Fair dividend rate calculator
FDR income is 5% of your 1 April market value, plus a quick sale adjustment if you bought and sold the same shares in the year. We do the full adjustment: peak holding differential, quick sale gains matched last in, first out, totals across your portfolio.
5% of your 1 April value is $10,000.00. The quick sale adjustment adds $2,200.00, so FDR income is $12,200.00.
1 5% of the opening value
| Company A · $200,000.00 | $10,000.00 |
| 5% of the 1 April value of $200,000.00 | $10,000.00 |
2 Peak holding amounts
| Holding | Start | Peak | End | Differential | Average cost | 5% × differential × cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company A | 10,000 | 15,000 | 13,000 | 2,000 | $22.00 | $2,200.00 |
| Peak holding amounts (total) | $2,200.00 |
3 Quick sale gains (last in, first out)
| Holding | Bought | Sold | Shares | Proceeds | Dividends on them | At average cost | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Company A | 1 October 2025 | 1 December 2025 | 4,000 | $100,000.00 | $0.00 | $88,000.00 | $12,000.00 |
| Quick sale gains (total) | $12,000.00 |
4 The adjustment
| The lesser of the two totals (a negative gain total counts as nil) | $2,200.00 |
| FDR income | $12,200.00 |
- Sales are matched to the latest shares bought in the year first (s EX 52(14)); shares held at 1 April are never quick sales.
- A quick sale gain includes dividends paid on those shares while you held them (s EX 52(12)).
- Enter NZ$ amounts here. For foreign currency, use the home calculator, which converts with IRD rates.
Worked example shown. Change any figure to see your own result (needs JavaScript).
Questions people ask
What is the fair dividend rate?
A deemed return of 5% of the market value of your FIF shares at the start of the income year (1 April). It is fixed in the Act (s EX 52(3)).
When do I need a quick sale adjustment?
Only if you bought shares in a holding during the year and then sold shares in it in the same year. Shares bought and sold within the year otherwise escape the 5%.
How is the quick sale adjustment worked out?
It is the lesser of two portfolio totals: 5% × peak holding differential × average cost, and the actual quick sale gains (sales matched last in, first out, including dividends). A negative gain total counts as nil.
Can FDR give a loss?
No. FDR income is never negative, and losses on sale cannot be claimed under FDR (IR461 p19).
Calculators
Every FIF tool
Your FIF tax for the year
Holdings in, the $50,000 test, FDR and CV side by side, the lower allowed method, tax and your IR3 boxes.
Open →The $50,000 test
Cost, not market value, on any day of the year. Couples, joint holdings, trusts and the 4-year look-back.
Open →Comparative value calculator
Closing value plus sales and dividends, less opening value and purchases, with the loss floor and the method choice.
Open →IRD exchange rates for FIF
Inland Revenue’s end-of-month, mid-month and rolling 12-month rates, with a converter.
Open →Under $50,000: dividend tax
Below the threshold your foreign dividends are ordinary income. Tax, foreign tax credit and IR3 boxes.
Open →Is this a FIF?
ASX shares, NZ PIE funds, employee shares, foreign super, crypto: in or out of the rules.
Open →New to New Zealand
Your transitional resident end date, and the revenue account method if you qualify.
Open →Overseas shares or an NZ PIE fund
The same money taxed both ways, side by side. Figures only, no recommendation.
Open →Is the threshold $100,000 yet?
No. Dated status of the lapsed bill, and the proposal on your own figures, marked NOT LAW.
Open →