Register to receive our free weekly newsletter including editorials.
24 March 2026
Recently trending
Reader: "An island of professionalism in an ocean of shallow self-interest. Well done!"
Reader: "Carry on as you are - well done. The average investor/SMSF trustee needs all the help they can get."
Rob Henshaw: "When I open my computer each day it's the first link I click - a really great read."
Reader: "Love it, just keep doing what you are doing. It is the right length too, any longer and it might become a bit overwhelming."
Noel Whittaker, author and financial adviser: "A fabulous weekly newsletter that is packed full of independent financial advice."
David Goldschmidt, Chartered Accountant: "I find this a really excellent newsletter. The best I get. Keep up the good work!"
Scott Pape, author of The Barefoot Investor: "I'm an avid reader of Cuffelinks. Thanks for the wonderful resource you have here, it really is first class."
Reader: " Finding a truly independent and interesting read has been magical for me. Please keep it up and don't change!"
Eleanor Dartnall, AFA Adviser of the Year, 2014: "Our clients love your newsletter. Your articles are avidly read by advisers and they learn a great deal."
John Pearce, Chief Investment Officer, Unisuper: "Out of the (many many) investmentrelated emails I get, Cuffelinks is one that I always open."
Reader: "Is one of very few places an investor can go and not have product rammed down their throat. Love your work!"
Reader: "Best innovation I have seen whilst an investor for 25 years. The writers are brilliant. A great publication which I look forward to."
Reader: "It's excellent so please don't pollute the content with boring mainstream financial 'waffle' and adverts for stuff we don't want!"
Don Stammer, leading Australian economist: "Congratulations to all associated. It deserves the good following it has."
Reader: "I subscribe to two newsletters. This is my first read of the week. Thank you. Excellent and please keep up the good work!"
Reader: "Congratulations on a great focussed news source. Australia has a dearth of good quality unbiased financial and wealth management news."
Ian Silk, CEO, AustralianSuper: "It has become part of my required reading: quality thinking, and (mercifully) to the point."
Steve: "The best that comes into our world each week. This is the only one that is never, ever canned before fully being reviewed by yours truly."
Andrew Buchan, Partner, HLB Mann Judd: "I have told you a thousand times it's the best newsletter."
Reader: "The BEST in the game because of diversity and not aligned to financial products. Stands above all the noise."
John Egan, Egan Associates: "My heartiest congratulations. Your panel of contributors is very impressive and keep your readers fully informed."
Jonathan Hoyle, CEO, Stanford Brown: "A fabulous publication. The only must-read weekly publication for the Australian wealth management industry."
Ian Kelly, CFP, BTACS Financial Services: "Probably the best source of commentary and information I have seen over the past 20 years."
Reader: "I can quickly sort the items that I am interested in, then research them more fully. It is also a regular reminder that I need to do this."
Reader: "Great resource. Cuffelinks is STILL the one and only weekly newsletter I regularly read."
Reader: "Keep it up - the independence is refreshing and is demonstrated by the variety of well credentialed commentators."
Professor Robert Deutsch: "This has got to be the best set of articles on economic and financial matters. Always something worthwhile reading in Firstlinks. Thankyou"
This is a short survey on your attitudes to Labor's proposal to deny refunds of franking credits, other than for exempt groups such as pensioners. It should take less than two minutes to complete, and you are welcome to add comments.
We will publish the results next week.
Create your own user feedback survey
One of the questions asks what options are being considered to mitigate against the consequences of Labor's policy - to facilitate a more granular response, this should probably be divided into 2 components: 1. Investments inside super 2. Investments outside super.
What did the tax reviews have to say? Can we base policies on expertise rather than vote buying with consequences.?
We have based our retirement income heavily on franked income. Not having these credits will decrease our income by 10 percent.
It would be interesting to canvass if a person did not agree with Labor's franking policy and that same policy will affect them detrimentally, and that same person considered themselves a regular labor voter, would that same person consider changing their vote at the upcoming election because of this issue alone. Given the polls though and that the policy does not affect pensioners, the issue probably doesn't rate high enough for labor to modify their proposal.
Hi Alan, I don't quite fit the profile but I am a swing voter (I have never understood followers of a party irrespective of the candidate or policies of the day) in a swing seat. The policy detrimentally impacts both my parents and though not myself, I still think the policy is unfair. Because of this issue alone my vote is not impacted as I believe there are larger issues of government to weigh up. As an aside I care about sustainable taxation and I am not being presented with an alternative from the Coalition.
There already exists sustainable taxation. Tax receipts rose by 6.7% last year, well ahead of inflation. They rose by 6.9% the year before, they are forecast to rise 7.3% next year. That's the current numbers from the last Liberal budget, looks sustainable to me, and you don't need to trash investment and retirement plans of millions of Australians to achieve it.
Hi harry, tax receipts versus inflation isn't relevant but rather against expenditure. It is a shame the intergerational report isn't conducted more frequently by Treasury which last forecast, based on current legislation, an issue but not so based on 'proposed' changes which haven't eventuated in full (as always happens).
If only there was a way of governments to control their expenditure ...
I am not an age pensioner
I am a 76 year old self-funded retiree who relies on income from a carefully constructed share portfolio over many years I go to gym , pay private health cover , and pay many other expenses incurred by people my age For the financial year 2017 /18 my refund due to imputed credits obtained by my Accountant was $4435.00 Some retiree tax now that I will lose that Redistribution is the aim of all left-wing socialist Governments Peter Turnbull
If you don’t bank any money, you can’t go to the bank and ask for money via a withdrawal. If you don’t personally pay tax, how can you expect a tax refund?
If your employer banked your wages, you can go to the bank and not only ask but actually withdraw money. If your employer paid tax on your wage, you can expect a tax credit when you lodge your tax return. A refund if over paid. If your company paid tax on your dividends, you can expect a tax credit when you lodge your tax return. A refund if over paid. In no case did you personally pay. It is an inevitable consequence of being an employee or a shareholder that your employee or company must, by law, pay mandated tax which will be credited to employee or shareholder.
But if my employer puts money in my bank account I can absolutely go to the bank and ask for money via a withdrawal. I just did that very thing. But I didn't "personally" bank any money. Your use of the word "personally" is where your specious analogy fails. As has been pointed out endlessly on these pages by many people - the tax is imputed to the shareholder. Now you can not like that all you want but that's the way it is.
Because the company has already paid the tax ATO is simply holding it for me I paid tax for 40 years and plenty of it.
If I don't personally pay tax, then why does the gross total of the dividends, 30% which I personally didn't receive appear on my personal tax form? Why does a person on the highest marginal rate get to claim that 30% of the gross dividends that they didn't personally receive are "payment" for the 47% in taxes they owe on their gross investment income but mine just simply disappear.
Philip, the analogy you use is simply not applicable to a tax system. PAYG players do this all the time. The ATO estimates your income for the next year and taxes you. But if you don’t earn that income you get it back - even if you have a zero tax rate, you get a refund. With dividends it’s similar to that. The system taxes you at 30% until you do your tax return, then if you’ve overpaid tax you get it back. If you’ve underpaid (ie you are on the 45% bracket) you pay more. The imputation system integrates the personal and company tax systems. That’s going to require an adjustment when the individual does their return. It works, it’s right, it shouldn’t be meddled with.
It seems to me that the knock on effect of this proposed policy will have a larger impact that it was first thought and ultimately counterproductive to its main intent. Mainstream investors will simply rearrange their portfolio accordingly while the battlers will lose out big time.
Philip, companies deduct tax from the shareholders’ dividends pending completion of the shareholders’ tax returns when any adjustment is made. It works like withholding tax, so the shareholders are in fact paying tax. It’s deducted from dividends just like PAYG is deducted from employees’ incomes pending completion of their tax returns.
I going to cancel my health fund if Labour gets in power.
That’s exactly what I am going to do as well Mia. I’ll also be telling the charities that I regularly give to, that if this Labor proposal is introduced, I’ll be reluctantly curtailing, if not completely ceasing, my donations to them.
Mia and Ted, That will show them. May you have good health.
harry March 3, 2019 at 7:12 PM # "There already exists sustainable taxation. Tax receipts rose by 6.7% last year, well ahead of inflation.": I checked this over a longer period, 2014 to present (44th parliament on) using: https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/2b690e28-8239-48c6-a71d-2658f37d51d7/resource/c21aa248-ec4c-4b5b-9b1b-6d545a55e399/download/1.-income-statement.xlsx I found 5.76%: https://docdro.id/JNVYvui Like with all volatile data, the estimate is not exact; less so for shorter periods. Tax rising faster than inflation. If expenditure is less than revenue and rising slower than revenue then debt would be reduced. Perhaps harry is correct and Labor does not need to damage dividend imputation - just wait for the rivers of gold.
"If expenditure is less than revenue and rising slower than revenue then debt would be reduced.": I found expenditure increasing at 3.46%: https://docdro.id/XGnLxST
From 2014, revenue up 5.76% per year from 2014, expend up 3.46% per year: https://docdro.id/XGnLxST Now trend revenue = expend. If trend continues, in 1 year there will be a surplus of: =12 * ((1 + 5.76%) - (1 + 3.46%)) * $39,400M =$10,874M
Labor justified its franking credits policy based on the cost rising 10-fold since 2001 and heading towards unaffordable levels. But were the numbers right and would the savings ever have eventuated?
Investors whose income may be hit by Labor's franking credits proposal can reallocate away from fully franked dividends to other investments to maintain their income, but it will involve different risks.
Listed companies often raise capital around the same time they pay dividends and return capital to shareholders, but proposed legislation may prevent companies paying franked dividends during a capital funding.
A more rational taxation system that supports home ownership but discourages asset speculation could provide greater financial support to first home buyers.
The capital gains tax discount is under review, but debate should go beyond its size. Its original purpose, design flaws and distortions suggest Australia could adopt a better, more targeted approach.
One in five Australians die before retirement and most have not set up their super properly so their loved ones can benefit from all their hard work and savings.
An ageing Australia is shifting the superannuation system’s focus from accumulation to the lifecycle of retirement. While these pressures have been anticipated for decades, they are now converging at scale and driving widespread industry change.
The 20 years after Peter Costello left Treasury have been deemed wasted...by Peter Costello. The missed opportunities for Australia began long before.
The best way to deal with the incoming Division 296 tax on superannuation is likely doing nothing. Earnings will be taxed regardless of where the money sits, so here are some important considerations.
With the upcoming budget increasingly likely to include bold proposals to alter the tax code I’ve outlined three incremental steps with fewer unintended consequences.
The impact of the Iran War is far more than expensive petrol. Higher oil prices have secondary inflationary impacts that reverberate throughout the economy which could be bad news for Australians with mortgages.
Global Listed Infrastructure dividends are forecast to grow 5-6% p.a over the next two years. After a hiatus, share buybacks are back on the agenda and will play an integral role in shareholder returns.
Past oil shocks offer lessons for investors dealing with the fallout from the Iran War and the ongoing impact on inflation.
Former Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, once said "When you change the government, you change the country." We're about to see whether that holds true in Japan.
Central banks now hold more gold reserves than US Treasuries, signalling a shift in safe-haven asset strategy and portfolio diversification as geopolitical risks increase.
Historically economic progress is measured by GDP growth but there is an increasing body of work that explores quantitative measures of wellbeing.