Shareholders (participants in joint-stock companies) have the opportunity to receive income commensurate with their investments in the company, depending on the growth in the value of the securities that they own and as dividends on shares in their ownership.
Payments to shareholders are made from the profits of the company. The more profit a company has, the higher its shares become in price and large amounts are paid to their owners on dividends.
In practice, there has been a golden ratio between the size of the profit and the part of it that is sent to pay dividends. On average, 8-15% of net profit is used to pay dividends to shareholders.
Dividends are that part of the net profit of a company - a joint-stock company, which according to financial results for a certain period can be distributed among shareholders.
Payment of dividends is only a right, and not a strict obligation of a joint stock company. This provision is established by the law of the Russian Federation “On Joint Stock Companies”. In Russia, about a third of companies in the form of joint-stock companies pay dividends to their shareholders. The decision on payments (declaration of dividends) can be made only by the general meeting of shareholders.
In order to balance the interests of all groups of shareholders (minority shareholders, majority shareholders) and the company itself, the law establishes binding rules. According to these standards, dividends cannot be generated in a larger amount than recommended by the board of directors, and the board of directors is obliged to act in the interests of the development of the company, and not to satisfy the interests of its individual investors.
Shareholders are not entitled to set dividends bypassing the board of directors. In case of disagreement with his decision, they can either refuse dividends or take a decision made by the council.
When dividends are declared, their exact sizes, terms of payment and the form of payment are immediately established. Dividends are paid in rubles per share (not including tax). As a rule, they are paid in cash, unless otherwise specified in the charter of the company.
In the event that the company does not pay dividends on time, the shareholders have the right to apply to the court to recover the amount due and interest for late payment.
Only those shareholders who have acquired their shares before a certain date on which a special document is drawn up with a list of those who are entitled to dividends can receive payments on shares. It is noteworthy that it does not matter which period the shareholder owned the shares - a year or one day, he will receive payments in the form of annual dividends.
Dividends are paid at the shareholder's place of residence. If payments are made through a bank, then the address of the bank where the shareholder has an account is equated to the place of residence. A shareholder can receive payments personally or through another person if there is a notarized document.
Dividend tax is considered income tax. The amount of tax is calculated separately for categories of taxpayers in the manner prescribed by the Tax Code.
It is 9% for individuals - citizens who constantly live in the territory of the Russian Federation. For individuals who are not tax residents of Russia, the tax is 30%. Dividend tax on legal entities (tax residents of the Russian Federation) is set at a rate of 9%, and for non-residents of the FR - 15%.
The payment of tax is not directly attributed to the shareholders, but to the issuer, since by law joint-stock companies are considered tax agents. Even if shares are acquired through brokers, payment of taxes remains with him, since in this case he acts as a tax agent.