02/10/2026
What’s the most tax-efficient way to pay myself from my Limited Company?
For many owner-directors, a common approach is to use a combination of salary and dividends.
Here’s the basic idea
1. Take a salary
For 2026/27, the standard Personal Allowance is £12,570.
Depending on your circumstances, paying a salary up to this level can make sense – the salary is generally an expense for the company for Corporation Tax purposes and, assuming you have the full Personal Allowance available, there would usually be no personal Income Tax to pay on it.
There can, however, be National Insurance implications for the company, so £12,570 isn’t automatically the right salary for every director.
2. Take further income as dividends
If the company has sufficient profits available, additional income can then be taken as dividends.
For someone with no other income and the full Personal Allowance, total income can generally reach £50,270 before entering the higher-rate tax band.
There’s also a £500 dividend allowance for 2026/27.
Dividends falling within the basic-rate band above that allowance are currently taxed at 10.75%.
Go into the higher-rate band and the dividend tax rate increases to 35.75%!
So, if you don’t need to take all of the money out of your company, there can be a significant difference between planning your withdrawals and simply taking money whenever it’s available.
⚠️ But remember…
Dividends aren’t just another way of withdrawing cash from the company.
The company must have sufficient distributable profits to pay them and the dividends need to be properly declared and documented.
And the best salary/dividend combination can change if you have another job
For many small Limited Company owners, the starting point is:
Salary → use your available Personal Allowance
Dividends → use the tax bands you want to use
Leave anything you don’t need in the company rather than automatically pushing yourself into a higher personal tax band.
A little planning before taking the money can make a big difference.
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