Business tax calculators
Compare trading as a sole trader with running a limited company, and check whether the VAT Flat Rate Scheme is worth joining.
- Sole trader vs limited company calculator Compare both routes on the same profit, with the 2026/27 dividend rates and the traps that most comparisons leave out. Dividend rate now 10.75%
- VAT Flat Rate Scheme calculator Work out whether the Flat Rate Scheme actually saves you money, and whether the limited cost trader rule catches you. Registration threshold £90,000
What changed for company owners this year
Dividend tax rose by two percentage points on 6 April 2026. The ordinary rate is now 10.75% and the dividend allowance is £500, so the low-salary-plus-dividends arrangement that once made incorporation an easy decision is a genuinely closer call. The comparison has to be run on your own numbers rather than assumed.
Corporation tax has a middle that is easy to miss. Profits to £50,000 are taxed at 19% and profits above £250,000 at 25%, but marginal relief between the two produces an effective rate of 26.5% — above the headline main rate. A company in that band pays more on its next pound of profit than a much larger one does.
The trap most comparisons fall into is the Employment Allowance. It removes up to £10,500 from an employer's National Insurance bill, but a company whose only employee is also its sole director cannot claim it. Tools that apply it regardless make the limited company look better than it is.
- Dividend ordinary rate
- 10.75%
- Corporation tax
- 19% to 25%
- Effective marginal rate
- 26.5%
- VAT registration
- £90,000
Business guides
Tax year 2026/27 · How we calculate · All rates and sources · What changed