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If a dividend in your portfolio doesn't match what you expected to receive, there are several common reasons why. This page walks through the most likely causes.

Jump to:

• Foreign withholding tax
• Unconfirmed or estimated dividend
• Dividend reinvestment plan (DRP)
• Trust distributions
• Currency conversion
• Franking credits

Foreign withholding tax

If you hold foreign investments, the dividend amount shown in Sharesight may be the gross amount declared by the company — before the foreign government deducts withholding tax at source. This means the amount in Sharesight will be higher than what you actually received in your bank account.

For example, US dividends are typically subject to a 15–30% withholding tax deducted before you receive anything. Sharesight records the gross dividend and separately tracks the withholding tax amount.

See Foreign Withholding Tax for a full explanation of how Sharesight handles this and how to record it correctly.

Unconfirmed or estimated dividend

Sharesight automatically populates dividends for many supported securities using data from the share registry. These are shown as unconfirmed until you verify them against your actual statement.

An auto-populated dividend may look wrong if:

• The estimated amount hasn't been finalised yet (dividends are often announced weeks before the payment date)
• The dividend was applied to the wrong number of shares (e.g. if you bought or sold shares close to the ex-dividend date)
• Your broker or registry reported a slightly different amount

To fix this, click on the dividend to open the Edit a Payment form, update the amount, and click Save and confirm payout. See Confirming transactions for step-by-step instructions.

Dividend reinvestment plan (DRP)

If you are enrolled in a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP), the dividend amount can appear incorrect because of an inaccurate share quantity. When you participate in a DRP, the dividend is used to purchase additional shares rather than paid as cash — if those new shares are not recorded in Sharesight, your share count will be understated. Since dividends are calculated based on the quantity of shares held on the ex-dividend date, an incorrect quantity leads to an incorrect dividend amount.

To fix this, make sure the DRP shares are recorded as a separate buy trade, then set up the dividend as a DRP so Sharesight links the reinvestment correctly.

Trust distributions

ETFs, managed funds, and other trust investments pay distributions, not dividends. These are broken down into multiple tax components (capital gains, foreign income, cost base adjustments) rather than a single cash amount.

If you hold a trust investment, the amount shown may look different from the cash you received because some components adjust your cost base rather than contributing to your income. See Annual Tax Statement Components for more detail.

Currency conversion

If you hold foreign investments in a portfolio set to a different base currency (e.g. US shares in an AUD portfolio), Sharesight converts the dividend amount using the exchange rate on the payment date. The converted amount may differ from what appeared in your bank account depending on the rate your bank or broker applied.

You can manually override the exchange rate on the dividend if you know the exact rate used.

Franking credits

For Australian shares, Sharesight records the gross dividend including franking credits. The gross amount is higher than the cash you received because franking credits represent tax already paid by the company on your behalf — they are not paid out as cash but are used to offset your personal tax liability.

The cash amount you received is the net dividend (gross minus franking credits). Both figures are visible in the dividend details.

Sharesight does not provide taxation advice. If you are unsure about the tax treatment of a specific dividend or distribution, consult a qualified tax adviser.