**Take Home** Calculator · 2025/26 # Outside IR35 calculator: your take-home pay (2025/26) Outside IR35, you work through your own limited company and control how you extract the money: typically a small salary plus dividends after corporation tax. That mix is usually more tax-efficient than being taxed as an employee. Enter your day rate to estimate your take-home through a limited company. CB [Charlie Bailey](https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliebaileyy/) · Founder, Take Home · 6 years in UK accountancy Published 2026-05-30 · Updated 2026-05-30 · 3-min read On this page - [Calculator](#calc) - [How outside IR35 works](#how) - [Salary and dividends](#extract) - [Outside vs inside IR35](#vs-inside) - [FAQ](#faq) ## Key takeaways - Outside IR35, you bill through your own company and choose how to extract the money. - The usual mix is a £12,570 salary plus dividends from profit after corporation tax. - Corporation tax (19% to 26.5%) is paid on company profit before dividends. - Take-home is typically higher than the same rate inside IR35, because there is no employer NI on dividends. - Legitimate business expenses reduce the profit, and therefore the tax. ## Calculator Outside IR35 take-home calculator (2025/26) Your day rate (£) Days worked per year Annual business expenses (£) Outside IR35 through your own limited company: a £12,570 salary, the rest extracted as dividends after corporation tax. Assumes no other income and no Employment Allowance (typical single-director company). Estimate, not advice. ## How outside IR35 works When your contract is genuinely outside IR35, you operate through your own limited company. The company invoices the client, pays corporation tax on its profit, and you decide how to take the money out. There is no umbrella and no deemed employment. This is where the efficiency comes from: dividends carry no National Insurance, and you control the timing and mix of salary and dividends, within the tax rules. ## Salary and dividends The calculator assumes the common owner-managed setup: - A salary of £12,570 , which uses the personal allowance and is deductible for the company - The remaining profit taxed at corporation tax , then extracted as dividends - Dividend tax at 8.75%, 33.75% or 39.35% on those dividends It assumes no Employment Allowance, which most single-director companies cannot claim. Your optimal split may differ, which our [optimal director salary guide](/optimal-director-salary-2025-26) works through in detail. ## Outside versus inside IR35 The same day rate usually leaves you better off outside IR35 than inside, because you avoid employer National Insurance on the dividend portion and can offset genuine business costs. Compare the two with the [inside IR35 calculator](/inside-ir35-calculator). The decision is not yours to make freely, though: status depends on the reality of the working relationship, and getting it wrong carries real risk. Treat the comparison as information, not a reason to assume a status that does not fit. **Information, not advice.** Take Home provides information and calculations, not regulated financial or tax advice. Your circumstances may differ and the figures here are illustrative for the 2025/26 tax year. Speak to a qualified adviser or accountant before acting on anything you read here. Your full picture ## This is the quick version. See everything in one place. Take Home pulls your salary, dividends, pension and tax into one live view, so you can see your real take-home and the moves that change it. [Join the waitlist →](/contact) ## Related guides [Guide ### Inside IR35 calculator: your take-home pay (2025/26) Inside IR35, your contract income is taxed broadly like employment, usually through an umbrella company. The assignment rate first…](/inside-ir35-calculator) [Contractor ### Contractor Take-Home Pay Inside vs Outside IR35 take-home modelling for UK contractors.](/contractor-take-home) [Guide ### UK corporation tax calculator (2025/26) UK corporation tax is 19% on profits up to £50,000 and 25% on profits over £250,000. Between those points, marginal relief produce…](/corporation-tax-calculator-uk) [Guide ### What's the optimal director salary in the UK for 2025/26? For most UK limited company directors with no other income, the most tax-efficient salary in 2025/26 is £12,570, the personal allo…](/optimal-director-salary-2025-26) FAQ ## Frequently asked How is take-home calculated outside IR35? Your company's turnover, less expenses and a small salary, is taxed at corporation tax (19% to 26.5%). The profit after tax is taken as dividends, which are then taxed at 8.75%, 33.75% or 39.35%. Salary plus net dividends is your take-home. Why is take-home higher outside IR35? Because dividends carry no National Insurance and you control the salary and dividend mix, and you can offset legitimate business expenses. Inside IR35, employment taxes including employer and employee NI apply in full with no dividend route. What salary should I take outside IR35? Many single-director companies take a £12,570 salary, using the personal allowance, then extract the rest as dividends. The exact optimum depends on Employment Allowance, other income and your wider position, which the optimal director salary guide covers. Can I claim expenses outside IR35? Yes. Genuine business expenses incurred wholly and exclusively for the trade reduce your company's profit and therefore its corporation tax. This is a key difference from being inside IR35, where most such expenses are not claimable. Is outside IR35 always better than inside? Financially it is usually more efficient, but you cannot simply choose your status. IR35 status depends on the actual working relationship. Assuming an outside status that does not reflect reality carries a real risk of tax, interest and penalties.