Heather Maitland
The rules for taxing dividends changed radically from 6 April 2016 with the removal of the 10% notional tax credit and the introduction of new rates of tax on dividends. For many taxpayers that means more tax to pay on dividends on 31 January each year.
If you are a higher rate taxpayer and received £22,000 of dividends in 2018/19 only £2,000 of those dividends are tax free now, leaving £20,000 of those dividends to be taxed at 32.5% meaning £6,500 due on 31 January 2020, and possibly payments on account of your 2019/20 liability, unless your tax liability is likely to be lower in 2019/20.
If you would like to review your dividend allocation, please get in touch with a member of our team.