How much money can I withdraw from my limited company?
How much money can I withdraw from my limited company?
Author
Discussion

Mandat

Original Poster:

4,633 posts

268 months

Sunday 27th January 2019
quotequote all
A simple question, and I think that I know the answer but I haven't been able to find definitive confirmation.

For brevity, I'll use an example with round numbers to illustrate the point.

A small private limited company makes £100,000 profit after tax for the year.

The company has £300,000 cash in the bank.

I want the company to pay £100,000 into my pension scheme & also take £100,000 as a dividend.

The question: Can I take out the £200,000 since the company has sufficient cash reserves?

My uncertainty stems from the fact that if more that £100,000 is taken, this would mean a negative profit figure (loss) for the year, which I presume would not be allowed.

Over to you.

Eric Mc

125,675 posts

295 months

Sunday 27th January 2019
quotequote all
What about the reserves of the company (the accumulated profits since it started activity)? It sounds like there are sufficient reserves to support a dividend that is higher than one year's profit.

JapanRed

1,591 posts

141 months

Monday 28th January 2019
quotequote all
Yes I’m almost certain you could withdraw £200k as long as the remaining £100k is enough to pay this year’s corporation tax plus any other bills that are likely to arise.


Mandat

Original Poster:

4,633 posts

268 months

Monday 28th January 2019
quotequote all
Thanks, I thought that would be the case but for some reason I had a nagging doubt that you can't take dividends if the company shows a loss (on paper at least) in the tax year.

UpTheIron

4,058 posts

298 months

Monday 28th January 2019
quotequote all
It may be a simple question and on the face of it the answer is "yes", however there are some other considerations that I am sure you have thought of, but;

1. What pension contributions have you made in the last 3 tax years (including this one?)
2. Are you the only shareholder?

Also consider that the pension payment will come out of profits pre-tax.

Olivera

8,777 posts

269 months

Monday 28th January 2019
quotequote all
OP, sorry, but you sound utterly clueless.

Ask your accountant.

JapanRed

1,591 posts

141 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
Olivera said:
OP, sorry, but you sound utterly clueless.

Ask your accountant.
Made yourself look a right dick with this post well done clap

iphonedyou

10,416 posts

187 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
Olivera said:
OP, sorry, but you sound utterly clueless.

Ask your accountant.
And we're sorry you're a dick.

Olivera

8,777 posts

269 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
I'm being entirely serious.

Anyone running a company that doesn't understand the difference between retained profits and the current years accounts should be relying on an accountant and/or tax adviser for advice.

I'm also fairly certain that the OP doesn't understand the tax implications of paying himself 100k in dividends and 100k into a pension.

anonymous-user

84 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
Maybe the OP is good at his job and that's why he's got the money.

Maybe you're not an ahole troll.

I suspect the former and I don't believe the latter

Olivera

8,777 posts

269 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
keirik said:
Maybe the OP is good at his job and that's why he's got the money.

Maybe you're not an ahole troll.

I suspect the former and I don't believe the latter
Jeez, what a load of worthless bile. Feel free to address the actual points in my last post.

Gary C

15,262 posts

209 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
You pay 100K into a pension, your going to be owning tax because you will probably have exceeded the allowable pension input amount (though some allowance might have rolled over from the previous 3 years)

Mandat

Original Poster:

4,633 posts

268 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
Olivera said:
I'm being entirely serious.

Anyone running a company that doesn't understand the difference between retained profits and the current years accounts should be relying on an accountant and/or tax adviser for advice.

I'm also fairly certain that the OP doesn't understand the tax implications of paying himself 100k in dividends and 100k into a pension.
Thanks for your concern.

I do have an accountant but didn't want to bother them with a simple question that I already knew the answer to but wanted confirmation to remove a nagging doubt about creating a potential paper loss on the annual accounts due to withdrawing too much money.

My accountant has already given me an answer on this as well.

I'm also well aware of the tax implications of pension contributions and dividend payments. Like I said in my OP the example was given using round figures for simplicity & brevity.

Thanks to everyone for your helpful comments.

Olivera

8,777 posts

269 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
Mandat said:
Thanks for your concern.

I do have an accountant but didn't want to bother them with a simple question that I already knew the answer to but wanted confirmation to remove a nagging doubt about creating a potential paper loss on the annual accounts due to withdrawing too much money.

My accountant has already given me an answer on this as well.

I'm also well aware of the tax implications of pension contributions and dividend payments. Like I said in my OP the example was given using round figures for simplicity & brevity.

Thanks to everyone for your helpful comments.
Good stuff, if you aren't sure then you should 100%, as you have done, use your accountant.

Also consider spreading your dividends and pension contributions over this and the next tax year, this could save you a very substantial amount of money.

Eric Mc

125,675 posts

295 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
One rule I have always tried to follow - if anybody asks for tax or accounting advice - don't reply in a rude or disparaging way.

It's not a hard rule to follow.

trickywoo

14,177 posts

260 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
Olivera said:
I'm being entirely serious.

Anyone running a company that doesn't understand the difference between retained profits and the current years accounts should be relying on an accountant and/or tax adviser for advice.

I'm also fairly certain that the OP doesn't understand the tax implications of paying himself 100k in dividends and 100k into a pension.
I'm with you. OP has asked a pretty stupid question without enough detail for anyone to comment properly on.

trickywoo

14,177 posts

260 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
One rule I have always tried to follow - if anybody asks for tax or accounting advice - don't reply in a rude or disparaging way
LOL. You are nearly always rude Eric, and fairdos in many cases for that.

Eric Mc

125,675 posts

295 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
trickywoo said:
Eric Mc said:
One rule I have always tried to follow - if anybody asks for tax or accounting advice - don't reply in a rude or disparaging way
LOL. You are nearly always rude Eric, and fairdos in many cases for that.
Moi? Rude?

trickywoo

14,177 posts

260 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
trickywoo said:
Eric Mc said:
One rule I have always tried to follow - if anybody asks for tax or accounting advice - don't reply in a rude or disparaging way
LOL. You are nearly always rude Eric, and fairdos in many cases for that.
Moi? Rude?
I was going for the disparaging aspect mainly wink Shouldn't have said rude, sorry.

anonymous-user

84 months

Tuesday 29th January 2019
quotequote all
Eric Mc said:
Moi? Rude?
Non, pas du tout.

Some people just get touchy when you "tell it like it is"!

In this case you correctly identified the need for sufficient distributeable reserves early in the thread.