The introduction of the simplified imputation system replaces the former imputation provisions that were contained in Part IIIAA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. The new provisions are contained within Part 3-6 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and take effect from 1 July 2002.
The core rules introduced by the simplified imputation system were contained in the following Acts:
The New Business Tax System (Consolidation) Act (No.1) 2002
This Act accounts for the head company of a consolidated group to maintain a single franking account.
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Introduces rules dealing with the treatment of the existing balance of franking accounts of subsidiary members upon entry into a consolidated group, and also with the operation of the head company's franking account during the period of consolidation.
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The New Business Tax System (Consolidation, Value Shifting, Demergers and Other Measures) Amendment Act 2002
This Act amends exempting and former exempting company provisions to limit the source of franking credits available for franking credit trading.
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Introduces rules which limit franking credits available for trading by:
- prescribing that franked distributions paid by corporate tax entities, which are effectively owned by non-residents or tax exempt entities, will provide franking benefits to members in limited circumstances only, and
- quarantining the franking surpluses of corporate tax entities which were formerly effectively owned by non-residents or tax exempt entities.
These rules ensure that entities effectively owned by non-residents and tax-exempt entities cannot trade the benefits of the franking credits.
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The New Business Tax System (Consolidations and Other Measures) Act (No. 1) 2002
This Act extends exemptions from the benchmark rule for publicly listed companies, removes the intercorporate dividend rebate for franked dividends paid after 30 June 2002 and provides transitional rules for early and late balancing companies.
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Introduces transitional rules relating to:
- franking periods for early and late balancing companies
- the conversion of franking accounts on a tax paid basis for early balancing companies, and
- the determination of FDT liability for late balancing companies.
Introduces rules which:
- remove the inter-corporate dividend rebate under sections 46 and 46A for franked dividends paid after 30 June 2002
- remove the inter-corporate dividend rebate under sections 46 and 46A for unfranked dividends paid within wholly-owned company groups generally after 30 June 2003
- broaden the exceptions to the benchmark rule, which requires that all dividends paid by a company in a certain period (a franking period) be franked to the same extent, and
- replicate provisions in former Part IIIAA of the ITAA 1936 relating to distributions on non-share equity interests.
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The New Business Tax System (Franking Deficit Tax) Amendment Act 2002
This Act amends transitional determination of franking deficit tax liability for late balancing companies.
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Introduces rules concerning the determination of franking deficit tax liability for late balancing companies.
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The New Business Tax System (Consolidations and Other Measures) Act 2003
This Act contains provisions relating to the governance of consolidated groups as well as certain machinery provisions, general anti-avoidance provisions and certain dividend withholding provisions, and amends the simplified imputation system covering cum dividend sales and securities lending arrangements.
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Introduces rules for consolidated groups, including:
- the application of the exempting entity provisions to consolidated groups
- the franking of distributions by a member of a consolidated group whose membership interests are held by a non-resident
- the transfer of franking account balances between eligible tier-1 entities in a multiple entry consolidated (MEC) group where a new provisional head company is appointed
- the franking of distributions by eligible tier-1 entities in a MEC group other than by the head or provisional head company, and
- the franking of distributions by entities in a MEC group (other than by eligible tier-1 companies) to non-resident interposed entities.
Introduces rules for the following aspects of the SIS:
- venture capital franking
- cum dividend sales and securities lending arrangements, and
- machinery provisions - for example, the rules relating to franking account returns and assessments.
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Tax Laws Amendment Act (No. 3) 2003
This Act allows cooperative companies the choice to either frank distributions to shareholders or to claim the existing deduction for distributions of assessable income to shareholders.
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Introduces rules which enable a cooperative company to choose to either frank distributions to shareholders or alternatively to make unfranked distributions and remain entitled to the existing deduction for distributions of assessable income to shareholders.
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The Taxation Laws Amendment Act (No. 4) 2003
This Act amends refundable tax offset rules to reflect the simplified imputation system rules. Specifically, corporate tax entities are generally not entitled to a refund of excess franking credits.
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Introduces rules which make changes to:
- the tax offset carry forward rules to ensure that taxpayers will always receive the maximum benefit from refundable tax offsets
- the refundable tax offset rules to reflect the new SIS rules, and
- the refundable tax offset rules so that double claiming of the private health insurance tax offset does not occur (that is, it will not be possible for the same private health insurance premiums to be claimed by both a trustee and beneficiary).
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Taxation Laws Amendment Act (No. 5) 2003
This Act enables a corporate tax entity to convert excess franking credits to losses, choose the amount of prior-year losses they wish to deduct in a later year of income, and carry forward a tax loss to a later year of income if that tax loss for the income year would otherwise have been used up against franked dividend income.
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Introduces rules that ensure that corporate tax entities are no longer required to use up ('waste') losses that could be deductible in a later year of income against franked dividend (effectively tax-free) income.
Corporate tax entities will be able to choose the amount of prior-year losses they wish to deduct in a later year of income. This means that corporate tax entities can choose not to deduct prior-year losses in order to pay sufficient tax to be able to frank their distributions.
Corporate tax entities will also be able to treat a current year loss that would otherwise be used up against franked dividend income as a tax loss for that income year and be able to carry forward the tax loss for consideration as a deduction in a later year of income. The relevant current year loss will be identified by reference to the amount of any unused franking tax offset for the income year.
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Taxation Laws Amendment Act (No. 8) 2003
This Act replaces franking additional tax provisions with a more efficient set of rules for franking deficit tax and resolves the anomaly in the interaction of the debt/equity rules and implementation rules relating to non-share dividends
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Introduces rules to allow entities which have incurred an FDT liability to offset this amount against an income tax liability. Special rules are provided for life insurance companies to ensure that an FDT liability can only be offset against that part of the company's income tax liability that is attributable to shareholders.
The new rules will also replace the franking additional tax penalty provisions which operated under the former imputation rules in Part IIIAA of the ITAA 1936 where there was an excessive franking deficit. Instead of a separate penalty, a new rule will operate to reduce an entity's FDT offset by 30%.
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Taxation Laws Amendment Act (No.1) 2004
This Act (previous citation Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (N0.7) 2003) received Royal Assent on the 30 June 2004.
The Act is to provide life insurance companies with the ability to determine the extent to which a payment of refund to tax or the receipt of franked dividend income is attributable to shareholders prior to assessment by estimating the extent to which certain transactions are reasonably attributable to the shareholders of a company.
Upon assessment, the estimated franking credits and debits are reversed and reinstated in accordance with the actual extent to which tax is attributable to shareholders.
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Introduces imputation rules for life insurance companies.
Broadly, these rules set out the circumstances when franking credits and debits arise in franking accounts of life insurance companies from:
- the payment and refund of tax, and
- the receipt of franked dividends.
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Taxation Laws Amendment (2004 Measures No.1) Act 2004
The Act includes provisions which enable resident companies to deduct on-payments of unfranked non-portfolio dividends made to its non-resident parent company. This Act received Royal Assent on the 29 June 2004.
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Introduces rules which ensure that the section 46FA deduction, which allows certain resident companies a deduction for on-payments of certain unfranked or partly franked non-portfolio dividends to their wholly-owned foreign parents, continues to be available to taxpayers.
This deduction was inadvertently made inoperative with the removal of the inter-corporate dividend rebate paid within wholly-owned companies applying generally after 30 June 2003.
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Taxation Laws Amendment (2004 Measures No. 2) Act 2004
This Act received Royal Assent on 25 June 2004
This Act contains amendments previously included in Taxation Laws Amendment Bill (No.9) 2003 to provide the calculation to adjust an entity's assessable income where a franked distribution flows indirectly to the entity through a trust or partnership and the entity has no entitlement to a tax offset. This Bill contains amendments to rectify technical defects in some of the definitions and improve the readability of the provisions.
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Introduces rules which deal with the tax effect of receiving a franked distribution by including adjustment rules to provide the calculation to adjust an entity's assessable income where a franked distribution flows indirectly to the entity through a trust or partnership and the entity has no entitlement to a tax offset.
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Taxation Laws Amendment (2004 Measures No. 6) Act 2005
This Act received Royal Assent on 21 March 2005.
This Act contains amendments previously included in Taxation Laws Amendment (2004) Measures No. 4) Bill 2004.
This Act includes provisions which insert further components of the simplified imputation system and make minor imputation amendments.
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Introduces consequential amendments that update terminology to equivalent terms of the SIS in the ITAA 1997, ITAA 1936 and Taxation Administration Act 1953; inserts into Division 207 of Part 3-6 of the ITAA 1997 anti-avoidance rules that apply in relation to certain tax-exempt entities that are entitled to a refund of imputation credits; and makes various technical amendments to ensure the correct operation of the tax system following the commencement of the SIS.
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Taxation Laws Amendment (2005 Measures No. 2) Act 2005
This Act received Royal Assent on 29 June 2005.
This Act includes provisions which allow a private company to pay a franked dividend during the income year in which they first incur an income tax liability.
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The amendments provide greater flexibility to private companies by allowing them, in certain situations, to pay franked distributions during the income year in which they first incur an income tax liability without incurring the penalty that reduces their franking deficit tax offset by 30 per cent for that year. Applies to 2005 and onward income years.
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Taxation Laws Amendment (2006 Measures No. 2) Act 2006
This Act received Royal Assent on 22 June 2006.
The Act ensures that the tax offset reduction applies only if a company has made, directly or indirectly, a franked distribution in the relevant income year.
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This amendment ensures that the tax offset reduction applies only if a company has made, directly or indirectly, a franked distribution in the relevant income year. In addition, the Commissioner of Taxation will have the discretion to disregard the tax offset reduction if the deficit in the franking account arose because of events outside the company's control. This amendment applies from 1 July 2002.
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Taxation Laws Amendment (2006 Measures No. 3) Act 2006
This Act received Royal Assent on 30 June 2006.
This Act replaces the share capital tainting rules formerly contained in Division 7B of the ITAA 1936.
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The share capital tainting rules in this amendment replace, with some modifications, the share capital tainting rules formerly contained in Division 7B of the ITAA 1936.The share capital tainting rules are integrity rules designed to prevent a company from disguising a distribution of profits as a tax-preferred capital distribution by transferring profits into its share capital account and subsequently making distributions from that account
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Taxation Laws Amendment (2007 Measures No. 3) Act 2007
This Act received Royal Assent on 21 July 2007.
This Act removes both the dividend tainting rules and the rules that deny franking credits when additional tax is paid because of a transfer pricing adjustment.
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The legislation removes both the dividend tainting rules and the rules that deny franking credits when additional tax is paid because of a transfer pricing adjustment. The dividend tainting rules will be removed with effect from 1 July 2004. Rules that remove the denial of franking credits because of a transfer pricing adjustment are already in place and take effect from 1 July 2002
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Last Modified: Thursday, 18 September 2008