Tax benefits associated with investing in shares

Investing in shares can produce tax benefits. But it can also result in tax liabilities too. Terms such as “franking credits” and “imputation credits” (same thing) were frequently used during last year’s federal election (the Labor Party proposed to ban franking credit refunds). However, many people do not understand these concepts. So, this blog seeks to provide a simple overview of the possible taxation consequences resulting from investing in shares.
There are two types of taxes that could result from making an investment (including share market investments) being income tax and Capital Gains Tax (CGT).
Income tax and franking creditsSome shares pay investors an income which is called a dividend. This is typically paid twice per year (interim plus final dividend). The amount of the dividend can vary significantly (this is called the dividend yield – refer to this blog for a basic overview of investing in shares).
A company can declare and pay a dividend from profit after it has paid tax. The dividend imputation system was introduced in Australia in 1987 by the Hawke-Keating Labor Government. Essentially, it sought to avoid the double taxing of corporate profits. This is best explained as an example.
Assume listed company XYZ Ltd recorded a profit of $100. It would pay $30 in tax because the corporate tax rate is 30% for companies with turnover of greater than $50 million. So, its after tax profit is $70. If it paid the dividend to shareholders who are individuals on the highest margin income tax rate of 47%, they would pay $32.90 of tax (being 47% of $70). The amount of the dividend left after paying all taxes is only $37.10 meaning the effective tax rate is 62.9%! In this instance, company profits have been taxed twice – once in the hands of the company and then again in the hand of the shareholder. Hawke-Keating believed this double taxation was unfair.
So, how does dividend imputation work?To avoid the double-taxing of dividends, shareholders obtain a credit for the amount of tax the company has previously paid. Using the example above, the company has already paid $30 in tax so the shareholders will obtain a credit for this amount.
The formula is: cash amount of dividend plus franking credit multiplied by the marginal

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