Hi all
My wife and I care for our disabled daughter who receives a full PIP.
We both work for a limited company of which I am the director, but we are both shareholders.
My wife has tried to work full time, but this simply isn’t working with all of the care , hospital appointments etc, so she is looking to return to part time work.
My concern is even if she receives a part time wage which would be under the earnings limit, would any dividends she might receive as a shareholder then also count as earnings and potentially take her over the earnings limit?
We’re really struggling to know what the best course of action is - working full time really isn’t an option, but we don’t want to go through the whole process just to be declined Carer’s allowance if she were to receive a dividend.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I have struggled to find any definitive answer on the web to date!
Keep up the good work all xx
As far as I’m aware there’s a £500 allowance on dividends
Important Update to the Dividend Tax Allowance.
If a dividend payment is your only form of income, you won’t pay any tax on your dividends until the payments surpass £13,070 in a tax year. This is the combined total of the Personal Allowance (the annual amount you can earn before you are required to pay tax £12570) plus the £500 dividend allowance.
BUT I don’t know how/if that affects the Carers Allowance.
The argument I’d make is that dividends are income from capital NOT earnings and by this definition is not within the current £151 earnings limit BUT perhaps @Charlesh47 or someone else knows the Carers Allowance piece
I hope this helps
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Hi @Craig_B Really interesting question…something that I’ve never had come up before!
It’s taken some looking up, which suggests you’d do well to email the Helpline for a definitive answer. You can contact them at advice@carersuk.org
My understanding, from what I’ve been able to find, is that dividends are not treated as income for Carers Allowance purposes. But please don’t take this as more than an indication that the news may be good - the Helpline have access to the full monty of the regulations, so they’ll find any loopholes or other issues I’m not aware of.
Hope this helps.
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I thought it was only earned income that counted? Carers Allowance is not means tested.
All so unfair anyhow. Don’t get me started again!
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Hi Charles47
Thankyou for the advice - really appreciated.
The business is fairly young, so I’m not even sure if dividends will be paid, but I agree that it’s best to try to get a definitive answer from carers UK.
I’ll contact them directly.
Thanks!
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Make sure you understand the difference between your takings and income after you’ve paid all your costs. Lots of helpful info from HMRC.
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