Leaving tax money in your company account...

[MrRobin]

I do (sales - costs) * .8 = dividends - dividends already paid + left over dividends from last year = dividend I can pay now. I do that every month, or 2 months, or when I feel like it. I don't really understand how anybody gets into trouble.

This is fine, but knowing what 'costs' are is slightly complicated. You have expenses, PAYE tax paid, PAYE tax due, vat paid, vat due etc. Yes I can work all this out myself, but is that not what I pay an accountant for? My accountant requests that I send copy bank statements every month, but I have not seen any evidence that they use them in any way.

[tay]

Thirdly, who can live on £37k a year? I'll be suggesting that to the wife for a laugh later.

We can easily, you need a new wife. Your one sounds to expensive.

[ratewhore]

We can easily, you need a new wife. Your one sounds to expensive.

An ex-wife is even more expensive - believe me...

[bored]

Why not ask your accountant to send you a P&L each month (or maybe even more often?), for the whole year period. This will show you how much profit you have and how much dividends you can take.

[Kess]

Why not ask your accountant to send you a P&L each month

My accountant (NW) does just that, recommending what dividend can be taken each month, but I'm keeping dividends to a minimum at the moment as I don't need the money and I'm hovering close to the higher rate tax threshold for this FY. Hence the profit is piling up in the company account.

My plan is to take a large dividend at the start of the new FY.

Is delaying the dividend in this way a sensible move to minimise tax - or have I missed something?

[Gonzo]

Is delaying the dividend in this way a sensible move to minimise tax - or have I missed something?

So long as you have enough money to live on in the meantime I can't see anything wrong with that.

I have just taken a large dividend and most of that will be going on my tax bill but I won't be taking my next dividend until the next tax year starts.