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Section 1 - How do you treat a dividend received from a non-resident company?

Last updated 4 December 2006

This section sets out the basis for taxing dividends received by a resident from a non-resident company.

Non-portfolio dividends

Definition of non-portfolio dividends

The concept of a non-portfolio dividend is central to the scheme of taxation of foreign dividends. A dividend is a non-portfolio dividend if five conditions are met. These are:

  • the dividend is paid to a company
  • the company receiving the dividend has a 10% or greater voting interest in the voting power of the company that paid the dividend

    The voting power in a company is the maximum number of votes that can be cast on a poll at a general meeting of the company at which all matters that can be referred to such a meeting are decided.
  • the shareholder is the beneficial owner of the shares that carry the required voting interest
  • the voting interest is held at the time the dividend is paid
  • there is no arrangement in force at that time by which any person is in a position - or may become in a position - to affect the voting right.

Non-portfolio dividends received from a listed country company

Non-portfolio dividends received by a resident company from a listed country company are non-assessable non-exempt income. These dividends are not assessable because they are paid out of:

  • profits of a CFC that have been attributed to the resident company under the accruals tax measures - section 23AI
  • profits that are treated as having been comparably taxed in a listed country - section 23AJ.

A non-portfolio dividend paid by a listed country company to a resident company is treated as paid first from profits that have been attributed to the resident company, and then from other profits.

Start of example

Example 1: Non-portfolio dividend paid from comparably taxed profits

On 1 January 2004, a company that is a resident of the United Kingdom paid a resident company a non-portfolio dividend of $10,000. None of the income of the UK company had been attributed under the accruals tax system.

In this case, the dividend will be non-assessable non-exempt income under section 23AJ.

End of example

 

Start of example

Example 2: non-portfolio dividend paid partly from profits taxed on an accruals basis

Resco, a resident company, has a CFC in a listed country. Attributable income of $10,000 from the CFC was included in Resco's assessable income for the 2001-02 income year.

The CFC then paid a dividend of $25,000 to Resco on 1 August 2003.

$10,000 of the dividend will be non-assessable non-exempt income under section 23AI as a distribution of attributed income. The $15,000 balance of the dividend will be non-assessable non-exempt income under section 23AJ.

End of example

Non-portfolio dividends received from an unlisted country company

The taxation of a non-portfolio dividend paid by an unlisted country company to a resident company depends on the profits from which the dividend was paid. There are three types of profits:

  • comparably taxed profits - called exempting profits - from accounting periods ending after 30 June 1990
  • income attributed to the shareholder under the accruals tax measures
  • other profits.

In the three simplest cases, a non-portfolio dividend paid to a resident company from a company resident in an unlisted country will be treated as follows:

  • if all the profits of the unlisted country company are exempting profits, the dividend will be non-assessable non-exempt income.
  • if all the profits of an unlisted country company have been attributed to the resident company, the dividend paid out of those profits will also be non-assessable non-exempt income
  • if the unlisted country company has no exempting profits or profits which have been accruals taxed, the dividend will be subject to Australian tax.

If an unlisted country company has exempting profits and other profits, a non-portfolio dividend paid by the company is treated as paid proportionately from its exempting profits and other profits. The part of the dividend that is treated as paid from other profits is in turn treated as paid first from attributed income, and then from other profits.

To work out the amount that is not assessable you will need to determine how much of the dividend is treated as paid respectively from exempting profits, attributed income and other profits.

Resident company
100%
Unlisted country company distributable profits
Exempting profits: All other profits including attributed income
The dividend paid by the unlisted country company is treated as paid proportionately from exempting profits and other profits.

Resident company 
100$ 
Unlisted country company distributable profits
From exemption profits - exemt from tax - s.23AJ:
from other profits:
- first from attirbuted income - exempt from tax - s.23AI
- balance from other income taxable

Working out the exempting profits percentage of a non-portfolio dividend paid by an unlisted country company

The exempting profits percentage of a dividend paid by an unlisted country company is calculated using the formula:

Exempting profits percentage of dividend

=

Exempting profits ÷ Distributable profit

×

100

This percentage represents the part of a non-portfolio dividend paid by an unlisted country company that is not assessable because it is paid from exempting profits.

Distributable profits

A distributable profit is the amount a company can distribute as dividends. Any decision or requirement restricting the availability of profits for distribution as dividends, other than any requirement providing for the following provisions or reserves, is disregarded:

  • a provision or reserve which is required to be maintained by law
  • a provision for any liability in respect of foreign tax or Australian tax
  • a reserve maintained for the purpose of qualifying for relief from foreign tax
  • a provision or reserve for depreciation, bad or doubtful debts or leave payments or
  • any other provision or reserve of a kind prescribed by regulations - to date, no regulations have been made for this purpose.

Exempting profits

Exempting profits are the distributable profits of a company that result from exempting receipts. Exempting profits are worked out using the formula:

Exempting profits

=

Exempting receipts

Expenses and taxes attributable to those receipts

There are special rules for working out exempting profits of an unlisted country CFC which has changed residence from a listed country. The exempting profits are determined in the normal manner except that distributable profits the CFC had at the time it changed residence are also treated as exempting profits. However, profits taxed previously under the CFC measures are not treated as exempting profits.

Exempting receipts

In broad terms, exempting receipts are amounts received by a company that have been either:

  • included in assessable income for Australian tax purposes, or
  • taxed at comparable tax rates in a listed country.

Only amounts received by a company in accounting periods that end after 30 June 1990 can constitute exempting receipts.

The following seven types of amounts received by an unlisted country company qualify as exempting receipts:

  • amounts derived by the company in carrying on a business in a broad-exemption listed country through a permanent establishment in that country providing:
    • the amounts are not eligible designated concession income
    • the amounts are subject to tax in a listed country in an accounting period ending or commencing during the statutory accounting period of the CFC
     
  • amounts derived by the company in carrying on a business in a limited-exemption listed country through a permanent establishment in that country providing:
    • the amounts are not adjusted tainted income
    • the amounts are subject to tax in a listed country in an accounting period ending or commencing during the statutory accounting period of the CFC
     
  • income derived by the company that is included in the assessable income of the company for Australian tax purposes and is taxed by assessment
  • net capital gains included in assessable income on the disposal of a taxable Australian asset
  • non-portfolio dividends paid to the company by a listed country company - except where the dividend is treated as paid out of previously attributed income
  • fully franked dividends paid by resident companies
  • the exempting profits percentage of a non-portfolio dividend paid to the company by another unlisted country company.

The first four types of exempting receipts mentioned above could flow to the company through either a partnership or a trust. If the receipts flow to the company through a partnership of which it is a partner, the exempting receipt will be the company's share of the after-tax profits of the partnership that can be attributed to those receipts. The company's share of those exempting receipts could also be distributed to the partnership through other partnerships and trusts.

If the receipts flow to the company through a trust, the exempting receipt will be the trust distribution. Again, the receipts could be derived by the trust directly or through other trusts and partnerships.

Accounting records for exempting receipts and exempting profits

The law does not set out the records that have to be kept to identify exempting receipts and exempting profits. However, if you claim that a part of a dividend paid by an unlisted country company was paid from exempting profits, you will have to maintain adequate records to substantiate this claim.

Adequate records include:

  • a statement of the exempting receipts of the foreign company
  • an analysis of the outgoings and expenses incurred by the foreign company that are attributable to the exempting receipts
  • an analysis of the taxes paid or provided for by the foreign company that are attributable to the exempting receipts.

Distributions of attributed income - maintaining records to support a claim that an amount is not assessable

Attribution accounts

To be able to work out what distributions out of attributed income of a CFC are non-assessable non-exempt income, you will need to keep certain records called attribution accounts

You must maintain an attribution account for:

  • each CFC from which income is attributed to you. This account will contain a record of:
    • income attributed to you from the CFC
    • income distributed to you by the CFC which is treated as distributed from attributed income
     
  • each entity through which the income of that CFC is distributed to you. These entities may be:
    • partnerships
    • trusts
    • companies that are not Part X Australian residents
     
  • each FIF where an amount of FIF income is included in the notional assessable income of the CFC
  • each CFC that has changed residence from an unlisted country to Australia. Dividends paid by a company out of profits which were attributed to you prior to the company becoming a resident of Australia are non-assessable non-exempt income.

These accounts are used to keep track of profits that have been taxed on an accruals basis so that you determine what amounts are non-assessable non-exempt income when you receive a distribution from those profits.

Start of example

Example 3: Attribution accounts

A resident company - Resco - owns all the share capital of a CFC that is a resident of an unlisted country. The CFC commenced business on 1 July 2002. For the 2002-03 income year, its only income was attributable income of $2,500. It paid no tax. On 1 August 2003, it paid a dividend of $2,500 to Resco.

Attribution credit:

Resco will open an attribution account for the CFC and credit it with $2,500 on 30 June 2003 because this amount was included at that time in Resco's assessable income under the CFC measures. The CFC is called an attribution account entity.

Attribution debit:

Resco will debit $2,500 to the attribution account for the CFC on 1 August 2003 because of the dividend paid by the CFC. The debit is referred to as an 'attribution debit'. The amount of the debit cannot be more than the credit balance in the account - called the 'attribution surplus' - at the time the debit is made. In this case, the debit could not be more than $2,500.

End of example

The dividend received by Resco is non-assessable non-exempt income to the extent the dividend gave rise to an attribution debit. In this case, Resco can claim the whole amount of the dividend as non-assessable non-exempt income in the 2003-04 income year. The effect is that Resco only pays tax on the CFC's income when it is attributed, and not again when it is distributed.

An attribution account maintained by you for a CFC is specific to you. This means that when you sell shares in a CFC, you cannot transfer the attribution account to the purchaser of the shares.

Tracing the path of distributions of attributed income

There are a number of ways you can receive amounts that were paid from profits that have previously been attributed to you. In general, these amounts will be distributed to you as a dividend. The dividend may be distributed to you directly, or indirectly through a chain of companies, partnerships, or trusts.

When are attribution account payments made?

To work out your exemption, you will need to know the date on which attribution account payments are taken to have been made.

The following table sets out:

  • the types of attribution account payments that can occur
  • the entities that are treated as making and receiving an attribution account payment
  • the date on which the payment is taken to be made.

Type of attribution payment

Entity making payment

Entity receiving payment

Date payment made

Dividend

paying company

shareholder

on date dividend is paid

Partner's share in the net income of a partnership

partnership

partner

at the end of the income year of the partnership

Share of the net income of a trust estate equal to the beneficiary's present entitlement

trust

beneficiary

at the end of the income year of the trust

Whole or part of the net income of a trust estate is assessable to the trustees. 99 or s. 99A

trust

trustee

at the end of the income year of the trust

Other distribution of accumulated trust income

trust

beneficiary

income year in which the distribution was made

What accounting entries should you make?

As mentioned earlier, attribution accounts link distributions a CFC has made to you - either directly or through other entities - to the income of the CFC that has already been attributed to you. The link is made when you:

  • debit the attribution account of the entity that makes the payment and
  • credit the account of the entity that receives the payment.

Continue this process down a chain of entities until you receive a distribution made by the CFC.

Start of example

Example 4: Distribution of attributed income

A resident company - Resco - owns all of the shares of CFC1, which owns all of the shares of CFC2. The CFCs are residents of unlisted countries.

CFC2 commenced business on 1 July 1997 and for the 2003 income year CFC2 derived $100 which was attributed under the CFC measures. The company paid no tax on the attributed amount. On 1 August 2003 the company paid its first dividend of $100 to CFC1, which paid the dividend to Resco on the same day.

All the entities close accounts to 30 June 2004.

CFC 2 pays a dividend of $100 to CFC 1, which pays a dividend of $100 to the resident company.

 

CFC2 attribution accounts

Transaction type

Date

Amount

Debit

1 August 2003 dividend to CFC1

$100

Credit

30 June 2003 amount attributed to Resco

$100

CFC1 attribution accounts

Transaction type

Date

Amount

Debit

1 August 2003 dividend to Resco

$100

Credit

30 June 2003 amount attributed to CFC2

$100

As the $100 attributed from CFC2 to Resco on 30 June 2003 was included in Resco's 2003 assessable income, and as the distribution Resco received on 1 August 2003 is no more than the income already attributed, Resco will be exempt from tax on the dividend.

End of example

Proportionate interests in the CFC and in interposed entities

A resident taxpayer might hold only a proportion - that is, less than 100% - of the interests in a CFC. That interest may be held directly or indirectly through interests in other foreign entities.

If you hold an interest of less than 100% in a CFC, only a proportion of the attributable income of the CFC is included in your assessable income. The proportion to use depends on the interest - called the attribution percentage - you have in the CFC - see chapter 1.

When tracing a distribution made by a CFC through a chain of interposed entities to yourself, note any proportionate interests you have in any of these entities.

Your interest in the CFC - and in each interposed entity - is called your attribution account percentage. This interest may differ from your attribution percentage in an entity. The foreign entities in the chain along which the attributed income of the CFC is later distributed to you need not necessarily be controlled foreign entities.

If you have both direct and indirect attribution account interests in an entity, then your attribution account percentage in that entity is the sum of the interests as follows

Attribution account percentage

=

direct attribution account interest

+

indirect account attribution interest

How do you work out your direct attribution account interest in an entity?

Your direct attribution account interest in an entity will depend on the type of entity it is.

If the entity is a foreign company, your direct attribution account interest in the company is the same as your direct attribution interest in that company.

If the entity is a partnership of which you are a partner, your direct attribution account interest is the percentage that you hold - and any percentage you are entitled to acquire - of either the partnership's profits or the partnership's property. If the two percentages differ, use the higher percentage as your direct attribution account interest.

Your interest in a partnership is measured at the end of the accounting period in which the dividend is distributed through the partnership to you. The date of the dividend payment is called the test time. You should assume that you held the same interest in the profits and property of the partnership throughout the accounting period that you held at the test time. When working out your interest in the profits, use the amount of profit for the whole of the period.

Start of example

Example 5: Attribution account interest in a partnership

A resident company owns 100% of CFC 1 which owns a 50% interest in a partnership which owns 50% of CFC 2. CFC 2 pays a dividend to the partnership on 1 August 2004. Income is attributed to the resident company for 2003-04.

It is necessary to measure the direct attribution account interest of CFC1 in the partnership in order to measure the attribution account percentage of the resident individual in the partnership when the dividend is paid.

End of example

If the entity is a trust of which you are a beneficiary, your interest in the trust is the percentage of either the income or property of the trust to which you are presently entitled - and any percentage you are entitled to acquire. If the two percentages differ, use the higher percentage as your attribution account interest.

As in the case of an interest in a partnership, your interest in a trust is measured at the end of the accounting period of the trust in which the dividend is distributed through the trust to you. The date of this payment is called the test time. You should assume that you held the same interest in the income or property of the trust throughout the accounting period as you held at the test time. When working out your interest in the income, use the amount of income earned for the whole period.

How do you work out your indirect attribution account interest in an entity?

Your attribution account percentage in an entity is the sum of your direct and indirect interests in that entity. To work out your indirect interest in an entity - entity B - which is held through another entity - entity A - multiply your direct interest in entity A by entity A's direct interest in entity B.

If there are more than two entities in a chain, continue the process of multiplication along the chain until you reach the entity in which you are measuring your indirect interest.

Example 6
Attribution account interest

The resident company has a 60% direct interest in CFC 1, which has a 60% direct interest in CFC 2. In addition, the resident company has a direct attribution account interest in CFC 2 of 25%.

36% indirect attribution account interest (60% x 60% )

In this case, the resident taxpayer's attribution account percentage in CFC2 is 61% - that is, the taxpayer has a direct attribution account interest of 25% plus an indirect attribution account interest of 36%.

End of example

 

Start of example

Example 7: Direct and indirect attribution account percentage

The following example shows how to work out direct and indirect interests and the attribution account percentage in an entity.

A resident company owns 50% of the share capital of CFC1 and CFC1 owns 50% of the share capital of CFC2. The CFCs are residents of unlisted countries. CFC2 commenced business on 1 July 2003. For the 2003-04 financial year the only income of CFC2 was attributable income of $100. On 1 August 2004, CFC2 paid a dividend of $50 to CFC1.

The resident company owns 50% of CFC 1 which owns 50% of CFC 2. CFC 2 pays a $50 dividend to CFC 1. The resident company's attributable income is $25 (50% of $50).

The resident company's attribution percentage in CFC2 is 25% - that is, 50% of 50%. The resident company's share of the attributable income of the CFC is therefore $25 - that is, 25% of $100.

The dividend of $50 paid to CFC1 is an attribution account payment. When the dividend is paid to CFC1 it is necessary to measure how much of the dividend can be treated as a distribution of CFC2's previously attributed income. The amount is worked out by applying the attribution account percentage of the resident company in CFC1 to the dividend paid to CFC1.

The direct attribution account interests will be as follows:

Direct attribution account interest of the resident company in CFC1

= 50%

Direct attribution account interest of CFC1 in CFC2

= 50%

The indirect attribution account interest is obtained by multiplying the direct attribution interests along the chain. The indirect attribution account interest of the resident in CFC2 will be 25% (50% × 50%). Up to $25 of the dividend can therefore be treated as paid from previously attributed income.

End of example

 

Start of example

Example 8: Attribution debit

A resident individual has a direct attribution account interest of 80% in CFC1. CFC1 has a direct attribution interest of 90% in CFC2. The CFCs are resident in unlisted countries.

CFC2 commenced business on 1 July 2003. For the 2004 income year, its only income was attributable income of $100. It paid no tax. On 1 August 2004 it distributed its 2004 income. On the same day, CFC1 distributed the full amount of the dividend it received from CFC2.

CFC2 attribution accounts

Transaction type

Date

Amount

Debit

1 August 2004 dividend to CFC1 (note 2)

$72

Credit

30 June 2004 attributed income (note 1)

$72

CFC1 attribution accounts

Transaction type

Date

Amount

Debit

1 August 2004 dividend to Resco (note 4)

$72

Credit

30 June 2004 dividend from CFC2 (note 3)

$72

Note 1: This represents CFC2's attributable income of $100 multiplied by the resident's attribution percentage in CFC2 - that is, 80% (interest of the resident in CFC1) × 90% (interest of CFC1 in CFC2) × $100 = $72.

Note 2: This represents the resident's attribution account percentage in the dividend received by CFC1 - that is, 80% of the $90 dividend.

Note 3: The resident's attribution account percentage in the dividend received by CFC1 - worked out as in note 2.

Note 4: The dividend paid by CFC1 to the resident.

The dividend of $72 received by the resident is non-assessable non-exempt income to the extent of the attribution debit that arose when the dividend was paid. As this debit was also $72, the entire dividend is non-assessable non-exempt income.

End of example

When should you make a credit in an attribution account?

You must make a credit in an attribution account if you include an amount in your assessable income because:

  • An amount of the CFC's income has been attributed to you - section 456. The credit amount will be the amount of the attributed income included in your assessable income under section 456 without any addition for foreign or Australian tax paid by the CFC on that income. You must enter the credit at the end of the CFC's statutory accounting period. Where a company is a CFC at the beginning of its statutory accounting period but ceases to exist during that period, the statutory accounting period is deemed to end immediately before the company ceases to exist. However, in this circumstance the credit arises at the beginning of the statutory account period
  • An amount of FIF income is included in the attributable income of a CFC. In this case a credit arises in relation to the FIF equal to the amount included in your assessable income under section 456 that is referable to the FIF income. The credit that would otherwise arise for the CFC is reduced by the amount that arises for the FIF. If a FIF has an interest in another FIF and the calculation method applies to determine the FIF income of the first FIF, a credit will arise for the second FIF. The FIF income is based on the FIF income of the first FIF referable to the FIF income of the second FIF. In this case, the attribution credit for the first FIF is reduced by the credit that arises for the second FIF
  • The CFC has both:
    • ceased to be a resident of an unlisted country
    • become a resident of a listed country or of Australia.
     

The amount of the credit will be the amount you included in your assessable income under section 457 without any addition for foreign or Australian tax the CFC paid on that amount. You must normally enter the credit at the time the CFC changed residence. You have the option to defer the credit, however, to the extent it relates to an amount included in attributable income under section 457 for an unrealised gain on an asset.

The credit may be deferred until the CFC pays a dividend out of profits arising from the subsequent disposal of the asset or

  • an unlisted country CFC paid a non-portfolio dividend to either:
    • a CFC resident in another country, or
    • in certain circumstances, to a CFT or partnership or Australian trust.
     

The credit is for the amount you included in your assessable income under section 458 without the addition of any foreign tax treated as paid by the CFC on that dividend. You must enter the credit at the time the dividend was paid.

You must also make a credit in an entity's attribution account if:

  • that entity receives an attribution account payment from another entity and
  • the payment gives rise to an attribution debit for the paying entity.

The credit amount will be the same as the attribution debit. You must enter the credit on the date of the attribution account payment.

An attribution credit will not arise when an amount is included in your assessable income under section 459.

How are credits made when the taxpayer is an Australian partnership or Australian trust?

Only the taxpayer who is actually liable to tax on the attributed income of the CFC can obtain an exemption from tax for distributions of that income.

This means that if the income of a CFC is attributed to an Australian partnership or Australian trust, the credit you make in the CFC's account is for the partner of the partnership or for the trust beneficiary who is presently entitled to the trust income. If there is no such beneficiary, the credit arises for the trustee.

The credit does not normally arise for the partnership or trust itself. There is an exception where the trust is a corporate unit trust, a public trading trust, an approved deposit fund, an eligible superannuation fund or a pooled superannuation trust.

When is the credit reduced for foreign taxes paid?

If a non-resident company pays a non-portfolio dividend to another non-resident company of which you are an attributable taxpayer, you may make an attribution credit in the second company's account. The general rule is that the credit will be equal to the amount included in your assessable income under section 458, without the addition of any foreign tax paid by the company that received the dividend. Reduce this credit by the amount of any foreign tax payable by the company that received the dividend to the extent the tax is related to either the dividend or to income that includes the dividend.

If, for example, an unlisted country CFC pays a non-portfolio dividend to a listed country CFC of which you are an attributable taxpayer, you may be attributed certain amounts of the dividend - see section 458. If this is so, you will make an attribution credit for yourself in the listed country CFC's attribution account. The credit amount will be equal to the dividend minus any foreign tax payable in a foreign country on the dividend.

If the listed country taxes the non-portfolio dividend at its normal company tax rate, there will be no attribution of the income to you and no attribution credit will arise for the dividend - refer to section 2 of this part.

Start of example

Example 9: Reduction of an attribution credit for foreign tax

Resco, a resident company, owns CFC1 - a subsidiary in a listed country - which owns CFC2 - a subsidiary in an unlisted country. CFC2 pays a dividend of $100 to CFC1. The listed country's normal company tax rate is 35%, however the dividend is taxed at only 10% in that country.

The attribution credit in CFC1's account will be for $90 - that is, $100 minus the foreign tax of $10.

End of example

When should you make debits in attribution accounts?

You must make an attribution debit in an entity's attribution account if that entity makes an attribution account payment to either:

  • an attributable taxpayer, or
  • another attribution account entity.

There are, however, two rules you must observe. These are:

  • you can only make a debit if there is an attribution surplus in the attribution account at the time the attribution account payment is made - that is, the account balance must be more than nil
  • the debit cannot be more than the amount of the surplus in the account at the time.

What is the amount of the attribution debit?

There are again two rules to observe:

  • if an entity makes an attribution account payment to a resident taxpayer, the debit is the same as the amount of the payment
  • if the entity makes an attribution account payment to another entity, the debit will equal the resident taxpayer's attribution account percentage of the payment received by the second entity.

Working out the amount of the attribution debit where a non-portfolio dividend is paid by an unlisted country company

If a company that is a member of a non-portfolio company group pays a non-portfolio dividend to another member of the same group, you must reduce the amount of the attribution account debit by the exempting profits percentage of the dividend.

A non-portfolio company group will arise if an Australian company has a 10% or greater voting interest in a foreign company. If this occurs, the two companies are members of a non-portfolio company group.

If the foreign company has a 10% or greater voting interest in another foreign company, the Australian company and the two foreign companies constitute the non-portfolio company group. Other companies are added to the group if each company has a 10% or greater voting interest in the company immediately below it.

The attribution debit that you make in the attribution account for the company that paid the dividend is equal to your attribution account percentage of the balance of the dividend - that is, the dividend less the exempting profits percentage.

Working out the exempting receipt resulting from a dividend paid by a listed country company to an unlisted country company

The method for working out the exempting profits percentage of a non-portfolio dividend paid by an unlisted country company was discussed earlier in this section. One type of exempting receipt that could give rise to exempting profits is where a listed country company pays a non-portfolio dividend to an unlisted country company.

The dividend may be paid:

  • out of income of the listed country company that was attributed to you under the accruals tax measures or
  • out of other income.

Before you can work out the exempting profits percentage of the dividend you will need to determine:

  • the amount of the dividend paid by the listed country company that is to be treated as an exempting receipt of the unlisted country company
  • the amount to be treated as paid out of income previously attributed to you.

To work out the amount of the exempting receipt, use the formula:

Exempting receipt = dividend − grossed up attribution debit

The grossed up attribution debit is the attribution debit arising from the attribution account payment divided by your attribution account percentage for the payment.

The attribution debit is the debit that arose for the listed country company when it paid the dividend. The debit is for the amount of your interest in the dividend - that is, your attribution account percentage in the unlisted country company that received the dividend multiplied by the dividend. Note, however, that the debit cannot be more than the attribution surplus in the attribution account of the listed country company.

Start of example

Example 10: Exempting receipts arising on the payment of a non-portfolio dividend

Resco, a resident company, owns 100% of an unlisted country company. The unlisted country company owns 60% of a listed country company. The listed country company commenced business on 12 July 2003. It had distributable profits of $20,000 which represent attributable income of $2,000 and other profits of $18,000. On 1 August 2004, the listed country company paid a dividend of $10,000 to the unlisted country company.

On attribution

Resco will open an attribution account for the listed country company and credit it $1,200.

On the dividend being paid

Resco will debit the attribution account for the listed country company with $1,200. Resco will open an attribution account for the unlisted country company and credit the account with $1,200 (60% of $2,000).

The exempting receipt of the unlisted country company will be the dividend less the grossed up attribution debit:

$10,000 − (attribution debit $1,200 ÷ 100%) = $8,800

End of example

Further examples showing how to work out exempting profits

Start of example

Example 11

Resco, a resident company, has a wholly owned subsidiary, Subco, in an unlisted country. The distributable profits of Subco on 1 July 2003 were $15,000.

In the year ended 30 June 2004, the subsidiary derived the following profits:

Passive income from its business in the unlisted country - see chapter 1

$6,000

Profits from its branch in a broad-exemption listed country

$16,000

Subco paid tax of $1,000 on its unlisted country income and $6,000 in the broad-exemption listed country on its branch profits.

On 1 August 2004 it paid a dividend of $15,000 to Resco.

The attributable income of Subco for the 2004 income year was worked out as follows:

Passive income from business in the unlisted country

$16,000

deduct: foreign tax

$1,000

Subco's attributable income for 2004

$5,000

Subco's distributable profits on 30 June 2004 were:

distributable profits on 1 July 2003

$15,000

distributable profits derived in the year ended 30 June 2003:

-

from unlisted country operations
($6,000 - tax $1,000)

$5,000

from the broad-exemption listed country branch ($16,000 - tax $6,000)

$10,000

Distributable profits 30 June 2004

$30,000

The dividend of $15,000 paid to Resco on 1 August 2004 was treated as paid from exempting profits and other profits as follows:

Resco's exempting profits that were included in distributable profits - that is, profits from the broad-exemption listed country branch for the accounting years ending on or after 1 July 2003

$10,000

Resco's other profits (see note) that were included in distributable profits

$20,000

Note: consisting of $15,000 distributable profits for the period prior to 1 July 2003 plus $5,000 distributable profits from unlisted country operations in the year ended 30 June  004.

Exempting profits percentage of the dividend

=

exempting profits ÷ distributable profits

× 100

=

10,000 ÷ 30,000

× 100

=

33 1/3%

A third of the dividend of $15,000 - that is, $5,000 - was treated as paid from exempting profits and is non-assessable non-exempt income. The balance of the dividend - $10,000 - was treated as paid from other profits.

The balance of the dividend - $10,,000 - was treated as paid first from previously attributed income. It was non-assessable non-exempt income up to the amount of the attribution debit that arose when the dividend was paid.

The attributable income of Subco for the 2003-04 income year was $5,000. When the income was included in Resco's assessable income, Resco opened an attribution account for Subco and credited it with $5,000. On 1 August 2004, when the dividend was paid, there was an attribution surplus of $5,000 in the attribution account.

When the $15,000 dividend was received by Resco, $10,000 was treated as paid out of profits other than exempting profits. An attribution debit was made and this amount was non-assessable non-exempt income.

The $5,000 balance of the dividend was taxable. The amount of this dividend is increased by the amount of foreign tax for which a foreign tax credit was claimed - see chapter 3 part 3.

Summary

The dividend of $15,000 is divided into:

non-assessable non-exempt dividend paid out of exempting profits

$5,000

non-assessable non-exempt dividend paid out of attributed income

$5,000

assessable dividend

$5,000

Total

$15,000

 

End of example

 

Start of example

Example 12

It is assumed, in this example, that Subco is owned by another unlisted country company, Parentco, which is owned by Resco. The data used is the same as in the previous example, except that the dividend is paid to Parentco.

On 1 July 2003, Parentco had distributable profits of $60,000 made up of $20,000 exempting profits and $40,000 other profits. On 1 August 2003, Parentco received the dividend of $15,000 from Subco. Parentco did not pay any foreign tax on the dividend.

For the year ended 30 June 2004, Parentco derived distributable profits - excluding the dividend from Subco - of $30,000 made up of $10,000 exempting profits and $20,000 active income, none of which was attributable income.

On 1 August 2004, Parentco paid a dividend of $75,000 to Resco.

In this case, the exempting profits of Parentco are worked out as follows:

Date

Exempting profits
$

Other profits
$

Distributable profits
$

On 1 July 2003

20,000

40,000

60,000

In relation to the dividend from Subco

5,000

10,000

15,000

On other profits for the year ended 30 June 2004

10,000

20,000

30,000

Total

35,000

70,000

105,000

The dividend that Parentco paid to Resco was divided into an exempting profits part and the balance as follows:

The exempting profits percentage of the dividend

(exempting profits ÷ distributable profits) × 100

-

(35,000 ÷ 105,000) × 100 = 33 1/3%

The exempting profits part of the dividend

33 1/ 3% × $75,000

Total

$25,000

This amount is non-assessable non-exempt income.

Attribution accounts

When the attributable income of Subco was attributable to Resco, Resco opened an attribution account for Subco and credited it $5,000.

When Subco paid the dividend of $15,000 to Parentco, Resco debited the attribution account of Subco with $5,000, opened an attribution account for Parentco and credited it with $5,000. The debit was for the amount of the dividend not treated as paid from exempting profits. Note, however, that the debit was limited to the attribution surplus.

When Parentco paid the dividend of $75,000 to Resco, Resco debited $5,000 to the attribution account of Parentco and this amount of $5,000 was non-assessable non-exempt income of Resco.

The balance of the dividend was liable to Australian tax - that is:

Dividend

$75,000

Less:
part paid from exempting profits

$25,000

part paid from attributed income

$5,000

Subtotal

$30,000

Taxable part of dividend

$45,000

This $45,000 was increased by the amount of foreign tax for which a foreign tax credit was claimed - see chapter 3 part 3.

End of example

Dividends other than non-portfolio dividends

Portfolio dividends are generally taxable unless they are paid from profits taxed previously on an accruals basis. Portfolio dividends are dividends that do not qualify as non-portfolio dividends.

You must maintain an attribution account for each CFC from which income is attributed to you. An explanation of how these accounts are maintained was provided earlier in this part.

QC17522