Dividends or fee
Tools for businesses
Compare dividend and fee
If you are a shareholder and director of an S.r.l. you can take profit home as a dividend or as a fee. The two routes cost the company, and you, very different amounts in taxes and INPS contributions. This tool compares them from a few details and shows how much stays in your pocket in each case and in a mixed solution. It is an indicative simulation, not advice.
The calculator
How the calculation works
Start from a profit or an amount
You enter the company’s profit before taxes and before the fee, or the gross amount you want to bring to the shareholder. If there are several shareholders your stake counts: the tool considers only the part of profit that belongs to you.
The dividend goes through the company
The company pays IRES at 24% and IRAP on the profit, then distributes the rest. On what you receive, an individual shareholder suffers a 26% withholding as final tax, with no bands and no INPS contributions.
The fee is a cost for the company
If it was resolved and paid in the year, it reduces the profit on which IRES is paid. It does not, however, reduce the IRAP base. For the shareholder it is income treated like employment income, taxed with progressive IRPEF (23% up to €28,000, 33% up to €50,000, 43% above) and surcharges, with the employment tax credits and, on low incomes, the supplementary allowance.
INPS contributions make the difference
On the fee, contributions are paid to the separate scheme: 35.03% if you have no other cover, 24% if you are retired or already registered with another scheme, with a ceiling of €122,295. One third is borne by you and two thirds by the company. No contributions are paid on dividends.
The tool looks for the best solution
It works out the net in your pocket with dividends only, fee only and a mixed split, and shows the one that leaves the shareholder the most. A modest fee, which uses the first bands and the tax credits, with the rest as dividends, is often best.
What you need to start
You only need the company’s profit before taxes and before the fee (you find it in the income statement) or the gross amount you want to bring to the shareholder, the stake held and the shareholder’s situation: no other job, employee, retired, self-employed with his or her own pension scheme, or registered with the craftsmen or traders scheme. The regional and municipal surcharges already have a reference value, which you can change. Optional: the shareholder’s other income, IRAP and the share of profit to allocate to the fee. The values used in place of details you do not enter are always declared in the result.
Frequently asked questions
Is it better to take a dividend or a fee?
It depends on the profit and the shareholder’s other income. On the first slice of income the fee is favoured by the employment tax credits and by being deductible for the company, but it costs INPS contributions. With higher income IRPEF and INPS weigh more and the dividend, taxed at 26%, tends to pay. The best solution is often mixed.
Is the director's fee deductible?
For IRES yes, in the year it is paid (art. 95, para. 5, TUIR), if resolved and proportionate to the role. For IRAP no: the fee and the related contributions do not reduce the base.
Are INPS contributions paid on dividends?
No. A dividend suffers the 26% withholding but is not subject to contributions. For a shareholder working in the business and registered with the craftsmen or traders scheme, the contributions on business income follow their own rules, which the tool does not simulate.
Why do I have to say whether I am retired or an employee?
Because it changes the INPS rate on the fee, from 35.03% to 24%, and the tax credits. Other income also counts, because IRPEF rises by bands.
Notice and sources
The tool is a simulation for information only and is not tax, social security or legal advice. The result depends on the data entered and the declared assumptions. The fee must be resolved before it is paid and proportionate to the role, and dividends are paid only out of profits earned and approved. Not modelled are partnerships, the IRES reduction for companies that do not distribute profits, the tax transparency of S.r.l.s, dependants, regional and sector IRAP surcharges and the contributions of a shareholder registered with the craftsmen or traders scheme on business income.
Sources consulted on 13 November 2026: Presidential Decree 917/1986 (TUIR), arts 5, 10, 11, 13, 50, 77 and 95; Law 199/2025, art. 1, para. 3; Decree-Law 3/2020, art. 1; Presidential Decree 600/1973, art. 27; Legislative Decree 446/1997, art. 11; Department of Finance (IRAP and surcharges); INPS, circular no. 8 of 3 February 2026; Civil Code, arts 2389, 2430, 2433, 2478-bis and 2479.
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