Income Tax Assessment Act 1997

CHAPTER 3 - SPECIALIST LIABILITY RULES  

PART 3-6 - THE IMPUTATION SYSTEM  

Division 203 - Benchmark rule  

Operative provisions  

SECTION 203-20   Application of the benchmark rule  

203-20(1)    
The *benchmark rule does not apply to a company in a *franking period if either:

(a) the company satisfies each of the following criteria:

(i) at all times during the franking period, the company is a *listed public company;

(ii) the company cannot make a *distribution on one *membership interest during the franking period without making a distribution under the same resolution on all other membership interests;

(iii) the company cannot *frank a distribution made on one membership interest during the franking period without franking distributions made on all other membership interests under the same resolution with a *franking credit worked out using the same *franking percentage; or

(b) the entity is a *100% subsidiary of a company that satisfies the criteria set out in paragraph (a).

203-20(2)    
The following are examples of cases in which a company satisfies the criteria set out in paragraph (1)(a):

(a) the company is a *listed public company with a single *class of *membership interest at all times during the relevant *franking period;

(b) the company is a listed public company that, under its constituent documents, must not:

(i) make a *distribution on one membership interest during the relevant franking period without making a distribution under the same resolution on all other membership interests; or

(ii) *frank a distribution made on one membership interest during the relevant franking period without franking distributions made on all other membership interests under the same resolution with a *franking credit worked out using the same *franking percentage;

(c) the company is a listed public company with more than one class of membership interest, but the rights in relation to distributions and the franking of distributions are the same for each class of membership interest.

This is not an exhaustive list.

203-20(3)    
For the purposes of subsection (1), ignore *membership interests that do not carry a right to receive *distributions (other than distributions on the winding up of the company).