I'm in exactly that situation, and I find it interesting how many web pages there are that present the question "how to most tax-efficiently pay yourself as a d

I'm in exactly that situation, and I find it interesting how many web pages there are that present the question "how to most tax-efficiently pay yourself as a director" and then only consider two options - at the primary threshold (when the employee starts paying tax and NI on the income) or at the lower secondary threshold (when the employer starts paying NI on the income). There's almost no discussion about the overall taxation burden of taking money out of the company via dividends compared to income tax above the primary threshold (which for normal people is the same as the "tax free allowance"). As you've alluded to, if your total income is in the "basic rate 20%" band, then this is actually cheaper overall paid as dividends (21% for company and 8.75% personally) compared to salary (13.8% for company and 28% personally). However, once you're above that and into the "higher rate 40% band, it's less clear cut. At that point, it's still slightly better to pay yourself in dividends (21% for company and 33.75% personally) compared to salary (13.8% for company and 42% personally), but the decision becomes more nuanced because you might prefer to receive a salary anyway so that your dividend allowance is still free for dividends from other investments. Once you're into the "additional rate 45%" bracket, paying dividends is actually a higher overall tax burden. Actually, the best way to get money out of a company is via a SIPP as an employer contribution, which is zero rate for tax for both company and employer. Although I can't shake the feeling that actually the deferred tax liability (income tax on 75% of it, many years in the future when it's many times its current value) is actually significantly worse than maxing out an ISA and paying the income tax up-front, so if I wasn't already doing that the decision is less clear. But like you say, it's all complexity upon complexity, and life would be much easier if all income was treated the same both in personal tax and taking money out of a company.