Dividend Tax Calculator
Work out how much tax you’ll pay on dividend income for the 2026/27 tax year, on top of your salary or other income.
Start here
How to use this calculator
This covers dividends held outside an ISA or pension — those are always tax-free and don’t need to be entered here.
Enter your other income
Salary, self-employment profit, pension income — anything that isn’t a dividend. This decides how much of your Personal Allowance and tax bands your dividends use up.
Enter your dividend income
The total dividends you expect to receive this tax year, before any tax is taken off.
See your band-by-band breakdown
Dividends are taxed as the “top slice” of your income, so they often span more than one tax band.
How it works
How dividend tax is actually worked out
Dividends are treated as the top slice of your income. Your Personal Allowance and tax bands are used up by your salary or other income first, and your dividends are then stacked on top — which is why the same £5,000 of dividends can be taxed very differently depending on how much you already earn.
Everyone gets a tax-free Dividend Allowance of £500 a year. Dividends inside the allowance are taxed at 0%, but they still count towards using up your basic-rate or higher-rate band space. Above the allowance, dividends are taxed at 10.75% (basic rate), 35.75% (higher rate) or 39.35% (additional rate), depending on which band they fall into once stacked on top of your other income.
If your income (including dividends) goes over £100,000, your £12,570 Personal Allowance is gradually withdrawn — £1 for every £2 over that line — and it disappears completely at £125,140. Because dividends are added last, a bigger dividend income can itself push you into this taper zone.
Scotland
Do Scottish tax rates apply to dividends?
No. Even though Scotland has its own income tax bands for salary and pension income, dividend income is taxed the same way for everyone in the UK — including Scottish taxpayers. The 10.75% / 35.75% / 39.35% rates and the £37,700 / £125,140 band thresholds used on this page apply whether you live in Scotland, Wales, England or Northern Ireland.
Reporting
Do you need to file a tax return?
If your gross dividend income is over £10,000 a year, you’ll usually need to complete a Self Assessment tax return, even if the tax owed is small. Below that, tax on smaller amounts of dividend income can sometimes be collected through a change to your PAYE tax code instead — contact HMRC to check what applies to you.
Questions
Common questions
Do dividends inside an ISA or pension count?
No. Dividends earned inside a Stocks and Shares ISA or a pension are always tax-free and don’t use up your Dividend Allowance — only dividends held outside those wrappers need to go into this calculator.
Why did my dividend tax jump when I added a small amount more?
Because dividends stack on top of your other income, a small increase can push part of your dividend income into a higher band — or, if your total income crosses £100,000, start withdrawing your Personal Allowance, which increases the taxable amount for everyone above that line.
Is the Dividend Allowance the same as the tax-free Personal Allowance?
No, they’re separate. The £12,570 Personal Allowance applies to your income generally and is used against non-dividend income first. The £500 Dividend Allowance is an additional 0% band that applies specifically to dividends, on top of whatever Personal Allowance you have left.
What counts as “other income” here?
Salary, self-employment profits, pension income, rental income and most other taxable income — anything that isn’t a dividend. It determines how much of your Personal Allowance and basic/higher-rate band space is used up before your dividends are added on top.
Has the Dividend Allowance changed recently?
Yes — it was cut from £2,000 to £1,000 in 2023/24, then to £500 from 2024/25 onward, where it has stayed for 2026/27. The dividend tax rates themselves also rose by 2 percentage points from 6 April 2026.
Where these figures come from. The Dividend Allowance, dividend tax rates, and the income tax bands and Personal Allowance taper used to work out how dividends stack are all taken from gov.uk. The 10.75% / 35.75% / 39.35% rates apply from 6 April 2026. Figures checked on 24 September 2026.
Tax on dividends (gov.uk) · Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances (gov.uk) · Self-Employed Tax Calculator
How we calculate · Editorial policy. This is general information, not financial or tax advice.