Sky_Blue_Dreamer
Well-Known Member
Dividends for business owners are a form of salary you have a very distorted view that most SME owners are just trying to extract income and have no regard for the long term - to suggest arrogantly businesses can somehow survive with no income for 6 months while still paying salaries and bills and it’s their lack of prudence that’s to blame is mind blowing. I’d love to see you explain that to such people
I wasn't claiming any such thing. As I said if this business you're talking about had more liquidity and wasn't taking dividends and so was being run prudently in comparison to others and looking to grow the business yet are still massively at risk it highlights how bad the problem is.
As I said at the time we were turning a lot of sole traders etc in ltd's and the dividends would replace what they would have before taken out as drawings. Nowhere does that suggest they were looking to take every penny out - they weren't. They often paid themselves very low wages and this was a 'top up' of that depending on if the business had done well. They kept a lot in the business as either a buffer or to grow as well. (Although I'd have thought you'd consider them silly for doing so rather than taking it to splash out on stuff to 'better themselves'.
Btw dividends and salaries are completely different. The tax treatment and rates of both are different.