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--什么是Franking Credit ： The Australian tax system allows companies to attach franking credits to dividends paid. A franking credit is a nominal unit of tax paid by companies using dividend imputation. Franking credits are passed on to shareholders along with dividends. Shareholders include in their assessable income not the dividends received but the grossed-up amount back-calculated from that dividend and the current tax rate, then have their income tax payable calculated thereupon, then use franking credits to offset tax payable at the rate of a dollar per credit。 --怎样计算Franking Credit ： Franking Credit Formula Div * tc / (1 - tc) * fp * tc = company tax rate. * fp = franking proportion. For a company that pays tax on all its income in Australia, the franking proportion is usually 100% (or 1.0). However, some companies (particularly those paying tax outside of Australia) have a lower franking proportion. --澳洲实行Franking Credit 制度的历史由来： Dividend imputation was introduced in 1987, one of a number of tax reforms by the Hawke/Keating government。In 1997 the eligibility rules (below) were introduced, with a $2000 small shareholder exemption. In 1999 that exemption was raised to the present $5000. In 2000 franking credits became fully refundable, not just reducing tax liability to zero。For example an individual with income below the tax-free threshold ($6000 in 2006) pays no tax at all and can get franking credits back in full as cash, at the end of the year. 对于进入pension mode的smsf（收入完全免税），这一制度的优势尤为明显。 note：Prior to 1 July 2000 franking credits were "wasting", any excess over one's total tax payable was lost。 --Eligibility of the Franking Credit : Owns the shares for a continuous period of 45 days or more (not counting purchase and sale days); or 90 days in the case of certain preference shares. --Franking Credit 制度的缺陷： **In October 2006, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia released a report, “Tax Cuts to Compete”, concluding that dividend imputation had proved an inefficient means of reducing Australia's cost of capital. The report, authored by prominent economist Dr Nicholas Gruen, argued that the elimination of imputation would allow the funding of a substantial corporate tax cut. This would attract foreign investment and thus increase economic growth, it said。 **From 1973 to 1999, the UK operated an imputation system called ACT，In 1999 ACT was abolished. **Germany had a dividend imputation system until 2000 and France until 2004. **now only Australia, Malta and New Zealand have imputation systems |
