For all individuals, the first £2,000 of dividend income is taxed at 0%.

The government have now decided that this ‘dividend allowance’ of £2,000 will be reduced to £1,000 in the 2023/24 tax year and then again to just £500 in the 2024/25 tax year.

It should be remembered that the income tax rates applied to dividend income outside of the allowance have only recently been increased to 8.75%, 33.75% and 39.35% (for dividend income falling into basic rate, higher rate and additional rate bands respectively).

Combined, these measures will mean that those reliant on dividend income will pay more tax.

If you are a director/shareholder, please contact us to discuss the best strategy for extracting profits from your company from 6 April 2023.