Share Dividend

a&akay

I took my eye off my shares as a higher rate taxpayer and duly received my expected dividend this Jun. I had intended to transfer them beforehand to my wife, who's a non-taxpayer. Can I still do so this tax year to reduce the 25% tax to 0 or do I have to accept the hit?

bowlhead99

The time to make the transfer is before the record date / ex-div date, which is itself usually quite a while before the cash physically arrives. Your chance to have the company pay dividends to your wife instead of you, is long gone. So whether or not you transfer your shares to your wife now, doesn't change the fact that *you* got paid by the company and *you* owe the tax on it.

Obviously if you don't want to take a 'hit' you can cushion the blow by using the dividend proceeds to help you buy pension contributions or VCT investments, either of which will both give you more relief than the 25% tax you actually owe.