Ex-dividend date

The ex-dividend date is the day after which all shares bought and sold no longer come attached with the right to be paid the most recently declared dividend.

Pay date

The payment date is the day when the dividend cheques will actually be mailed to the shareholders of a company or credited to brokerage accounts.

Franking

Dividends paid to shareholders by Australian resident companies are taxed under a system known as ‘imputation’. It is called an imputation system because the tax the company pays is imputed, or attributed, to the shareholders. The tax paid by the company is allocated to shareholders by way of franking credits attached to the dividends they receive.