Director salary vs dividends calculator (living abroad)
You've left the UK but you still own the company. Salary or dividends — what does the UK side cost you? This shows the indicative UK tax and NIC on each route. It is only half the picture.
This free tool gives an indicative, UK-side-only comparison of the UK Income Tax and National Insurance cost of taking profit from your UK company as salary versus dividends, using 2026/27 figures. It is not the whole answer: your country of residence taxes you too, and that often decides it. An estimate, not advice. (gov.uk Income Tax rates; Tax on dividends; 2026/27.)
Salary or dividends from abroad?
The UK-side picture is only half the story — your country of residence taxes you too, and often decides the answer. The calculator is explicit about that limit.
Salary or dividends?
You've left the UK but you still own the company. This compares the UK cost of taking the same amount out as salary versus dividends. It is a starting point, not the decision — the three caveats under the result are the important part.
- Your comparison is on screen before any email field
- Every figure dated 2026/27 and linked to its gov.uk source
- Runs in your browser, nothing stored, no upsell
How does the salary vs dividends calculator work?
Direct answer: It compares the UK tax on extracting profit as salary (UK-source for UK workdays, with NIC) versus dividends (usually disregarded income for a non-resident, so UK tax is often capped). It deliberately stops at the UK border — your country of residence taxes you too. See UK company director abroad.
Why is this UK-side only?
How does the UK tax on a salary differ from a dividend in 2026/27?
Direct answer: A salary is charged to Income Tax at 20% (to £50,270), 40% (to £125,140) and 45% above, plus employee National Insurance at 8% (to £50,270) and 2% above — and the company pays 15% employer NIC on it. A dividend carries no NIC and is taxed at 10.75% / 35.75% / 39.35% after a £500 dividend allowance (gov.uk Income Tax rates; Tax on dividends; Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027; 2026/27).
Two structural points fall out of this. First, dividends never carry NIC, on either the personal or the company side — that is a real difference, not a trick. Second, the dividend ordinary rate rose from 8.75% to 10.75%, and the upper rate from 33.75% to 35.75%, on 6 April 2026, narrowing the gap that used to favour dividends so heavily.
Why doesn't the tool just tell me which route is better?
Direct answer: Because honestly, it can't — and a free tool that pretended to would be misleading on a high-stakes, cross-border decision. The tool shows the UK-side cost of each route accurately; the parts that usually decide it (your country of residence, disregarded income, corporation tax, where your duties are performed) depend on facts it doesn't have. It points you to the guides and to a qualified adviser for the real decision (2026/27).
Is taking dividends instead of salary as a non-resident director legal?
Direct answer: Yes. Choosing how to extract profit from your own company — salary, dividends, or a mix — is an ordinary, legitimate decision that millions of directors make, and reporting it correctly to HMRC (and to your country of residence) is the whole point. It is not evasion. Non-residence itself is a status you qualify for in statute and report openly (gov.uk; HMRC RDR3; 2026/27).
The tool doesn't file anything, doesn't store your numbers, and doesn't replace the official route or an adviser. The legitimate, sourced picture of staying a director from abroad is in UK company director living abroad.
Common questions
Salary or dividends for a UK company director living abroad?
UK-side, dividends are usually lighter — as a non-resident UK dividends are typically disregarded income, so UK tax is capped, while salary for UK workdays is UK-source. But your country of residence taxes you too, often more heavily and often decisively, so the UK comparison is only half the picture. Take local advice. (HMRC HS300, 2026; 2026/27.)
Are my UK dividends taxed in the UK when I live abroad?
They stay UK-source, but as a non-resident they are usually “disregarded income” so UK tax is capped — at the cost of the personal allowance against other UK income. And if you return within five years, close-company dividends are clawed back under the temporary non-residence rule. (HMRC HS300, 2026; HS278, 2026; 2026/27.)
Does this calculator model my new country tax?
No. It is UK-side only and does not model the tax of your country of residence, which taxes your salary and dividends under its own rules and often decides the answer. For your full position, take local advice. (Last reviewed: May 2026.)