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Although the basic rate of income tax at 20% is the same as the rate of corporation tax (20% in financial year 2015), it can still be beneficial to incorporate and extract funds by way of dividends.

This is because dividends do not attract National Insurance Contributions so by incorporating you will save Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance Contributions. For 2015/16 you can also pay dividends until your income reaches the higher rate threshold without having to pay any more tax on those dividends as the liability is satisfied by the associated 10% tax credit.

However, the taxation of dividends is being reformed from 2016/17. The 10% tax credit will disappear and a new dividend tax allowance of £5,000 is being introduced. Above this dividends are taxed at the rate of 7.5% for a basic rate taxpayer, 32.5% for a higher rate taxpayer and 38.1% for an additional rate taxpayer. These changes reduce the attractiveness of incorporation, but (assuming Class 2 and 4 NIC rates for 2016/17 remain at about their 2015/16 levels) it remains marginally beneficially. However, there is no substitute for crunching the numbers. Consideration should also be given as to whether the costs of incorporation outweigh the tax and National Insurance savings.
 
Example
Harry incorporates on 1 April 2015, and makes a profit of £50,000 in his first year.
Not only does he now have a choice as to whether to draw this income and pay personal taxes on it or leave it in the company and only incur corporation tax on this, but he also saves tax and National Insurance by paying himself in dividends rather than a salary as dividends do not attract National Insurance Contributions.