When a director needs a return
HMRC’s list of who must send a return covers sole traders earning over £1,000, business partners, people with Capital Gains Tax to pay, people who owe the High Income Child Benefit Charge and don’t pay it through PAYE, and off-payroll workers repaying a student loan1. A director isn’t on it as such. But for a typical owner-director, one of these usually applies:
- Dividends over £10,000. You must file a return. If you don’t already, tell HMRC by 5 October after the tax year ends3.
- Dividends over the allowance but up to £10,000. If you don’t file a return, you tell HMRC between the end of the tax year and 5 October, and can ask for the tax to be collected through your tax code3.
- HMRC has written to you. “You must send a return if HMRC asks you to”2, by the deadline on the letter.
If your only income is a salary taxed through the company’s payroll and dividends within your £500 allowance, you may not need a return at all3.
Salary and dividends are taxed differently
Salary from your company is taxed through PAYE before you receive it, so the return mostly reports it. Dividends aren’t taxed before you get them. The return adds them on top of your other income and taxes the part above the allowance4:
| Dividend rates | 2025 to 2026 | 2026 to 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend allowance | £500 | £500 |
| Basic rate | 8.75% | 10.75% |
| Higher rate | 33.75% | 35.75% |
| Additional rate | 39.35% | 39.35% |
The Personal Allowance is £12,570 in both years, reduced by £1 for every £2 of income over £100,0004. The rise in dividend rates from 6 April 2026 affects dividends you take now, which go on the return due by 31 January 2028.
Deadlines for the 2025 to 2026 return
| What | When |
|---|---|
| Tell HMRC you need a return (if new to it) | 5 October 20265 |
| Paper return | 31 October 20265 |
| Online return, to have tax collected through your tax code | 30 December 20265 |
| Online return | 31 January 20275 |
| Pay the tax you owe | 31 January 20275 |
| Second payment on account, if any | 31 July5 |
Payments on account are two advance payments towards next year’s bill, each half of this year’s, due on 31 January and 31 July. They don’t apply if last year’s bill was under £1,000, or if more than 80% of your tax was paid outside Self Assessment, for example through PAYE7. A director who takes mostly dividends often falls into them.
Check your company’s dates and set a reminder
Search the Companies House register. Your company page shows its filing dates, what to file next and a reminder you can set.
If you’re late
Filing late costs £100 straight away. After 3 months HMRC adds £10 a day up to £900; after 6 months, and again after 12 months, another 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is higher6. Paying late adds 5% of the unpaid tax at 30 days, 6 months and 12 months, plus interest6.
The company’s tax is separate
Your Self Assessment is your personal tax. The company pays Corporation Tax on its own profits, before any dividend is paid out of what’s left: see Corporation Tax bands and marginal relief. If you’ve borrowed from the company rather than taking salary or dividends, read director’s loan accounts and s455.
Filing your return
Fileyear’s director’s Self Assessment suggests your salary and dividends from your company’s figures for you to check against your P60 and dividend vouchers, works out the tax, and files your SA100 with HMRC using your own HMRC login. It covers salary, dividends, UK bank interest and ordinary UK property income; returns that need other pages, such as self-employment or capital gains, are outside it.