How to use the dividend calculator
- Enter how many shares you hold in Shares owned. Fractional shares are allowed and 0 is allowed.
- Enter what one share pays in a single payment in Dividend per share. This is not the yearly total, and 0 is allowed.
- Enter how often the dividend arrives in Payments per year. It must be a whole number from 1 to 365, so quarterly payments are 4 and monthly payments are 12.
- Enter the Withholding tax rate as a percentage. Leave it at 0 to see the before tax figures only.
- Select Calculate to see the annual dividend before tax, the annual withholding tax, the annual dividend after tax and every individual payment.
- Select Reset example to go back to the values shown when the page opened.
The values shown when the page opens are a hypothetical example chosen to show how the calculation works. They are not a real company payout and not a real tax rate. This calculator holds no dividend data and no tax rate of its own.
What this calculator works out
The starting point is a holding you already have. From the shares you own and one payment amount, the calculator scales up to a year and then applies the rate you entered.
- Dividend per payment before tax is the shares owned multiplied by the dividend per share.
- Annual dividend before tax is the shares owned multiplied by the dividend per share multiplied by the payments per year.
- Annual withholding tax is that annual figure multiplied by the withholding tax rate you entered.
- Annual dividend after tax is the annual figure before tax minus the annual withholding tax.
The annual amounts are built directly from your inputs, not by rounding a single payment and multiplying it up. That keeps the yearly total from drifting when a payment amount has long decimals.
Dividend formula
These are the formulas this calculator uses. Following them in order lets you check the result by hand.
Dividend per payment before tax = shares owned × dividend per share
Withholding per payment = dividend per payment before tax × withholding tax rate ÷ 100
Dividend per payment after tax = dividend per payment before tax − withholding per payment
Annual dividend before tax = shares owned × dividend per share × payments per year
Annual withholding tax = annual dividend before tax × withholding tax rate ÷ 100
Annual dividend after tax = annual dividend before tax − annual withholding tax
- Shares owned: 0 or more, decimals allowed
- Dividend per share: what one share pays in one payment, 0 or more, decimals allowed
- Payments per year: a whole number from 1 to 365
- Withholding tax rate: 0% to 100%, entered by you
0 shares and a dividend per share of 0 are both valid inputs. They are not errors; every amount simply comes out as 0. Intermediate values are never rounded, and only the numbers on screen are tidied up for display.
Worked example
These are the same values the calculator shows when the page opens. They are a hypothetical example, not a real company payout and not a real tax rate.
- 100 shares owned, 0.5 per share in each payment, 4 payments a year, withholding tax rate 10%
- Dividend per payment before tax = 100 × 0.5 = 50
- Annual dividend before tax = 100 × 0.5 × 4 = 200
- Annual withholding tax = 200 × 10% = 20
- Annual dividend after tax = 200 − 20 = 180
- Each of the four payments is 50 before tax and 45 after tax
Enter the yearly total by mistake in the dividend per share box and the annual figure comes out four times too large. The box always means one payment.
Payments per year and what it does not mean
The payments per year is a count, not a schedule. It has to be a whole number from 1 to 365 because half a payment does not exist and a count above the number of days in a year is treated as a typing mistake.
- Quarterly is 4, twice a year is 2, monthly is 12.
- No payment dates are calculated. The payment number in the table shows the order only.
- Every payment is assumed to be the same size, which is the assumption behind every annual figure on this page.
Assumptions and limitations
- The dividend per share means one payment, never a yearly total.
- Annual figures assume the same payment repeats as many times as you entered. A company decides each payment as it goes.
- This does not predict future dividends. A payment can change or stop, and nothing here is a forecast.
- Only the withholding tax rate you enter is applied, exactly as the formulas above show.
- No statutory rate is assumed or filled in for you. Tax treatment varies by country, residence, account type and the nature of the payment, and a treaty rate or a later reclaim is not modelled.
- 0 shares owned and a dividend per share of 0 are valid. Every amount comes out as 0 rather than an error.
- Payments per year follows the limits of the calculation engine: a whole number from 1 to 365.
- No live dividend data, payment history or share price is fetched. Every figure comes from what you typed.
- Currency conversion and a payer rounding rule are not applied, so the amount that actually reaches your account can differ.
- Results are informational estimates based only on the values you enter.
- This is not investment, legal or tax advice, and no product or holding is recommended.
- Intermediate values are not rounded; only the numbers on screen are rounded for display.
- Your inputs are calculated only in this browser and are never sent to or stored on a server.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate an annual dividend?
Multiply the shares you own by the dividend per share and then by the number of payments per year. That gives the annual dividend before tax. For example, 100 shares paying 0.5 per share four times a year come to 200 before tax.
Is the dividend per share a yearly figure or one payment?
One payment. It is what a single share pays each time a dividend arrives, so entering an annual figure there would multiply the yearly total by the number of payments. If you only know the annual amount per share, divide it by the payments per year before entering it here.
How is the withholding tax applied?
The rate you type in is applied to the dividend before tax and the result is subtracted, both for a single payment and for the year. The annual withholding is calculated from the annual figure directly rather than from a rounded per payment amount, so the yearly total does not drift.
Does the calculator know my tax rate?
No. It holds no statutory rate and never guesses one. Tax treatment varies by country, residence, account type and the nature of the payment, and a treaty rate or a later reclaim is not modelled. Enter the rate that actually applies to you, or leave it at 0 to see the before tax figures only.
Can I enter 0 shares or a dividend per share of 0?
Yes. Both are valid inputs rather than errors. Every amount then comes out as 0, which is useful for checking how the page behaves before you have a holding or before a payment has been announced.
What values are allowed for payments per year?
A whole number from 1 to 365. Quarterly is 4, twice a year is 2 and monthly is 12. Decimals are refused because half a payment does not exist, and a count above the number of days in a year is treated as a typing mistake rather than a real schedule.
Does this calculator predict future dividends?
No. It repeats the payment you entered as many times as you asked for and nothing more. A company decides each dividend as it goes, so real payments can change between one date and the next or stop altogether. Treat every annual figure here as a what if, not a forecast.
Are the payment numbers in the table real payment dates?
No. Payment dates are not calculated anywhere on this page. The number shows the order only, and because every payment is assumed to be the same size, the per payment amounts stay identical while only the running total grows.
Why does adding up the payments differ slightly from the annual figure?
Because amounts are rounded for display only. The calculation itself runs on unrounded values, so adding the rounded numbers on screen by hand can differ in the last digit. The annual figure is the more accurate of the two.
Are my inputs stored anywhere?
No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser, nothing is looked up from an outside service, and your inputs are never sent to or stored on a server.
Related calculators
This page starts from a holding you already have. To look at the same dividend from the other side and ask what it is worth against the current share price, the Dividend Yield Calculator turns a price and a dividend into a percentage.
Dividends are only part of what a holding returns. To see what selling leaves after the fees and tax you enter, the Stock Return Calculator works out the profit or loss and the break-even sell price. If you plan to put the payments back to work instead of spending them, the Compound Interest Calculator projects how a balance may grow. It is a hypothetical simulation and guarantees no return.