Last updated: October 08, 2024
It's up to you (the shareholder) to decide how much to distribute as dividends, if any. The maximum amount is limited to the profit the company has earned during the last financial year(s) and which has not been paid out yet. The minimum is 0.
As an illustration, let’s assume the company:
earned a profit of €10 000 in 2017,
distributed dividends (incl taxes) of €6 000 in 2018,
earned a profit of €5 000 in 2018
If so, the company can distribute maximum (€10 000 - €6 000) + €5 000 = €9 000 as dividends in 2019. These sums are officially taken into account only if they're recorded and reported in the annual report of the company.
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