Close Company Dividends on Your 2025/26 Tax Return: the New Director Boxes
From the 2025/26 return, due online by 31 January 2027 6, a director must say whether the company was a close company. If it was, the Employment pages (SA102) ask for its name (box 7.1), registration number (box 7.2), the dividends it paid you (box 7.3, zero if none) and your highest percentage shareholding in the year (box 7.4) 13. Keep putting the same dividends in box 4 of the main return as well 2. The boxes are new information; they don't change the tax.
The director boxes, one by one
| Box | What it asks | What to put |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Were you a company director? | 'Yes' if you were, including of a dormant company. 'No' takes you to box 8. |
| 6.1 | Date you ceased being a director | Only if you stopped during 2025/26. |
| 7 | Was this company a close company? | 'Yes' if it was close during the year; 'No' takes you to box 8. |
| 7.1 | Name of this close company | The company's full name. |
| 7.2 | Registration number | The company registration number Companies House gave it when it was formed. |
| 7.3 | Dividends you received from this close company | The dividends it paid you in 2025/26, or zero. The same income you put in SA100 box 4. |
| 7.4 | Percentage shareholding | Your share of the company's share capital by nominal value; if it changed, the highest percentage in the year. |
The legal basis is the Income Tax (Additional Information to be included in Returns) Regulations 2025. They apply to returns for tax years after 2024-25 and ask a director of a close company for the company's name and registered number, the dividends received from it (which may be zero) and the percentage of its share capital held, using the highest figure if it changed 3.
Is my company a close company?
HMRC's notes say a company is close if it is UK resident and controlled by its directors or by 5 or fewer participators, such as shareholders 1. That covers most one-person and family limited companies. The full test, with its exceptions, is in HMRC's Company Taxation Manual at CTM60060 4. The boxes are only about companies you were a director of; dividends from shares you simply hold through a broker go in box 4 or box 5 as usual 2.
No salary? You still fill in an Employment page
The SA102 notes say to fill in the Employment page if you were a director of a UK company, including a dormant company 1. The exception is a director of a registered charity or a community interest company who received no employment income and no dividends or other distributions from it or a connected company 1. So a director who took only dividends in 2025/26 still completes an Employment page, with the pay boxes empty and the director boxes filled in. You need a separate Employment page for each job or directorship you held in the year 1.
Worked example: a one-person company
Priya owns all 100 £1 shares in her company and is its only director. In 2025/26 she paid herself a £12,570 salary through payroll and £50,100 of dividends.
| SA102 box 1: pay from this employment (from her P60) | £12,570 |
| SA102 box 6: company director? | Yes |
| SA102 box 7: close company? | Yes |
| SA102 boxes 7.1 and 7.2 | Company name and number |
| SA102 box 7.3: dividends from this close company | £50,100 |
| SA102 box 7.4: percentage shareholding | 100% |
| SA100 box 4: dividends from UK companies | £50,100 |
| 2025/26 dividend tax | £7,440 |
Tax at the 2025/26 rates 5: £500 allowance at 0%, £37,200 at 8.75% and £12,400 at 33.75%; her salary uses the Personal Allowance. Computed by our 2025/26 dividend tax calculator.
If Priya had taken no dividends in 2025/26, she would still answer boxes 7 to 7.4 and put zero in box 7.3 1.
Box 4 still matters
HMRC's main notes tell you to put the total of your UK company dividends in box 4 and say dividends from close companies "should also be included at box 7.3" on the Employment pages 2. Box 7.3 is the extra disclosure, not a replacement for box 4. Stock dividends go on the Additional information pages, not box 4 2.
Use the dividends paid to you in the tax year, 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026, not the company's accounting year. Our guide to which tax year a dividend falls in covers interim and final dividends.
Frequently asked questions
What is box 7.3 on the Employment pages?
'Dividends you received from this close company'. If you were a director of a close company in 2025/26, put the dividends it paid you in the tax year, or zero if it paid you none. The SA102 notes say this should be the same income you put in box 4 on page TR 3 of the main return.
Do I still put my company's dividends in box 4?
Yes. The SA150 notes say to put your total UK company dividends in box 4 and that dividends from close companies should also be included at box 7.3 on the Employment pages. Box 7.3 is extra information; it does not replace box 4.
Is my company a close company?
The SA102 notes say a company is close if it is UK resident and controlled by its directors or by 5 or fewer participators, such as shareholders. Most one-person and family limited companies are close. HMRC's manual CTM60060 has the full definition.
What percentage do I put in box 7.4?
The total percentage of the company's share capital you owned, worked out on the nominal value of the shares. If it changed during the year, use the highest percentage you held.
Is this new for the 2025/26 return?
Yes. The Income Tax (Additional Information to be included in Returns) Regulations 2025 require it for returns for tax years after 2024-25, so the 2025/26 return due 31 January 2027 is the first.
Does it change how much tax I pay?
No. Your dividends are taxed at the 2025/26 rates (8.75%, 33.75% and 39.35% above the £500 allowance) whether or not the company is close. The new boxes are information HMRC now asks for.
Sources & references
Every headline figure in this guide is drawn from the official HMRC and GOV.UK sources below and reflects the confirmed 2026/27 rates. Each link opens the relevant official page in a new tab.
- Self Assessment: Employment (SA102) 2026 form and notes — GOV.UK ↗ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-assessment-employment-sa102
- How to fill in your tax return 2026 (SA150 notes, 2025 to 2026) ↗ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-assessment-tax-return-sa100
- The Income Tax (Additional Information to be included in Returns) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/84) ↗ https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/84/made
- HMRC Company Taxation Manual CTM60060: close companies, broad definition ↗ https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/company-taxation-manual/ctm60060
- Income Tax rates and allowances for current and past years ↗ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-income-tax/income-tax-rates-and-allowances-current-and-past
- Self Assessment tax returns: deadlines ↗ https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/deadlines
Sources last checked: 3 November 2026.
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