Mixed Income Calculator

Often £5,000, the point where employer NI starts. Your job has already used your personal allowance, so company salary is taxed at 20% or more from the first pound, but it also saves corporation tax and avoids dividend tax. Up to £5,000 that usually beats a dividend; above it, 15% employer NI usually tips things back towards dividends for basic-rate taxpayers. For example, with a £40,000 job and £40,000 of company profit, a £5,000 salary plus dividends leaves you £23,586, against £23,438 from dividends only.

The best salary can be higher, because higher-rate dividend tax (35.75%) makes dividends more expensive. With a £60,000 job and £40,000 of profit, the calculator's best salary is £12,570, keeping £21,405 against £20,996 from dividends only. Above £12,570 your own NI (8%) starts on the company salary, so dividends win again from there.

Salary is a cost to the company, so it saves corporation tax (19% to 25%), but it's taxed as income and above £5,000 the company pays 15% employer NI. Dividends are paid from profit after corporation tax and taxed at lower rates: 10.75% basic, 35.75% higher and 39.35% additional rate in 2026/27, after a £500 allowance. Taking everything as salary is almost always the most expensive option; the best mix is usually a small salary and the rest as dividends.

No. You have one personal allowance (£12,570) across all your income, and your PAYE job normally uses it. NI is different: it's worked out separately for each job, so your company salary has its own £12,570 threshold before you pay NI and its own £5,000 threshold before the company pays employer NI.

Not if you are the only employee and also a director. The Employment Allowance (up to £10,500 of employer NI) isn't available to companies whose only employee is a director, so this calculator charges employer NI in full above £5,000.

Keep your total income, including your job salary, under £50,270. Choose "Basic rate" under "How much to take out" and the calculator only takes out what fits, leaving the rest in the company. With a £40,000 job and £40,000 of profit, that means taking about £10,270 and leaving £23,080 in the company for a later year. Money left in the company is taxed as dividends when you take it out.

Your personal allowance falls by £1 for every £2 of income over £100,000 and is gone at £125,140, which works out as a 60% tax rate on that slice of salary. Choosing "Under £100k" keeps your total income below it. A company pension contribution is another way to take profit out without it counting as your income.

Employer pension contributions are a business cost, so they save corporation tax, and there's no income tax or NI on them. You can't touch the money until 55 (57 from April 2028), and contributions count towards the £60,000 annual allowance. Add one in the Advanced tab to see the effect.

Usually, yes. Directors are often asked to file one anyway, and you'll need to if you receive more than £10,000 in dividends. Tax on dividends and on the company salary not collected through PAYE is paid through Self Assessment, by 31 January after the end of the tax year.

For each possible company salary, it works out employer NI (15% above £5,000), corporation tax on the profit that's left (19% up to £50,000, 25% from £250,000, with marginal relief in between), and pays the rest out as dividends. It then works out the extra income tax, your NI and dividend tax on top of your PAYE job, and picks the salary that leaves you with the most cash. It checks every £10 of salary, and prefers a familiar threshold like £5,000 or £12,570 if it's within £10 of the best.

Your PAYE job uses your personal allowance first, so your company salary is usually taxed from the first pound. NI is worked out separately for each job, so your company salary has its own £12,570 threshold for your NI and £5,000 for employer NI. Sole-director companies can't claim the Employment Allowance, so employer NI isn't reduced. Dividends sit on top of all your salary: the first £500 is tax-free, then 10.75%, 35.75% or 39.35% depending on your band.

With "Basic rate" or "Under £100k", it takes out as much as fits under that income and leaves the rest in the company after corporation tax. Money left in the company is taxed as dividends when you take it out later, so it's counted after that tax: 10.75% with "Basic rate", and 35.75% with "Under £100k", where the extra income would fall in the higher-rate band. The best mix is the one that leaves you with the most cash once that's taken into account, so it can put a little less in your pocket this year in exchange for more left in the company.

It uses 2026/27 rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, not Scottish income tax bands on salary. It assumes your company has no associated companies, that your job has no pension or salary sacrifice, and leaves out student loans, benefits in kind, the High Income Child Benefit Charge and other income such as savings interest or rent. Corporation tax is worked out on the year's profit as entered, so check your accounts and talk to an accountant before paying yourself.