The gross-up, demystified — see your real refund in seconds.
Pop in a franked dividend and your income, and we’ll do the 30/70 gross-up, add the 2% Medicare levy, and tell you the one number that matters: cash in your pocket. All worked out right here in your browser — nothing leaves your device.
Franked dividends come with an invisible tax credit attached, and working out what they’re really worth means grossing them up, taxing the lot at your marginal rate, then subtracting the credit back off. This free franking credit calculator does that whole dance for you — for a single holding or your entire dividend portfolio. Choose fully franked or partly franked, pick your financial year, and watch it sort out your franking credits refund (the bit self-funded retirees quietly love) or the top-up you’ll owe at tax time. It’s the only clean, no-signup tool that stitches the gross-up, your marginal rate, the Medicare levy and a multi-holding portfolio view into one tidy answer.
The franked dividend paid to you, in dollars.
100% = fully franked. Partly franked stocks scale the credit down.
Your income before the dividend — we stack the grossed-up dividend on top at the right bracket.
Net cash in your pocket
$680.00After topping up the tax owing on the gross-up.
Tax to pay at tax time
−$20.00The credits do not fully cover the tax on the grossed-up dividend, so you owe the difference.
The gross-up, in one line
Grossed-up taxable dividend
Franking credit
$300.00The imputation credit attached, grossed up at the 30% company rate.
Grossed-up amount
$1,000.00What the ATO assesses — cash plus the credit.
Tax on the gross-up
$320.00At your marginal rate + 2% Medicare levy, before the credit is applied.
Top-up owing
−$20.00Add the share price (per-share mode) to see your effective after-tax yield.
Resident-individual rates, excludes LITO and other offsets. Everything runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Curious how the gross-up actually works? Here’s the maths, in plain English, the same way the ATO checks it — so you can trust every figure before you trust your tax return.
Calculate the franking credit attached to each dividend
The franking credit is your cash dividend × (30 ÷ 70) × franking %, using the 30% company tax rate the ATO sets for the gross-up. A $700 fully franked dividend therefore carries a $300 credit; a partly franked one scales down by its franking percentage.
Gross up to the pre-tax amount
We add the franking credit back onto your cash dividend to get the grossed-up (pre-tax) amount the ATO actually assesses — $700 cash + $300 credit = $1,000. This is the figure that goes into your taxable income, because the company already paid tax on those profits on your behalf.
Tax the grossed-up amount at your marginal rate plus Medicare
The grossed-up dividend stacks on your other income and is taxed at your marginal bracket for the financial year you pick, plus the 2% Medicare levy (phased out below the low-income threshold). We use the correct FY brackets so the rate matches your real situation.
Subtract the credit to find your refund or top-up
Finally we offset the franking credit against that tax. If the credit is bigger than the tax owing, the excess is refunded in cash to individuals — the refund self-funded retirees rely on; if it’s smaller, you owe the difference. In portfolio mode we total every holding’s credits and apply your rate once across the lot.
For a 100% franked dividend, the franking credit equals the cash dividend × 30/70 (the 30% company tax rate). So a $700 fully franked dividend carries a $300 credit — $700 × 30 ÷ 70 = $300 — giving a grossed-up taxable amount of $1,000. This calculator does that automatically and scales it down for partly franked dividends using the formula dividend × (30/70) × franking %.
The grossed-up amount is your cash dividend plus its franking credit. The company already paid 30% tax on those profits, so the ATO adds the credit back to your income (the gross-up), taxes the full pre-tax amount at your marginal rate, then lets you subtract the franking credit you’ve effectively already paid. It feels odd, but it stops the profit being taxed twice. We show every step so the bigger number makes sense.
You can. Excess franking credits are fully refundable to individuals, so if your franking credits are larger than the tax owing on the grossed-up dividend, the ATO pays you the difference in cash. This is why low-income earners and many self-funded retirees on a 0% or low marginal rate receive a refund on fully franked shares. Enter your taxable income and the calculator tells you straight away whether it’s a refund or a top-up.
Yes. We add the 2% Medicare levy on top of your marginal income tax rate before comparing it to your franking credits, because the levy applies to your grossed-up dividend income too. Leaving it out — as a lot of quick calculators do — overstates your refund. If your income is below the low-income threshold and the levy doesn’t apply, the calculator phases it out for you.
The headline yield a broker quotes is the cash dividend divided by the share price, before tax and before franking. Your after-tax dividend yield is what you actually keep once the gross-up, your marginal rate, the Medicare levy and any franking refund are accounted for. For a fully franked stock held by a low-rate investor, the after-tax yield can be meaningfully higher than the headline — this tool shows both side by side.
Yes — switch to portfolio mode and add each holding with its own dividend amount and franking percentage (handy when you hold a mix of fully franked banks and partly franked or unfranked stocks). The calculator grosses up each one, totals your franking credits, applies your marginal rate and Medicare levy once across the lot, and gives you a single net-cash and refund-or-owing figure for the year.
