Should Australia cut its corporate tax rate to 15 per cent and eliminate dividend imputation? That question arises again now that the G7 countries have agreed, in principle, to a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15 per cent. There would be winners and losers in such a move and the losers have a lot more political influence than the winners, so don’t hold your breath waiting for that change.

For most Australian investors, dividend imputation is quite effective. The Australian companies that they invest in pay most of their corporate tax in Australia. But then the largest part of that corporate tax is returned to them by the ATO, as either a credit or a refund, in the payment of their personal income tax.