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9 September 2025
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Australia’s corporate tax rate is widely seen as a growth-killing burden. But for most local investors, it’s a mirage - erased by dividend imputation. So why is it still shaping national policy?
The headline 30% corporate tax rate masks a complex system of dividend imputation and franking credits that ensures Australian shareholders are taxed only once, challenging traditional measures of tax competitiveness.
As inflation eases, the Albanese government is switching its focus to lifting Australia’s sluggish productivity. Can corporate tax cuts reboot growth - or are we chasing a theory that doesn’t quite work here?
The previous austerity of the Coalition Government has been tossed aside to deal with COVID-19, but at some point, debt will be repaid. Are policies once considered off-the-table now a target?
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?
A reader has asked for the simplest possible explanation of dividend imputation and franking, as the heated debate features many people who do not understand the basics.
Every day, an expert writes somewhere about the adverse impact of a reduction in franking credits due to a lower company tax rate. This tax rate has no impact on the after-tax returns received by Australian shareholders.
Imputation is seen as a costly tax break for domestic shareholders with minimal associated benefits for the overall economy, but any changes to the system should consider some broader consequences.
Each generation believes its economic challenges were uniquely tough - but what does the data say? A closer look reveals a more nuanced, complex story behind the generational hardship debate.
Australia could unlock smarter investment and greater equity by reforming housing tax concessions. Rethinking exemptions on the family home could benefit most Australians, especially renters and owners of modest homes.
This goes through the different options including shares, property and business ownership and declares a winner, as well as outlining the mindset needed to earn enough to never have to work again.
Everyone has a theory as to why housing in Australia is so expensive. There are a lot of different factors at play, from skewed migration patterns to banking trends and housing's status as a national obsession.
The creator of the 4% rule for retirement withdrawals, Bill Bengen, has written a new book outlining fresh strategies to outlive your money, including holding fewer stocks in early retirement before increasing allocations.
China's steel production, equivalent to building one Sydney Harbour Bridge every 10 minutes, has driven Australia's economic growth. With China's slowdown, what does this mean for Australia's economy and investments?