If you are a director of your own limited company, your next Self Assessment return has changed, and getting it wrong now carries a fixed penalty. From the 2025/26 tax year, directors of close companies must complete a set of new boxes on the employment pages of their tax return, giving HMRC more detail about the company and what they took out of it.
The catch is that, if you file a return, these boxes must be completed even if you took no dividends, hold no shares, or run a dormant company. Leave them blank and HMRC can charge a £60 penalty. The boxes do not, by themselves, mean you have to file a return. Here is exactly what is new, who is caught, and how to file correctly.
In a nutshell
- There are new mandatory boxes from 2025/26. On the SA102 employment pages of your return.
- Four pieces of information are required. Company name, registration number, dividends and shareholding.
- It applies to directors of close companies. Which is most small UK limited companies.
- Even unpaid directors need an SA102 if they file. The old "no salary, no page" shortcut is gone.
- A £60 penalty can apply. HMRC's view is one per return, not one per directorship.
- Gather your figures before you file. Name, number, dividends and your highest shareholding.
1. What has changed for this tax year
Under new regulations, directors of close companies have to give HMRC extra information on their Self Assessment return from the 2025/26 tax year onwards. The disclosures sit on the SA102 employment pages, in new boxes numbered 7.1 to 7.4, alongside a tick to confirm the company is close.
This is purely a reporting change. It does not alter how much tax you pay. What it does is give HMRC a clearer, joined up picture of who controls small companies and what they are extracting as dividends, which is part of a wider push to close the tax gap among small businesses. The first returns under these rules cover 2025/26 and are due by 31 January 2027.
2. The four new boxes explained
There are four pieces of information to provide for each close company you are a director of:
- Company name. The registered name of the company.
- Company registration number. The number from Companies House, not your UTR or PAYE reference.
- Dividends received (box 7.3). The amount of dividend income you received from that company during the year, even if it is zero.
- Highest percentage shareholding (box 7.4). The largest percentage of the company's share capital you held at any point in the year, even if it is zero. If your holding changed during the year, you give the maximum.
The phrase "even if it is zero" matters. These are not optional fields you can skip when the answer is nil. A nil answer still has to be entered as a figure, because a blank box is treated as a failure to provide the information.
3. What counts as a close company
A close company is, broadly, a UK company controlled by five or fewer participators, or controlled by any number of participators who are also directors. A participator is essentially anyone with a share or financial interest in the company.
In plain terms, the typical contractor company, family company or small owner managed limited company is almost always a close company. If you and your spouse own your company, or you are the sole director shareholder, you are a director of a close company and these rules apply to you. Most of the directors reading this will be caught.
4. Even unpaid directors need an SA102 if they file
This is the part that surprises people. Until now, HMRC let a director skip the SA102 employment pages entirely if they took no salary and received no benefits in kind. Many unpaid directors of dormant or pre trading companies simply left those pages off.
That shortcut is effectively gone. If you file a return, you may now need to complete an SA102 for each close company directorship even if you drew no salary, took no dividend and own no shares, entering zeros where relevant. What the new boxes do not do is create a duty to file. The regulations only apply to people who already have to make a return, and HMRC does not expect directors to file solely because they are directors. Whether you need a return depends on things like a notice from HMRC or dividends over £10,000.
5. The penalty for missing information
A £60 penalty may apply if you fail to provide the required information. A blank box where a figure was required, such as a nil dividend, can be treated as a failure to provide it.
The information is reported per directorship, on a separate SA102 page for each company, so a director of three close companies has three sets of boxes to complete. HMRC's current view, reported by the Association of Taxation Technicians, is that only one £60 penalty can arise for each tax return, not one for each directorship or each missing box. HMRC has not said whether it will take a softer approach in the first year. Either way, the penalty is easy to avoid.
6. What to do before you file
The fix is simple if you prepare. For each close company you are a director of, gather:
- The exact registered company name.
- The company registration number from your Companies House record.
- The total dividends you received from that company in 2025/26, or zero if none.
- Your highest percentage shareholding during the year, or zero if you hold no shares.
Then make sure a separate SA102 page is completed for each directorship, with every new box filled in, using zero rather than a blank wherever the answer is nil. If you use an accountant, tell them about every directorship you hold, including dormant companies, so none are missed.
A worked example: a director of two companies
Priya is the sole director and shareholder of her trading consultancy, and also an unpaid director of a dormant company she set up but never traded. For 2025/26 she took £30,000 of dividends from the consultancy and holds 100% of its shares. She took nothing from the dormant company and owns no shares in it.
On her tax return she now needs two SA102 pages. On the first, she enters the consultancy's name and registration number, £30,000 of dividends in box 7.3, and 100% in box 7.4. On the second, she enters the dormant company's name and number, zero dividends and zero shareholding. If she forgot the dormant company entirely, or left its boxes blank, she could face a £60 penalty, despite owing no extra tax. Filing both pages correctly costs her nothing.
Things to watch out for
- Zero is an answer, blank is a failure. Always enter a figure, even if it is nil.
- If you file, dormant companies still count. Complete an SA102 for a dormant close company too.
- Use the company registration number, not your UTR. They are different references and HMRC wants the Companies House number.
- One page per directorship. Do not try to combine multiple companies onto a single SA102.
- No extra tax, but a real penalty. Nothing here increases your tax bill, but the £60 penalty is genuine and avoidable.
How Ollen Services Can Help
The new director disclosures are easy to get wrong precisely because they feel like a formality, and the penalty applies even when no tax is at stake. We make sure every directorship you hold is captured, every box is completed correctly, and dormant or unpaid roles are not quietly forgotten and turned into a £60 charge.
If you are a director of one company or several, we will prepare your Self Assessment return so the new close company boxes are right first time, and explain what each figure means for your wider tax position.
Call us on 07513 491 259 or email hello@ollenservices.co.uk. With the first returns under these rules due by 31 January 2027, now is the time to get your directorships in order.