UK owner-director tax planning

Find out whether £12,570 is still the right salary for your company

Enter company profit before director pay. Tax Shrink compares the affordable salary range and shows the highest estimated take-home among the combinations tested, with the taxes and assumptions behind it. Often the familiar figure is already the strongest; above £150,000 of profit it may not be.

Compare my options Calculate personal tax

Updated for 2026/27Loading Income Tax region…View configured tax rules

Free to use. No account required. Illustrative planning estimates for the supported scenario.

Why I built Tax Shrink

A calculator I wanted for my own company

Each tax year, I faced the same question in my own limited company: how much should come out as salary and how much as dividends? The rule of thumb my accountant used was reasonable, but it did not show the combined company and personal tax calculation I wanted to verify.

That is why I built Tax Shrink. I use it for my own planning and made it available so other owner-directors can compare the same trade-offs.

It is free, and it is not a product or a service I am selling. There is nothing to buy, no account to create, no email to hand over and nobody waiting to call you. I keep it current for each tax year because I use it myself.

The methodology and official sources show what the model covers and where it stops.

Christian ProkoppTax Shrink creator and limited company director

How it works

From company profit to a practical comparison

Enter company profit before director pay

Use the amount left after ordinary business costs, before director salary, employer National Insurance and Corporation Tax.

Compare combinations

We model salary, dividends, Corporation Tax and National Insurance together.

Review the taxes and assumptions

See the highest estimated result first, with its assumptions and a full breakdown close by.

Explore an example

Start with a situation like yours

These 2026/27 examples use England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Open one, then adjust the figures and Income Tax region.

Contractor or freelancer£50,000 company profit

Compare salary and dividends when your company is your only source of income.

Open scenario Read the salary and dividend guide

Director with another job£40,000 company profit

Include £30,000 from another job when comparing what to take from your company.

Open scenario Read the other-employment guide

High-profit consultant£250,000 company profit

Explore the combined company and personal taxes when a familiar salary may no longer fit.

Open scenario Read the Personal Allowance taper guide

Company profit is after ordinary business costs, before director pay and company taxes. Examples distribute all current profit, with no prior-year reserves or Employment Allowance.