🇦🇺Australia

Verlust von Anrechnungsbeträgen (Franking Credits) durch fehlerhafte Erfassung von Dividenden

Updated: Feb 20263 verified sources

Definition

Under Australia’s dividend imputation system, when companies pay corporate tax on their profits they generate franking credits that can be attached to dividends and used as tax credits by eligible shareholders.[1][7] Shareholders who are Australian tax residents must include the grossed‑up dividend (cash amount plus attached franking credit) in assessable income and can then use the franking credits to offset tax payable, with excess credits refundable in some cases.[1][7] The ATO also requires that shareholder dividend statements and distribution statements contain details such as the payment date and franking information, which are used to determine the income year and credit entitlement.[4] In multi‑entity holding company structures that receive numerous dividends from subsidiaries and listed investments, manual processing of dividend statements often omits or mis‑keys franking percentages, franking account balances or payment dates. Where franking information is not captured correctly in tax workpapers and group returns, the holding company or its shareholders may fail to claim franking credits worth 30% of the underlying franked dividend amount. For example, on AUD 200,000 of franked dividends, attached franking credits can be around AUD 85,714 (assuming a 30% company tax rate and fully franked distributions); lost or partially claimed credits can therefore cost tens of thousands of dollars per year. Over several years, and across multiple entities in a holding structure, cumulative revenue leakage from unclaimed franking credits can easily exceed AUD 50,000–150,000, especially where smaller dividend streams are not reconciled in detail.

Key Findings

Financial Impact: Quantified: Fully franked dividends of AUD 200,000 carry ≈AUD 85,714 in franking credits at a 30% company tax rate; manual errors that cause 10–30% of credits to be unclaimed equate to AUD 8,500–25,700 per year per entity, with multi‑entity groups often leaking AUD 25,000–75,000 annually.
Frequency: High in investment and holding groups with many small and mid‑sized dividend receipts, especially where portfolio accounting is spreadsheet‑based and tax returns are prepared under time pressure.
Root Cause: Manual keying of dividend statements; lack of structured data feed from registries; poor reconciliation between franking account movements and dividend income; weak linkage between share registries, accounting ledgers and tax computation tools.

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Holding companies in Australia 🇦🇺 routinely forfeit AUD 5,000–50,000 per year in unclaimed franking credits because dividend and distribution data is captured manually. Automation of dividend statement ingestion and franking credit reconciliation recovers this cash with low effort.