Locum Tax

A guide for locum dentists using a limited company on how to structure salary and dividend payments in 2026/27, covering tax efficiency, IR35 implications, and practical profit extraction planning.

An early-career dentist's pay and tax position changes shape at every stage: a salaried DFT first year, then a fork between hospital DCT and specialty training on a PAYE salary or the self-employed associate route. The tax differences are large and the transitions carry traps, above all the payments-on-account shock when you first go self-employed. This guide maps the progression so you see what is coming before it arrives.

Dental foundation training is a salaried, PAYE year on a national salary of £42,408 from April 2025, with tax, National Insurance and your NHS pension deducted at source. The real tax change comes when you finish DFT and become a self-employed associate. This guide explains both halves and how to prepare for the switch.

The limited-company-versus-sole-trader question is different for a locum than for a practice owner. A locum moves between engagements, faces IR35 on each one, has no NHS pension through a company, and earns at a level where the company's admin often outweighs a thin tax saving. We compare both at 2026/27 rates and explain when, if ever, the company earns its place.

Locum dentists often fall outside the NHS Pension Scheme or have only patchy access, leaving a retirement gap the NHS pages do not address. This guide covers private pensions and SIPPs, how tax relief at source and the higher-rate top-up work, the £60,000 annual allowance and the 100%-of-earnings cap for 2025/26, carry-forward, and employer contributions if you trade through a company.

Locum dentists can claim a wide range of allowable expenses against their self-employed income for 2026/27. This guide covers travel costs (including locum mileage), professional subscriptions, indemnity, CPD, equipment, and home office expenses. We explain the rules with worked examples and highlight common HMRC traps.

IR35 rules determine whether a locum dentist working through a limited company is treated as an employee for tax purposes. For NHS engagements, the engaging practice's size determines who decides the status. This article explains the rules, the risks, and how to protect yourself.

How a UK locum dentist's pay structure, a fixed day rate or a percentage of fees generated, affects tax, National Insurance, expense treatment and financial risk in 2026/27. Both are trading income for a self-employed locum, so the structure shapes income volatility and who carries lab and material costs rather than the tax mechanism itself.

For locum dentists, the choice between operating through a limited company (PSC) and remaining self-employed as a sole trader turns on IR35 status, the profit-extraction maths, NHS pension access, and admin. This guide leads with the 2026/27 position and shows why the higher 2026/27 dividend rates and employer National Insurance have narrowed the company advantage.

A practical walkthrough for UK locum dentists filing their Self Assessment tax return. Covers registration, recording income, allowable expenses, Class 4 National Insurance, payments on account, Making Tax Digital readiness, and the key deadlines for the current tax year.

Umbrella companies can simplify payroll for a locum dentist, but the tax outcome is usually less efficient than a personal service company (PSC) outside IR35 or genuine self-employment. This guide compares the three structures for 2026/27, explains the IR35 interaction, and covers the new umbrella PAYE rules that take effect from 6 April 2026.