Do I have to pay myself a salary?

[peterboroughsas]

I set up a company in 2021 that generates around 10K annually in passive income with very few expenses or work on my part (it is literally just a webpage that sells study notes for certification).

I withdrew around £3000 from the company's account for my own personal use. I am now filling the tax returns and doing this for the first time, I am hesitant to get an accountant at this point given that my turnover isn't that great and the company doesn't have complicated finances.

My question: if I am not bothered about tax efficiency what would be the simplest categorisation of the £3000 that I paid myself, can I just class it as dividend payments, or do I have to pay myself some salary from the company, in which case I have to register through HMRC’s Pay As You Earn system? If it is the latter can I retrospectively register the payment via the system?

Thanks

[eek]

I set up a company in 2021 that generates around 10K annually in passive income with very few expenses or work on my part (it is literally just a webpage that sells study notes for certification).

I withdrew around £3000 from the company's account for my own personal use. I am now filling the tax returns and doing this for the first time, I am hesitant to get an accountant at this point given that my turnover isn't that great and the company doesn't have complicated finances.

My question: if I am not bothered about tax efficiency what would be the simplest categorisation of the £3000 that I paid myself, can I just class it as dividend payments, or do I have to pay myself some salary from the company, in which case I have to register through HMRC’s Pay As You Earn system? If it is the latter can I retrospectively register the payment via the system?

Thanks

Just treat it as a dividend and ensure the corporation tax is paid...

[peterboroughsas]

Thanks. Just to confirm there are no regulations around paying minimum wage to any director? Also when I withdrew the money from the company's bank account I put in salary as reference for the transaction, does this have any legal implication if I later class it as dividend payment?

[eek]

Thanks. Just to confirm there are no regulations around paying minimum wage to any director? Also when I withdrew the money from the company's bank account I put in salary as reference for the transaction, does this have any legal implication if I later class it as dividend payment?

You don't need to pay yourself a salary and what a bank reference says doesn't really impact anything because no-one is going to see it...

[Lance]

dividend.

Make sure you do the dividend paperwork (board meeting minutes where you agree to award the shareholders £xxx per share).
You did have a "board meeting" didn't you?

[eek]

Get a Mettle account then Freeagent is free

And Freeagent will sort everything out for you including that paperwork..

[peterboroughsas]

dividend.

Make sure you do the dividend paperwork (board meeting minutes where you agree to award the shareholders £xxx per share).
You did have a "board meeting" didn't you?

haha yes indeed it was a very ill-tempered and fractious meeting