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Compare simplified England, Wales and Northern Ireland Ltd company profit-extraction scenarios for salary, dividends and pension contributions.
Use this page to compare how one UK limited company’s annual pre-pay profit could be split between director salary, dividends, an employer pension contribution and funds left in the company. It models England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates; Scottish non-savings Income Tax bands are not modelled. This is a scenario comparison, not an “optimal salary” recommendation.
Sample loaded: £80,000 annual company profit; £5,000 annual salary; £40,000 annual dividends requested; £10,000 annual employer pension; £0 other annual taxable salary or pension income. Change any input and the figures update immediately.
Read the outputs: “Director cash net” is cash from this company after modeled incremental personal Income Tax, dividend tax and employee NI. “Company retained” stays in the company; employer pension is non-cash to you. The attributed tax burden divides modeled company and incremental personal tax/NI by entered company profit.
Model scope: 2026/27 England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates; external taxable employment/pension income is included for estimated personal bands and allowance taper. Scotland, external-job tax/NI, personal reliefs, Employment Allowance, associated companies, accounting-period differences and verified distributable reserves are not modeled. Company Tax figures use a single illustrative 12-month period and the applicable 2026 Corporation Tax bands. .
Director Cash Net
£41,568
Company Retained
£11,525
Tax and National Insurance attributable
£16,907
Attributed tax burden
21.1%
Tax/NI attributed to this company ÷ entered company profit
Income Tax is the estimated increase over tax on your entered external salary/pension alone; other-job tax and NI are not included in this company total.
| Component | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Corporation Tax | £13,475 |
| Additional personal Income Tax | £0 |
| Dividend Tax | £3,432 |
| Employee National Insurance on company salary | £0 |
| Employer National Insurance | £0 |
Uses the same company profit and external income for each scenario. The £5,000 salary mix is only a reference, not a recommendation.
| Strategy | Director cash net | Company retained | Tax and NI attributed | Burden of company profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salary only (within company profit) | £51,283 | £0 | £28,717 | 35.9% |
| Dividend only | £54,161 | £0 | £25,839 | 32.3% |
| Current inputs | £41,568 | £11,525 | £16,907 | 21.1% |
| £5,000 salary reference (not a recommendation) | £55,012 | £0 | £24,988 | 31.2% |
Company-side reconciliation only; personal Income Tax and employee NI are shown separately in the strategy comparison.
| Company flow | Amount |
|---|---|
| Profit before director pay and Corporation Tax | £80,000 |
| Director salary | -£5,000 |
| Employer National Insurance | -£0 |
| Employer pension contribution | -£10,000 |
| Corporation Tax | -£13,475 |
| Dividends paid | -£40,000 |
| Retained by company | £11,525 |
Salary varies from £0 to the entered company profit; requested dividends and pension stay fixed, with each amount limited by modeled funds.
| Salary requested | Salary used | Dividend paid | Pension used | Director cash net |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £0 | £0 | £40,000 | £10,000 | £37,105 |
| £13,333 | £13,333 | £40,000 | £10,000 | £48,108 |
| £26,667 | £26,667 | £32,467 | £10,000 | £49,535 |
| £40,000 | £40,000 | £20,048 | £10,000 | £47,821 |
| £53,333 | £53,333 | £7,627 | £10,000 | £46,570 |
| £66,667 | £66,667 | £0 | £4,083 | £49,224 |
| £80,000 | £70,217 | £0 | £0 | £51,283 |
Compare limited-company profit extraction scenarios for salary, dividends and pension contributions.
Enter this company’s profit before director salary, employer National Insurance, employer pension and Corporation Tax. Then set the salary and dividend you want to compare, the employer pension contribution, and your other taxable employment or pension income. The model estimates the incremental personal Income Tax caused by this company’s extraction, together with dividend tax, employee and employer National Insurance and Corporation Tax.
The results compare your inputs with salary-only (limited to modeled company funds), dividend-only and a £5,000 salary reference scenario. Dividends are capped at estimated post-Corporation-Tax profit after modeled company costs. Director cash net is not total household net income; company retained profit and employer pension are separate from cash paid to you. The calculator does not verify distributable reserves, Employment Allowance, associated companies, external payroll taxes/NI, personal reliefs or pension eligibility, and it does not identify an optimum strategy.
These HMRC and GOV.UK sources support the dividend, Corporation Tax, National Insurance, pension and employment-status explanations. The calculator remains a simplified planning estimate.