Arthur Weller replies:
I am not sure what my position is and wonder if you could help me. I am a director of a company and receive dividend income. I also have separate employment income from elsewhere. The dividend income and employment income together puts me below the higher tax rate threshold but I have a student loan balance. I haven’t registered for self-assessment and am not sure whether I should do or not.
Arthur Weller replies:
If you look at www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/need-tax-return.htm you can see that if your dividend income is £10,000 or more then you need a tax return ("£10,000 or more from taxed savings and investments"), even if there is no tax to pay on the dividends because they fall within the basic rate band and any tax on them is covered by the 1/9 notional tax credit.
