Compute UK dividend tax with band-aware rates.
Dividend tax due
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8.75% basic
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33.75% higher
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39.35% additional
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Your breakdown
Updates live as you type| Slice of dividend | Rate | Tax |
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Dividends stack on top of your other income
The single most important thing to understand about dividend tax is that dividends are taxed last. HMRC stacks them on top of your salary, pension, rent, and savings income, so the rate you pay depends entirely on how much of your tax bands the rest of your income has already used. The same £15,000 dividend can be taxed at 8.75 percent for one person and 33.75 percent for another, purely because of what sits underneath it. That is why this tool asks for your other taxable income first.
For 2026/27 the dividend allowance is £500. It is not a deduction in the ordinary sense; it is a nil-rate band, so the first £500 of dividends is taxed at zero but still counts towards which band the rest falls into. Above it, the rates are 8.75 percent inside the basic-rate band, 33.75 percent in the higher-rate band, and 39.35 percent in the additional-rate band. The allowance has been cut hard, from £2,000 down to £1,000 and then to £500, which has quietly dragged thousands of small investors and company directors into filing returns.
£40,000 salary plus £15,000 of dividends
Suppose you draw a £40,000 salary and receive £15,000 in dividends. The salary uses your £12,570 personal allowance and then £27,430 of the £37,700 basic-rate band, leaving £10,270 of basic-rate room. The £500 allowance covers the first slice of dividends, then £10,270 falls in the basic band and the remaining £4,230 spills into higher rate.
The chart shows how the single £15,000 dividend is sliced across three rates. The first sliver is free, the wide middle band is cheap, and the top band is where the rate more than triples.
Where Scotland and the £100k taper change things
Dividend rates are set UK-wide, so a Scottish taxpayer pays the same 8.75, 33.75, and 39.35 percent as everyone else. The wrinkle is that Scotland uses different bands for non-dividend income, so a Scottish higher-rate threshold can be reached at a lower salary, pushing more of your dividends into the 33.75 percent band sooner. The calculator uses the England, Wales, and Northern Ireland band structure, so Scottish residents with substantial salaries should expect a slightly worse outcome than shown.
One trap that catches higher earners is the personal allowance taper. Because dividends count towards total income, a large dividend can push you past £100,000, where the £12,570 allowance shrinks by £1 for every £2 of income above that line. That creates an effective marginal rate far higher than the headline dividend rate over the £100,000 to £125,140 zone.
Do I have to report dividends below the allowance?
If your only dividends are within the £500 allowance and you have no other reason to file, you generally do not need to tell HMRC. Above the allowance but below £10,000, you can usually ask HMRC to collect the tax through a change to your PAYE code rather than filing a full Self Assessment return. Above £10,000 of dividends you must register for Self Assessment.
Are dividends inside an ISA taxed?
No. Dividends from shares or funds held inside a stocks and shares ISA are completely free of dividend tax and do not use your £500 allowance. With the allowance now so small, sheltering income-producing holdings inside your £20,000 annual ISA is one of the simplest ways to keep dividend tax at zero.