Director salary & dividend calculator

Compare salary and dividend options

Compare how salary, dividends, Corporation Tax and National Insurance affect estimated take-home in either supported Income Tax region.

Step 1

Enter the company figures

After business expenses and before director salary, employer NI and Corporation Tax.
Use prior-year distributable reserves (optional)
From completed accounts, not your bank balance. Use only an amount confirmed as distributable.
Capped at the confirmed reserves above.Profits left from earlier years can be paid as dividends. Salary counts as a cost this year, so we do not show salary options that would make the company loss-making.

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Calculation method

How the salary and dividend calculator works

Tax Shrink compares possible director salaries from £0 to the amount the company can afford. For each salary it deducts employer National Insurance and Corporation Tax, treats the remaining current-period distributable profit as a dividend, adds any chosen dividend from confirmed prior-year reserves, then estimates personal Income Tax and employee National Insurance on the combined income.

How to choose a salary and dividend split

There is no single salary-to-dividend ratio that works at every profit level. Tax thresholds change the result, so the calculator compares the full affordable salary range and shows both the highest and lowest estimated take-home options for the figures entered.

The 2026/27 salary and dividend guide shows how the highest-tested result changes at £50,000, £100,000 and £250,000 of profit. Read the full methodology, assumptions and official sources before applying an estimate.