Rule 3 of the Companies (Declaration and Payment of Dividend) Rules, 2014 (India) dictates the conditions for declaring dividends from accumulated profits (reserves) when current profits are inadequate or absent. Key conditions include limiting the withdrawal amount, capping the dividend rate, and maintaining minimum reserve balances.
As per Rule 3, the conditions for declaration of dividend in the event of inadequacy or absence of profits in any year are as follows: (1) The rate of dividend declared shall not exceed the average of the rates at which dividend was declared by it in the three years immediately preceding that year.
Therefore, cash dividends reduce both the Retained Earnings and Cash account balances. There are three prerequisites to paying a cash dividend: a decision by the board of directors, sufficient cash, and sufficient retained earnings.
Examples of Dividend Policies
To receive a dividend, you must own the stock before the ex-dividend date, typically requiring you to buy it at least one day prior to this date for standard common stock, though for tax purposes (qualified dividends), you need a longer holding period: at least 61 days within a 121-day window around the ex-dividend date, starting 60 days before it.
To avoid taxes on dividends, hold them in a Roth IRA for tax-free growth and withdrawals, use a Traditional IRA/401(k) to defer taxes until retirement (often a lower bracket), invest in tax-advantaged education accounts, or if your income is low enough, qualify for the zero percent long-term capital gains rate on qualified dividends in a standard brokerage account. Some dividends, like a return of capital, aren't taxed, and you can also manage withholding by adjusting your W-4 to avoid penalties, notes the IRS.
Slower growth potential: Mature companies usually offer lower capital appreciation than growth companies. Dividend cut risk: A company can reduce or eliminate its dividend if earnings decline. Tax impact: Dividend income may be taxed at higher rates depending on whether it's qualified or ordinary.
- No Profits or Inadequate Profits
As per Section 123(1) of the Companies Act, 2013, a company can only declare dividends out of: Current year's profits after providing for depreciation. Past accumulated profits transferred to free reserves.
There's actually four steps to the dividend payment process that often go unnoticed by dividend investors:
Dividends can only be paid by a company out of profits available for distribution, not from capital, even if the company's Articles of Association suggest otherwise. This rule is established under Companies Act 2006, section 830, and forms a key legal restriction on dividend payments.
The amount of tax-free dividend income depends on your filing status and income level, with the 0% tax bracket applying to qualified dividends for single filers with taxable income up to $48,350 (2025), married couples up to $96,700, and heads of household up to $64,750. Beyond these income thresholds, dividends are taxed at 15% or 20%, but dividends in a Roth IRA are completely tax-free if withdrawals are qualified.
If you take too much in dividends
If you have spent the dividend money, you will have to cover the overpayment from future sales until the company is back in a profit position. Until this happens, you cannot issue any more dividends.
Under the tax law, a person must hold shares or an interest in shares at risk for at least 45 days to be eligible to use the franking credits which attach to the dividends they've received. At face value, the rule is simple. Hold the shares for the required period and the franking credits are yours.
Warren Buffett doesn't dislike dividends but believes retaining earnings for reinvestment, acquisitions, and buybacks at Berkshire Hathaway creates more long-term value than paying them out, allowing for greater compounding and growth, though he supports dividends in companies where profits can't be reinvested profitably, like See's Candies. His core principle is that if Berkshire can generate more than $1 of market value for every $1 kept, shareholders are better off with retained earnings, a strategy proven effective by Berkshire's outperformance.
There's no limit, and no set amount – you might even pay your shareholders different dividend amounts.
Once you have a high enough balance, dividend stocks can do the rest. With $1.1 million, you would need to put that money into investments that yield a little more than 4.5% to generate dividend income of $50,000 per year.
The 25% dividend rule is a special stock market regulation for large distributions, meaning if a dividend or distribution is 25% or more of the stock's value, the ex-dividend date (when buyers stop getting the dividend) shifts from usually the day before the record date to the first business day after the payment date, preventing price drops from unfairly affecting sellers and protecting margin accounts. It ensures the stock trades "cum dividend" (with the dividend included) longer, with the price adjusting downward only after the payment, preventing confusion and market disruption for large payouts.
Dividends are tax-advantaged in your RRSP and TFSA
If you hold your dividend shares in an RRSP, you won't have to pay any tax on dividends received until the funds are eventually withdrawn from the account. And if you hold your shares in a TFSA, the dividends (like all TFSA income) are tax-free, even when withdrawn.
The amount of tax-free dividend income depends on your filing status and income level, with the 0% tax bracket applying to qualified dividends for single filers with taxable income up to $48,350 (2025), married couples up to $96,700, and heads of household up to $64,750. Beyond these income thresholds, dividends are taxed at 15% or 20%, but dividends in a Roth IRA are completely tax-free if withdrawals are qualified.