Dividend – how to handle for accounting and tax

Often the question is asked about how you determine that a dividend is declared or paid. As there is no definition of dividend in UK tax or company law, the question has to be answered by reference to the facts.

ACCA has a technical factsheet guide which looks at company law, reporting, and tax issues to provide a broad overview of issues in relation to dividends and distributions in specie. It also addresses other related matters such as:

• accounting treatment of dividend
• paperwork required for dividend
• members' obligations for illegal dividend