Things you need to know
Dividend expenses you can claim relate to expenses you incurred in earning dividends and distributions that were paid or credited to you by Australian companies that you had shares in.
You must also complete this question if you had a listed investment company (LIC) capital gain amount in your dividends.
Your dividend expenses may include:
- management fees and fees for investment advice relating to changes in the mix of your investments
- interest charged on money borrowed to purchase shares or similar investments
- costs relating to managing your investments, such as travel and buying specialist investment journals or subscriptions.
If you had any joint share investments or similar investments, show only your share of joint expenses. This will be half if you held the investment equally with one other person. Keep a record of how you worked out your proportion if you and the other investors did not share the expenses equally.
Interest on investments under a capital protected borrowing may not be fully deductible. To help determine if you can deduct the full amount see, Capital protected products and borrowings.
If you incurred expenses relating to certain overseas investments (or investments in Australia if you were a foreign resident), your claims may be affected by the thin capitalisation rules. These rules may apply if the total of your debt deductions and those of your associates is more than $2 million for 2023–24. For more information on the rules, see Thin capitalisation – how the rules work.
For more on the income you need to declare, deductions and credits you can claim and records you need for your shares, see You and your shares 2024.
What you can claim
If you borrowed money to purchase assets for your private use and income-producing investments, you can claim only the portion of the interest expenses relating to the income-producing investments.
You can also claim a proportion of the decline in value of your computer based on the percentage of your total computer use that related to managing your investments. If you used your computer to manage your investment in both interest-earning investments and investments in shares or similar securities, then you can claim only the proportion of the decline in value related to managing those investments once, at either question D7 or D8. If you are claiming a deduction for the decline in value on your computer, see Guide to depreciating assets 2024.
If you were an Australian resident when a LIC paid you a dividend and the dividend included a LIC capital gain amount, you can claim a deduction of 50% of the LIC capital gain amount. The LIC capital gain amount will be shown separately on your dividend statement.
What you can't claim
You can't claim expenses you were charged for drawing up an investment plan unless you were carrying on an investment business, in which case you would claim any expenses at question P8 Business income and expenses on the Business and professional items schedule for individuals 2024. If this applies to you, then you should lodge your tax return using myTax or a registered tax agent.
If you are unable to use myTax or a registered tax agent, contact us and we will mail you a paper tax return and Business and Professional items schedule.
Dividend expenses you claim at another question
Do not show at question D8 any dividend expenses incurred in
- earning trust and partnership distributions – they are shown at question 13 – labels X and Y in your tax return
- earning foreign source dividends – they are shown at question 20 or question D15 in your tax return.
If you didn't have any dividend deductions go to question D9 Gifts or donations 2024.
What you need to answer this question
You will need your dividend statements showing any LIC capital gain amount. (Show dividends received from a LIC at question 11.)
Completing your tax return
To complete this question, follow steps 1 and 2 below.
Step 1
Add up all your deductions for this question.
Step 2
Write the total amount at question D8 – label H.
Where to go next
- Go to question D9 Gifts or donations 2024.
- Return to main menu Individual tax return instructions 2024.
- Go back to question D7 Interest deductions 2024.