Proposed changes to dividends – Shorten’s ‘’own goal’’Dividend imputation was adopted by former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating in 1987. The purpose was to halt the double taxation of income. By way of example; a company like Telstra would do business in Australia, pay tax on earnings, and with funds left over would distribute dividends to its shareholders as a reward for investment. The problem was, the shareholder would then pay tax on the income they receive (including Telstra’s dividend distributions), thereby effectively paying tax on money that has already been taxed.
