Lending between you and your company
Borrowing from your company or lending to it? See the tax each way, and when it's due.
Your answer
Enter how much you're borrowing or lending, and your other income.
About this calculator
For directors who own shares in their own limited company, for the 2026 to 2027 tax year.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
If you still owe the company 9 months after its year end, it pays section 455 tax: 35.75% of what's owed for loans made from 6 April 2026 (33.75% before). It's paid 9 months and 1 day after the year end, and HMRC pays it back once you repay, on the same date for the year you repay in. Owe over £10,000 at any time in the tax year at less than HMRC's official rate (3.75%) and the saving is a taxable perk, with Class 1A National Insurance for the company.
If you lend to the company, the money isn't taxed. Interest is a cost for the company and savings income for you; the company takes off 20% and pays it over on form CT61.
Worked example
Your company pays £7,150 section 455 tax by 1 January 2028, and gets it back after you repay.
loan made from 6 April 2026 · owed all of 2026/27 · 0% interest · other income £12,570 · company profits up to £50,000
| You borrow from your company | £20,000 |
|---|---|
| Accounting period: 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | |
| Company tax on the loan (section 455): 35.75% × £20,000 | £7,150 |
| Due 1 January 2028. Comes back once the loan is repaid: from 1 January 2029 if repaid by 31 March 2028 | |
| Cheap loan perk: (3.75% official rate − 0% you pay) × £20,000 | £750 |
| Your income tax on the perk | £150 |
| Company's Class 1A National Insurance, 15% of the perk | £113 |
| To clear it with a dividend: £22,349 before tax | £22,349 |
| Your dividend tax on it | £2,349 |
| To clear it with a bonus: £27,778 before tax, plus £4,167 employer's NI, less £6,069 Corporation Tax relief | £25,875 |
| Your income tax and NI on the bonus | £7,778 |
Worked out using the 2026/27 rates: the dividend upper rate for section 455 and HMRC's official rate for cheap loans.
Questions people ask
Can I repay the loan and borrow it straight back?
Not to avoid the tax. Repay £5,000 or more and borrow £5,000 or more again within 30 days, or repay £15,000 or more with a plan to re-borrow, and the repayment doesn't count against the section 455 tax.
When do we get the section 455 tax back?
Once the loan is repaid, written off or released: 9 months and 1 day after the end of the company's year in which that happens. It's claimed on the company tax return (CT600A) or form L2P.
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