Family shareholder calculator
Every adult shareholder brings a personal allowance and a basic-rate band. Add your spouse, civil partner or grown-up children, set the share split and what each already earns, and see what the household keeps.
Rates for the 2026/27 tax year. Checked 7 November 2026.
| Who | Shares | Dividends | Dividend tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| You | 50% | £36,528.22 | − £3,873.03 |
| Spouse | 50% | £36,528.23 | − £2,521.76 |
| All shareholders | 100% | £73,056.45 | − £6,394.79 |
| Dividend tax, all shares yours | £16,638.93 |
|---|---|
| Dividend tax, shares split | £6,394.79 |
| Saved | £10,244.14 |
| Household take-home, split | £79,231.66 |
| Household take-home, all yours | £68,987.52 |
Company side: £110,000 billed, £12,570 salary, £1,136 employer NI, £2,000 expenses, £21,238 corporation tax. The dividends legally belong to whoever holds the shares. Only a spouse or civil partner is exempt from the settlements rules; gifts to adults must be outright, and dividends to children under 18 are taxed as yours.
Worked example: £500 a day, half the shares to a spouse
Giving half the shares to a spouse with no other income saves £10,244.14 a year at £500 a day. The household keeps £79,231.66 instead of £68,987.52. The company bills £110,000, pays you £12,570 of salary, £1,135.50 of employer NI and £2,000 of expenses, then £21,238.05 of corporation tax, which leaves £73,056.45 for dividends.
With all the shares yours, dividend tax is £16,638.93, because everything above £37,700 of income is taxed at 35.75%. Split 50/50, you each receive £36,528. Yours sits on top of your salary and costs £3,873.03, while theirs uses their personal allowance first and costs £2,521.76. Total dividend tax drops to £6,394.79.
What moves the saving
- Their other income: a partner with none shelters £12,570 at 0% and £37,200 at 10.75%.
- A partner earning £30,000 has £20,270 of basic-rate band left, so the saving roughly halves.
- A partner already above £50,270 saves nothing, and a few pounds are lost because the second £500 allowance goes to the wrong person.
- Income above £100,000: either partner starts losing personal allowance there, and a split can keep both below the taper.
When this calculator is wrong for you
- Your partner is not a spouse or civil partner. The exemption does not apply, and a gift of shares to them is a settlement.
- A family member does real work for the company and should be paid a salary for it.
- You plan different share classes or dividend waivers. Take advice first.
- You live in Scotland, or the company has other shareholders already.
Questions people ask
Can I give my spouse shares in my limited company to save tax?
Yes, for a married couple or civil partners, as long as they are ordinary shares with full rights to vote, to dividends and to capital. HMRC lost the Arctic Systems case in the House of Lords in 2007 on exactly this point.
Does it work for an unmarried partner?
Not in the same way. The settlements exemption covers spouses and civil partners only. Gifting shares to anyone else, including a long-term partner, is a settlement and HMRC can tax the dividends as yours.
Can I give shares to my children?
To an adult child, yes, as an outright gift of ordinary shares with no strings. To a child under 18, the shares can be held but any dividends above £100 a year are taxed as your income under the settlements rules, so there is no saving until they turn 18.
My kids are at university. Is this the student loan trick?
Dividends to an adult child with no other income use their £12,570 allowance and basic-rate band, which is the saving shown here. Dividend income can count towards student loan repayments and student finance assessments, so check that side before deciding.
Can I use different share classes and pay each one a different dividend?
Not safely. Alphabet shares are where HMRC wins: if a class exists to steer dividends to whoever pays less tax, it looks like a right to income only. Stick to one class of ordinary shares and pay the same per share.
Should I pay my spouse a salary instead?
Only for work they actually do, at the rate you would pay a stranger. A few thousand pounds for a few hours of admin a month is fine; a director salary for no work is not. The figures here keep salary with you.
Can I waive my dividends so my spouse gets more?
Not safely. Waiving your dividends so your spouse takes more is a settlement unless there are commercial reasons. Set the shareholding to what you want the income split to be and leave waivers alone.
Can splitting shares cost more tax?
Yes, if your partner already earns above £50,270. Their dividends are then taxed at 35.75% from the first pound after the £500 allowance, so enter their other income before you decide.
Does the money have to stay with my spouse?
Legally the dividends are theirs. Within a marriage that rarely matters in practice, but it does matter on separation and it is why HMRC accepts the arrangement at all.
How this is worked out
The company side is the limited-company model: revenue less salary, employer NI at 15% above £5,000, expenses and any pension, then corporation tax with marginal relief. Post-tax profit is paid out in full and divided by the shareholding. Each adult’s dividends are stacked on top of their own salary and other income, with their own personal allowance, £500 dividend allowance and bands at 10.75%, 35.75% and 39.35%. A child under 18’s dividends are added to yours. The saving is the dividend tax with every share held by you less everyone’s dividend tax added together. Salary tax and NI are the same in both cases.
Full formulas, rounding rules and test cases are on the methodology page. Every rate update is listed in the changelog.