Dividend Tax Calculator 2026/27
Work out your UK dividend tax for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 – 5 April 2027) from your salary and dividend income. The calculator stacks your dividends on top of your other income, applies your personal allowance and the £500 dividend allowance, then taxes the rest at the 2026/27 rates — 8.75% ordinary, 33.75% higher and 39.35% additional — and shows your net dividends and effective rate. Free, instant, England/Wales/NI rates.
Your dividend tax
- Net dividends after tax£42,593.75
- Total dividend tax£7,406.25
- Personal allowance£12,570.00
- Dividend allowance used (0%)£500.00
- — Taxed at ordinary rate (8.75%)£37,200.00
- — Taxed at higher rate (33.75%)£12,300.00
- Effective dividend tax rate14.81%
- Scotland noteScottish taxpayers use different Income Tax bands, but dividend tax rates are UK-wide and identical, so the dividend tax is the same.
How it's calculated
Dividend Income Tax is charged on the dividends you receive from shares — including dividends you pay yourself from your own limited company — but never in isolation. HMRC treats dividends as the top slice of your income, so the rate you pay depends on what other income you already have. The calculation runs in a fixed order. Your personal allowance of £12,570 is applied to your salary and other non-dividend income first; only the part of the allowance your salary does not use can shelter dividends. That allowance is withdrawn by £1 for every £2 of total income above £100,000 and reaches zero at £125,140. Every taxpayer then gets a separate dividend allowance of £500, taxed at 0%. The important catch is that this £500 is not extra band space — it still counts towards the £50,270 basic-rate and £125,140 higher-rate limits, so it can nudge your remaining dividends into a higher band even though no tax is due on the £500 itself. Whatever dividends are left are then taxed by band at the dividend rates: 8.75% (ordinary rate) within the basic band, 33.75% (upper rate) within the higher band, and 39.35% (additional rate) above £125,140. These rates are lower than the equivalent rates on salary because dividends are paid out of company profit that has already borne Corporation Tax. The calculator uses England, Wales and Northern Ireland thresholds; dividend rates themselves are UK-wide.
Dividend tax = (basic-band dividends − £500) × 8.75%
+ higher-band dividends × 33.75%
+ additional-band dividends × 39.35%
where dividends are stacked on top of (salary − personal allowance)
Net dividends = Gross dividends − Dividend taxWorked example
Take a company director on a £12,570 salary who draws £50,000 of dividends in 2026/27 (England), with no other income, pension or student loan:
| Salary / other income | £12,570.00 |
| Personal allowance used by salarySalary uses the full £12,570 allowance, leaving £0 for dividends | −£12,570.00 |
| Gross dividends | £50,000.00 |
| Basic-band dividends (to £50,270)£50,270 − £12,570 of band space | £37,700.00 |
| Less dividend allowance @ 0% | −£500.00 |
| Taxable basic-band dividends @ 8.75%8.75% × £37,200 | −£3,255.00 |
| Higher-band dividends @ 33.75%33.75% × £12,300 (income £50,270–£62,570) | −£4,151.25 |
| Total dividend tax | −£7,406.25 |
| Net dividends after tax | £42,593.75 |
The total dividend tax is £7,406.25, leaving net dividends of £42,593.75. That is an effective dividend tax rate of 14.81% (£7,406.25 ÷ £50,000), even though £12,300 of the dividends were taxed at the 33.75% higher rate — because the first £37,700 sat in the 8.75% band and £500 was tax-free.
When your result may differ
Your actual bill can differ from this estimate. If your total income tops £100,000, your personal allowance tapers away and more of your dividends are pushed into higher bands — the squeeze is sharpest between £100,000 and £125,140. A larger salary or other income (rent, savings interest, pension) fills the tax bands before your dividends, so the same dividends can be taxed at a higher rate; with a £50,270 salary, every pound of dividend is already in the 33.75% band. Scottish taxpayers pay Scotland's own Income Tax rates on salary, but dividend tax is reserved to the UK, so the dividend figure here is unchanged north of the border. Dividends held inside a Stocks and Shares ISA or a pension are tax-free and should be excluded entirely. Finally, this tool assumes the standard personal allowance and a single tax year; a non-standard tax code, the marriage allowance, or dividends spanning two tax years will change the result.
Rates and thresholds
UK dividend tax — 2026/27 tax year. Rates are the same across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
| Band | Total income range | Dividend tax rate |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend allowance | First £500 of dividends | 0% |
| Ordinary (basic) rate | Up to £50,270 | 8.75% |
| Upper (higher) rate | £50,271 – £125,140 | 33.75% |
| Additional rate | Over £125,140 | 39.35% |
Sources & legal basis
| Source | What it covers | Last checked |
|---|---|---|
| HMRC — Tax on dividends | Dividend allowance and the 8.75% / 33.75% / 39.35% rates | |
| HMRC — Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances | Personal allowance, the £50,270 and £125,140 thresholds and the £100,000 taper | |
| gov.uk — Income Tax in Scotland | Why Scottish bands change salary tax but not dividend tax |
Update log
- — Confirmed for the 2026/27 tax year; dividend rates and the £500 dividend allowance remain unchanged from 2025/26 (and from 6 April 2022).
- — Added worked example, rates table and source table; expanded the explanation of how dividends stack on top of salary and the £500 allowance.
Frequently asked questions
What are the UK dividend tax rates for 2026/27?
For the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027) the dividend rates are 8.75% (ordinary/basic rate), 33.75% (higher rate) and 39.35% (additional rate). These rates are unchanged from 2025/26 and have applied since 6 April 2022. You also get a £500 dividend allowance taxed at 0%, on top of your personal allowance.
How much dividend tax will I pay on a £12,570 salary and £50,000 dividends?
Total income is £62,570, so your personal allowance stays at £12,570 and the salary uses it up exactly. The dividends stack on top: £37,700 falls in the basic band and £12,300 in the higher band. After the £500 dividend allowance, taxable basic-band dividends are £37,200, taxed at 8.75% (£3,255.00), plus £12,300 at 33.75% (£4,151.25). Total dividend tax is £7,406.25, net dividends are £42,593.75, and the effective rate is 14.81%.
How does the £500 dividend allowance work?
The first £500 of your dividends is taxed at 0%. It is separate from — and on top of — your £12,570 personal allowance. The catch is that the allowance still uses up band space: those £500 of dividends count toward the £50,270 basic-rate and £125,140 higher-rate thresholds, so they can push your other dividends into a higher band even though no tax is charged on the £500 itself. The calculator applies it to your lowest-rate taxable dividends first.
Are dividends taxed on top of my salary?
Yes. Dividends are treated as the top slice of your income: HMRC adds your dividends to your other income to decide which band they fall in. Your salary and other income fill your personal allowance and the tax bands first, then dividends sit on top. So the more salary or other income you have, the higher the dividend band — for example, with a £50,270 salary every pound of dividend is already in the higher band.
Will I pay more dividend tax than in 2025/26?
No — the dividend rates and the £500 allowance are unchanged from 2025/26 (they have applied since 6 April 2022), so the same salary and dividends give the same dividend tax. For example, on £20,000 of dividends taken with a £50,270 salary (so the dividends are all in the higher band), the taxable amount after the £500 allowance is £19,500, taxed at 33.75% — that is £6,581.25, leaving £13,418.75 net and an effective rate of 32.91%. The one thing that has reduced the allowance over time is the dividend allowance itself, which fell to £500 in 2024/25 and stays at £500.
Do Scottish taxpayers pay different dividend tax?
No. Although Scotland sets its own Income Tax bands for salary and other earned income, dividend tax is reserved to the UK government, so the rates (8.75%, 33.75%, 39.35%) and the £500 allowance are identical across the whole UK. A Scottish taxpayer with the same salary and dividends pays exactly the same dividend tax as someone in England, Wales or Northern Ireland — only the tax on the salary part differs.