4 (a) For this part, assume today’s date is 1 March 2006.
Bill and Ben each own 50% of the ordinary share capital in Flower Limited, an unquoted UK trading company
that makes electronic toys. Flower Limited was incorporated on 1 August 2005 with 1,000 ￡1 ordinary shares,
and commenced trading on the same day. The business has been successful, and the company has accumulated
a large cash balance of ￡180,000, which is to be used to purchase a new factory. However, Bill and Ben have
received an offer from a rival company, which they are considering. The offer provides Bill and Ben with two
alternative methods of payment for the purchase of their shares:
(i) ￡480,000 for the company, inclusive of the ￡180,000 cash balance.
(ii) ￡300,000 for the company assuming the cash available for the factory purchase is extracted prior to sale.
Bill and Ben each currently receive a gross salary of ￡3,750 per month from Flower Limited. Part of the offer
terms is that Bill and Ben would be retained as employees of the company on the same salary.
Neither Bill nor Ben has used any of their capital gains tax annual exemption for the tax year 2005/06.
Required:
(i) Calculate which of the following means of extracting the ￡180,000 from Flower Limited on 31 March
2006 will result in the highest after tax cash amount for Bill and Ben:
(1) payment of a dividend, or
(2) payment of a salary bonus.
You are not required to consider the corporation tax (CT) implications for Flower Limited in your
answer. (5 marks)
As a result, Bill and Ben would each be better off by ￡15,005 (69,142 – 54,137). If the cash were extracted by way
of dividend.
Tutorial note: In this answer the employers’ national insurance liability on the salary has been ignored. Credit would be
given to a candidate who recognised this issue.