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Tax calculator

Dividend Tax Calculator

See what you owe on your dividends for the 2026-27 tax year. Add your other income and your dividend income, and we'll show the tax, your effective rate and what you keep. Free, no signup.

Free, no signup2026/27 & 2025/26Verify at gov.uk
Your income
Salary, pension, self-employment, rent, before this dividend
£
Total dividends for the year
£
Dividend tax due 2026-27
£2,096
An effective 10.5% on your dividends. You keep £17,904.
Basic: £19,500 at 10.75%
Tax-free dividends£500 allowance plus any unused personal allowance£500
Dividend tax£2,096
Dividends after tax£17,904
Dividends are the top slice of your income: your other income fills the tax bands first, then dividends stack on top. There is no National Insurance on dividends. Want the salary side too? Use the take-home pay calculator.
2026-27 dividend rates 10.75% / 35.75% / 39.35%, £500 allowance. England, Wales and NI (Scotland uses the same dividend rates). General information, not tax advice.
Simon Chadwick
Simon Chadwick
Founder, Orbit Money
Method: gov.uk dividend rates and allowanceUpdated: 14 July 2026Sources: gov.uk/tax-on-dividends

How dividend tax works

The first £500 of dividends each year is tax-free under the dividend allowance. Above that, dividends are taxed at their own rates: 10.75% in the basic-rate band, 35.75%in the higher-rate band and 39.35% in the additional-rate band for 2026-27. Dividends sit on top of your other income, so your salary and other earnings fill the bands first and the dividends are taxed on whatever band they land in. Dividends held inside an ISA are free of dividend tax entirely.

Salary vs dividends for directors

Company directors often take a small salary plus dividends, because dividends carry no National Insurance. The trade-off is that dividends are paid from company profit after corporation tax, so the saving is smaller than the headline rates suggest. The right split depends on your circumstances, so treat this as a way to see the numbers, not as tax advice.

Frequently asked questions

How much tax do I pay on dividends?
For 2026-27 you pay 10.75% on dividends in the basic-rate band, 35.75% in the higher-rate band and 39.35% above that, on everything over the £500 dividend allowance. Which rate applies depends on where the dividends sit once stacked on top of your other income.
What is the dividend allowance for 2026-27?
£500 of dividends are tax-free each year, on top of your personal allowance. It fell from £1,000 in 2023-24 and £500 in 2024-25, and stays at £500 for 2026-27.
How much can I earn in dividends tax-free?
The £500 dividend allowance, plus any of your £12,570 personal allowance not used up by other income. So if you have no other income, a large slice of dividends can fall within the personal allowance before the £500 even applies.
Are dividends taxed before or after salary?
After. Dividends are treated as the top slice of your income, so your salary and other income fill the tax bands first, then dividends stack on top and are taxed at the dividend rates.
Do I pay National Insurance on dividends?
No. Dividends carry no National Insurance, unlike salary. That's a large part of why company directors often take a small salary plus dividends, though dividends come from profit after corporation tax.

Related tools

Take-Home Pay Calculator (UK)
Want the salary side too? See your full take-home after tax and NI.
Capital Gains Tax Calculator (UK)
Selling the shares rather than drawing dividends? Work out CGT.
Salary Sacrifice Calculator (UK)
Trimming taxable income through pension sacrifice? See the effect.
50/30/20 Budget Calculator
Know what you keep, then plan where it goes.
Compound Interest Calculator
Dividends alongside savings? See what your interest earns.

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Simon Chadwick
About the author
Simon Chadwick
Founder of Orbit Money

Simon is the founder of Orbit Money, a tool that helps people track subscriptions and recurring spend. He builds Orbit's free money calculators and writes about personal finance for UK and Australian readers.

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This tool is a guide, not tax advice.