When to use this application
Use the Application for refund of franking credits: NFP endorsed entities 2014 - 2015 (NAT 4131) if your organisation is an eligible organisation and one of the following applies – your organisation was:
- paid franked dividends on or between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015
- entitled to franked distributions from one or more trusts for the year ended 30 June 2015.
Do not use this application form if
- the franked dividends your organisation was paid – or the franked distributions your organisation was entitled to were for an earlier income year, you will need to use a different application form. Phone us on 1300 130 248. Do not use this form if you are an individual claiming a refund of franking credits in your own capacity. If you are an individual, you will need to use the Application for refund of franking credits for individuals application form.
Who should use this application
Provided certain criteria are met, eligible organisations include the following:
- a charity endorsed by us as exempt from income tax
- an organisation endorsed by us as a deductible gift recipient (DGR) in its own right
- a deductible gift recipient listed by name in the tax law
- a public fund declared by the Treasurer to be a developing country relief fund
- an entity that is prescribed as an exempt institution and eligible for a refund under relevant regulations.
An income tax exempt fund, under repealed item 4.1 of section 50-20 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, that was endorsed on or before 31 December 2013 is treated as an endorsed charity that is exempt from income tax. The fund can continue to use this application form.
There are rules that may affect your organisation's entitlement, refer to Refund of franking credits instructions 2014-15.
To check if your organisation is an endorsed DGR or is endorsed as a charity exempt from income tax:
- visit the Australian Business register website at abn.business.gov.auExternal Link
- phone us on 1300 130 248.
How to complete the application form
We may have pre-filled some of your organisation's details on your application form. Notify us in writing if any of these details are incorrect.
If you need help filling out the application form, phone us on 1300 130 248.
Name of organisation
Make sure the name of the organisation provided is your organisation's full legal name. If your organisation's name has changed, send written advice of the change to:
Australian Taxation Office
PO Box 3373
PENRITH NSW 2740
Postal address
Make sure the postal address provided is your organisation's address for the service of notices. If the address is incorrect, provide the correct address for service of notices in the space provided on the form.
Your rights
From 1 July 2013, changes to the tax law mean an organisation's claim for (or an amendment of) a tax offset refund (referred to here as a refund of franking credits) will be subject to an income tax assessment.
The changes apply to franking credits attached to dividend income and attached to franked distribution entitlements for the year ended 30 June 2014 onwards.
The changes also mean your organisation has objection rights and time limits in which to amend claims for tax offset refunds.
Notices of assessment
If your organisation is a:
- trust or a government entity, we will issue a notice of assessment
- company, a notice of assessment will be deemed to have been issued at the time the form is lodged.
If an amendment is made to an original assessment, we will issue a notice of amended assessment.
The notices will include the following information:
- the amount of your organisation’s taxable or net income (or that the amount is zero)
- the amount of the tax payable on that taxable or net income (or that the amount is zero)
- the total of your organisation’s tax offset refunds (or that the amount is zero).
There are time limits for requesting an amendment to an assessment. We cannot amend an assessment if the time limit has passed.
See also:
Dividend washing integrity rule
The integrity rule applies to prevent you from claiming franking credits where you have received a dividend as a result of dividend washing.
Dividend washing is when two sets of franking credits are claimed by selling and then effectively repurchasing the same parcel of shares using a special Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) market.
If the dividend washing integrity rule applies, this may affect your eligibility to claim the franking credits.
The ATO’s view is that the general anti-avoidance legislation may be applied to dividend washing transactions not impacted by the integrity rule.
See also:
Franked dividend, trust distribution and franking credit details
To complete this section, you will need:
- dividend statements for dividends paid to your organisation from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015
- distribution statements from fund managers and trustees provided to your organisation for distribution entitlements for the income year ended 30 June 2015.
At label A, provide the total of the following:
- franked amounts from dividend statements, including those amounts paid from a New Zealand company – if you were paid a dividend from the New Zealand company with an attached Australian franking credit.
- franked distribution amounts from distribution statements from a trust or managed fund.
Do not include the amount of any franking credit at label A.
In particular, if the amount of your distribution from a trust or managed fund includes the amount of any franking credit in the distribution amount, the amount to be included at label A must be reduced by the franking credit amount.
At label B, provide the total franking credits attached to the following:
- dividends, including Australian franking credits attached to dividends paid from a New Zealand company
- franking credits included in distribution statements from trusts and managed funds.
At label C, add the amounts at label A and label B.
At label D, provide taxable or net income.
At label E, provide Tax payable.
You must be income tax exempt or an income tax exempt deductible gift recipient to be eligible to complete this form, so we have prefilled labels D and E with ‘00’. If you have any taxable net income or tax payable you are not eligible to use this form.
Do not include any New Zealand franking credits.
If the New Zealand company that paid the dividend has not specified that the franking credit is Australian, you should contact the company to work out if it is an Australian or New Zealand franking credit. In most cases, if it is not specified as Australian, it will be a New Zealand franking credit.
Do not show cents at any label.
You should keep dividend and distribution statements provided to your organisation. Do not send them to us with your application form. If we need more information, we will ask you.
Electronic funds transfer (EFT)
Complete the EFT details on the application form to have your organisation's refund paid directly to its Australian financial institution account.
If you do not complete the EFT details, your organisation will receive a refund cheque in the mail.
Direct refund
We need your financial institution details to pay any refund owing to you, even if you have provided them to us before.
Complete the following:
- bank state branch (BSB) number – this six-digit number identifies the financial institution (do not include spaces or hyphens)
- account number – this should not have more than nine characters (do not include spaces)
- account name – in most cases, your account name should be shown on your bank account records. It should include spaces between each word and between initials. If your account name exceeds 32 characters, provide the first 32 characters only.
We are authorised by taxation law to collect the information on this form and disclose it to other government agencies. This includes the personal information of the person authorised to sign the declaration.
See also:
Declaration
The declaration must be read, signed and dated (after completion of the application) by the authorised person for the organisation. Such a person might include:
- the trustee of the trust
- an office holder of the association or organisation
- a director of the company
- the company secretary
- the public officer of the company.
Incomplete declaration details may delay the processing of your organisation's application.
Before signing the declaration, make sure your organisation has the necessary records to support its application for a refund of franking credits.
Lodging your application
Send the completed application form to us on or after 1 July 2015:
- by mail to
Australian Taxation Office
PO Box 1032
ALBURY NSW 2640 - by fax to 1300 130 900.
Only the original application form will be accepted.
We will process your organisation's application form within 50 business days, provided it has been completed correctly and sent to the above address or fax number. This application cannot be lodged using the electronic lodgment service. If you send the application to any other address, processing may be delayed.
See also:
How to make a change to an application
If your organisation needs to change the franked dividend or franked distribution details or any franking credit details it lodged with us, write to us explaining the change and reason for the change. Do not lodge another application.
So we may address your organisation's request, your letter must be signed and dated by the authorised person of your organisation and include your organisation's:
- full name
- postal address
- contact phone number
- Australian business number (ABN).
See also:
- Refund of franking credits information 2014-15
- Refund of franking credits – frequently asked questions