Dividend taxation[edit]
In many countries, such as the U.S.A. and Canada, income from dividends is taxed, albeit at a lower rate than ordinary income. Though in most cases, the lower tax rate is due to profits being taxed initially as Corporate tax.
Australia and New Zealand[edit]
In Australia and New Zealand, companies also forward franking credits or imputation credits to shareholders along with dividends. These franking credits represent the tax paid by the company upon its pre-tax profits. One dollar of company tax paid generates one franking credit. Companies can forward any proportion of franking up to a maximum amount that is calculated from the prevailing company tax rate: for each dollar of dividend paid, the maximum level of franking is the company tax rate divided by (1 - company tax rate). At the current 30% rate, this works out at 0.30 of a credit per 70 cents of dividend, or 42.857 cents per dollar of dividend. The shareholders who are able to use them offset these credits against their income tax bills at a rate of a dollar per credit, thereby effectively eliminating the double taxation of company profits. This system is called dividend imputation.