There is a long and onerous list of obstacles facing companies looking to answer this most fundamental of questions under the Australian imputation system. The last 12 months has seen some significant developments which impact on the answer. This paper looks at where we currently stand in relation to:
- the requirement for “profit” and the ATO’s views in Taxation Ruling TR2012/5
- treasury’s on–going review of the Corporations Law test for the payment of dividends
- the Consolidated Media decision and the dividend component of a share buy–back
- the Mills decision and the application of section 177EA
- the many class rulings on pre–sale dividends and the “45 day” rule.