own. For example, if you own three quarters of the company’s shares you’ll receive 75% of each dividend.

How do you issue dividends?

Whether you are the sole shareholder, or have multiple shareholders, when issuing dividends, you need to record this through your company. There are certain steps you need to follow when doing this:

  1. You will need to hold a ‘board meeting’ to agree on a dividend declaration and a record of the meetings minutes.
  2. A dividend voucher needs to be recorded and a copy kept on records for the business and to the shareholder/s. This can be sent by email, paper, or generated by any number of accounting software packages. There is no standard template for this information, however the details that need to be included are:
    • the date
    • company name
    • name and address of the relevant shareholder
    • the total number of shares owned
    • the total dividend payable
    • the director’s signature.

One thing to note, is that you do not HAVE to pay yourself dividends. You can just simply leave the profit in the company’s bank account if you choose to. Your accountant can always guide you on what is best for you and your business.

How to take dividends from a limited company (1)

What are the thresholds for dividends and the tax applied?

For the 2023/2024 tax year, there is a tax-free dividend allowance of £1,000. What that means is that you can take up to £1,000 in dividends in this period before you must pay any income tax on it. This is in addition to your personal tax-free allowance. The personal allowance threshold is £12,570. Adding these two allowances together, if your combined salary and dividend income exceeds £13,570, only then will you need to pay tax.

The amount that you pay will depend on your tax band:

  • Basic-rate taxpayers will pay 8.75% (i.e. if you receive dividends over the personal allowance and up to a value of £37,700)
  • Higher-rate taxpayers will pay 33.75% (i.e. if you receive dividends over £37,701 and less than £150,000)
  • Additional-rate taxpayers will pay 39.35% (i.e. if you receive dividends over £150,000)

Are there any restrictions as to when you should and should not take dividends?

In brief, no. One of the benefits of being a limited company owner is you can make decisions about when to pay dividends, as well as how much to pay. In fact, you can distribute dividends as often as you want to, assuming the profits are available in the company.

Being able to decide when, and how much, to pay dividends is one of the perks of being a freelancer with a limited company and will help you in tax planning. Working closely with your accountant will enable you to maximise on the benefits paying yourself in dividends brings. And remember, you are in control of when funds are taken from the business and can therefore make it as tax efficient as possible.

Why is it recommended to pay yourself through a combination of salary and dividends?

As a company owner you can choose to pay yourself through PAYE (salary) or dividends, but it is often the combination of the two that will be the most beneficial to you. Taking a low salary and a higher dividend is usually the most tax effective combination for the following reasons:

  • You don’t pay National Insurance on dividends.
  • Depending on how many dividends you pay yourself, you can minimise your personal tax liability.
  • Taking a salary triggers a national insurance record for your state pension
  • Your company can claim the cost of your salary when it calculates its corporation tax making a saving for the business
  • You can pay yourself in dividends up to the level of post-tax profit in your company

In conclusion, the combination of drawing a small salary and dividends is most likely the most-tax efficient way to work for you.

It is also worth remembering that the real benefit comes from the fact that you can control when funds are removed from the business and the timing of the tax. Work with your accountant to ensure you have the correct structure in place to maximise on this benefit and you will be running a smooth, tax efficient business. For further advice on dividends, visit here for more information: Contractors Guide to Dividends – How does it work?

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How to take dividends from a limited company (7)

How to take dividends from a limited company (2024)

FAQs

How do you get dividends from a company? ›

Cash dividends are paid out either as a check sent to the investor or as a credit to a brokerage account, which can then be reinvested. Stock dividends are paid in fractional shares. If a company issues a stock dividend of 5%, shareholders will receive 0.05 shares in dividends for every share they already own.

What is the most tax efficient way to pay yourself limited company? ›

When paying yourself, you need to do it in the most tax-efficient way – which is usually done by taking a combination of a low salary and dividends from your limited company. The salary will be paid to you as a director, in the same way as a regular employee.

How the dividend is calculated for private limited company? ›

Any dividend paid out by a private company will be either a final dividend or an interim dividend. Final dividends are paid once a year and are calculated after the annual accounts have been adopted and once a Private Limited Company's profits are determined.

What are the 4 steps in dividend payment? ›

The dividend payment process in India can be divided into four important dates. These dates are the dividend declaration date, the date of record, the ex-dividend date and the payment date.

How to claim dividend from a company? ›

PROCEDURE FOR CLAIMING DIVIDEND FROM THE COMPANY

2. Shareholders who are holding shares in demat form can submit a signed request letter by mail /post & client master list, with updated bank details for processing dividend. 3. Shareholders can attach a copy of stale Dividend Warrant/DD, if any, issued by the Company.

Can I withdraw dividends from my company? ›

Dividends are paid to shareholders of the company. To pay yourself a dividend: Withdraw the cash from your corporate bank account into a personal account. Record the withdrawal as a dividend or shareholder draw in your accounting system.

Do dividends count as income? ›

Key Takeaways. All dividends paid to shareholders must be included on their gross income, but qualified dividends will get more favorable tax treatment. A qualified dividend is taxed at the capital gains tax rate, while ordinary dividends are taxed at standard federal income tax rates.

How do people use LLC to reduce their taxes? ›

LLCs have the option of filing as an S corp., the main benefit of which is it provides a mechanism for reducing self-employment taxes. Under an S corp structure, the owner of an LLC can be considered an employee and receive a salary.

How much tax do I pay on dividends? ›

Dividend tax basics

Dividend income is treated as the top band of income. Dividends are taxed at 8.75% (basic rate), 33.75% (higher rate), and 39.35% (additional rate). Before 6 April 2022, these rates were: 7.5%, 32.5%, and 38.1%.

How do dividends work in a limited company? ›

A dividend is a payment of profit from a limited company to a shareholder. This is the money remaining in a company after all business expenses and liabilities, including tax and VAT, have been paid.

What is rule 3 of dividend rules? ›

Rule 3 of Dividend Rules prescribes the conditions to be complied with for declaring dividend out of reserves. A pertinent question here is – whether a company can declare dividend out of 100% of the amount that has been transferred to General Reserve.

Is it mandatory to open a separate bank account for dividends? ›

As and when the dividend is declared either a final dividend or interim dividend, the company needs to open a separate bank account titled as “dividend / interim dividend account with a scheduled bank and transfer the entire amount of dividend payable to this account within five days of declaration and give a copy of ...

How to do dividend capture strategy? ›

In summary, the dividend capture strategy involves buying a stock just before the ex-dividend date to receive the dividend, then selling it after the price recovers to break even. While potentially profitable, this strategy has several risks for small investors.

What is the formula for dividend payment? ›

Here is the formula for dividends per share: Total dividends ÷ shares outstanding = dividends per share.

What is the dividend strategy? ›

The Dividend Strategy portfolio targets a high level of current income, growth of income and capital preservation in challenging markets by owning high-quality large cap companies that pay an attractive dividend and have the potential to significantly grow their dividends.

How can I receive my dividend? ›

Dividends typically are credited to a brokerage account or paid in the form of a dividend check. The dividend check is mailed to stockholders but can be direct-deposited to a shareholder's account of choice, if preferred. The alternative to cash dividends is additional shares of stock.

How long do you have to hold a stock to get dividends? ›

Here's how they work: To be eligible to receive a dividend declared for a stock, you must buy the stock, or already own it, before the ex-dividend date (otherwise known as the ex-date). That purchase cutoff time is two days before the date of record.

How do you get total dividends paid? ›

Here is the formula for calculating dividends: Annual net income minus net change in retained earnings = dividends paid.

Do dividend stocks pay monthly? ›

Most stocks that pay regular dividends pay them quarterly, but there are a handful of companies that make dividend distributions monthly. Monthly dividends appeal to income investors because most people have monthly expenses and organize their budgets by the month.

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