Your company's Corporation Tax and your own Income Tax are separate. This page is about the second: the personal Self Assessment return for 2025/26 (6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026), due online by 31 January 2027. The dividend rates for that year were 2 percentage points lower than the 2026/27 rates you will see quoted now.
Written by James Whitfield · Last checked 22 October 2026 · Checked against 2026/27 HMRC rates · Editorial standards · Methodology
If you received more than £10,000 of dividends in 2025/26, or have another reason to file, you need a 2025/26 Self Assessment return: file it online and pay by 31 January 2027. Your director's salary goes on the Employment page from your P60, and dividends from your company go in box 4 of the main return, taxed at the 2025/26 rates of 8.75%, 33.75% and 39.35% after the £500 allowance.
With a £12,570 salary and £40,100 of dividends, the 2025/26 bill is £4,065. In your first year of filing you also pay a first payment on account of £2,032.50, so £6,097.50 is due on 31 January 2027.
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GOV.UK's list of people who must send a tax return covers sole traders over £1,000, partners, people with Capital Gains Tax to pay and people paying the High Income Child Benefit Charge outside PAYE. Being a company director is not on it.1 For most owner-directors the trigger is the dividends.
If your dividends were over £10,000 in 2025/26, you must complete a return, and if you did not already send one you should have told HMRC by 5 October 2026.2 If you register after that date, HMRC sends a letter or email setting a filing deadline 3 months from its date, but the tax is still due by 31 January 2027.4
If they were £10,000 or less and you do not otherwise file, you can ask HMRC to collect the tax through your tax code instead. Dividends covered by your allowances do not need reporting at all.2 If you already file a return, all dividend income goes on it.2
HMRC's 2025/26 notes say to fill in the Employment page if you were a director of a UK company (including a dormant one).6 Your director's salary and the tax deducted come from the P60 your company's payroll gave you after 5 April 2026, and any taxable benefits from the P11D.
Dividends from your company go in box 4, 'Dividends from UK companies', with any other UK company dividends; enter the total you received in the tax year.6 Use your dividend vouchers and board minutes to check the total matches what the company paid in 2025/26, not what it declared for its own accounting year.
Corporation Tax is a company liability with its own return and deadlines. Paying it does not cover your personal dividend tax.
Priya is the sole director of her company. In 2025/26 she took a £12,570 salary (covered by her Personal Allowance, so no Income Tax) and £40,100 of dividends. It is her first Self Assessment return.35
| Dividend allowance: £500 at 0% | £0.00 |
| £37,200 at 8.75% (rest of the basic-rate band) | £3,255.00 |
| £2,400 at 33.75% (above £50,270 of total income) | £810.00 |
| 2025/26 dividend tax | £4,065.00 |
| First payment on account for 2026/27 (50%) | £2,032.50 |
| Second payment on account, due 31 July 2027Not part of the January total | £2,032.50 |
| Due by 31 January 2027 | £6,097.50 |
At the 2026/27 rates the same salary and dividends cost £4,857. Her 2026/27 payments on account are based on the 2025/26 bill, so the £792 difference is due with the balancing payment on 31 January 2028. Setting aside around 12% of each dividend this year covers a normal year at this level (£4,857 ÷ £40,100).
If your bill is £1,000 or more and less than 80% of your tax was collected at source, HMRC asks for two payments on account towards the next year, each half of this year's bill, on 31 January and 31 July.5 A director on a £12,570 salary pays no PAYE tax, so the 80% test is almost never met.
If you expect your 2026/27 dividends to be lower, you can apply to reduce them (online or form SA303); if you reduce them too far, you pay interest on the shortfall.5
If you also have PAYE income with tax deducted, you owe less than £3,000 and you file online by 30 December 2026, HMRC can collect the bill through your tax code over 12 months instead.10
The paper deadline for 2025/26 was 31 October 2026; the online return and payment are due by 11:59pm on 31 January 2027.4 GOV.UK says the current penalties apply to the 2025/26 return.7 A return one day late costs £100; after three months £10 a day up to £900; then 5% of the tax or £300 at six and twelve months. Unpaid tax picks up 5% penalties at 30 days, six months and twelve months.8 Interest is 7.75% a year from 9 January 2026.9
Not just because they are directors: GOV.UK's list of who must send a return does not include company directors. You must complete one if your dividends were over £10,000 in the tax year, or for another listed reason such as Capital Gains Tax to pay. Dividends of £10,000 or less can be taxed through your tax code instead.
8.75% in the basic-rate band, 33.75% in the higher-rate band and 39.35% above £125,140, after the £500 dividend allowance. The 10.75% and 35.75% rates only apply to dividends paid from 6 April 2026.
On the Employment page (SA102), using the pay and tax figures from your P60. HMRC's notes say directors of UK companies, including dormant companies, fill in the Employment page.
By 11:59pm on 31 January 2027, together with the first payment on account for 2026/27 if your bill is £1,000 or more and less than 80% was collected at source. The second payment on account is due 31 July 2027.
Register as soon as you can. GOV.UK says HMRC will then send a letter or email setting your filing deadline 3 months from its date, but the tax is still due by 31 January 2027.
£4,065 of 2025/26 dividend tax. In a first year of filing, add a first payment on account of £2,032.50 for 2026/27, so £6,097.50 is due on 31 January 2027 and another £2,032.50 on 31 July 2027.
The rates and rules on this page are drawn from the official UK government sources below, using the confirmed 2026/27 figures. Each link opens the relevant HMRC, GOV.UK or Companies House page in a new tab.
The limited company tax calculator turns this guidance into a concrete estimate for corporation tax, dividends and personal take-home, based on 2026/27 HMRC rates.