Expense 137
etc.; family, education, or other allowances; sever-
ance allowances in the event of redundancy, incapac-
ity, or accidental death; general medical expenses not
related to the employees’ work; and charges for con-
valescent and retirement homes.
6.105 Th e payment of employer social benefi ts is
oft en made out of the government’s own resources
without involving an insurance enterprise or an au-
tonomous or nonautonomous pension fund. To refl ect
the true economic nature of the operation and to
ensure comparability with similar payments made
through social security schemes, an imputation of
employers’ social contributions [GFS] (2122) (see para-
graph 6.22) is made in expense, recorded as compen-
sation of employees (21), and in revenue, recorded as
imputed social contributions (1223). Th ese imputed
values are equal to the value of the employment-re-
lated social benefi ts payable in this item.
6.106 When using the accrual basis of record-
ing, the payment of pensions and other retirement
benefi ts through these employment-related pension
schemes is recorded as reductions in liabilities (see
paragraph 7.189). However, when using the cash basis
of recording, the liability did not accumulate through
imputed contributions recorded in the past, and
all payment of these employment-related pensions
should be recorded as employment-related social ben-
efi ts [GFS] (2731).
Other Expense (28).
6.107 Other expense comprises property expense
other than interest (281), transfers not elsewhere clas-
sifi ed (282), and amounts payable in respect of pre-
miums, fees, and claims payable related to nonlife
insurance and standardized guarantees (283).
Property expense other than interest (281)
6.108 Property expense (281) is the expense pay-
able to the owners of fi nancial assets or natural re-
sources when they put them at the disposal of another
unit. Property expense is the sum of investment ex-
pense and rent. One type of investment expense is
interest [GFS] (24), which is classifi ed separately in
GFS. Property expense other than interest may take
the form of dividends (2811); withdrawals of income
from quasi-corporations (2812); property expense for
investment income disbursements (2813); rent (2814);
and reinvested earnings on direct foreign investments
(2815). Dividends and withdrawals of income from
quasi-corporations as an expense will primarily apply
to public corporations and foreign direct investment
of the public sector.Dividends (2811).
6.109 Dividends (2811) are the distributed earn-
ings allocated to government or public sector units, as
the owners of equity, for placing funds at the disposal
of corporations. As shown in Table 6.9, identifying the
recipient of dividends from public corporations would
allow for consolidation of statistics of the public sec-
tor. Dividend payments are not required; the board of
directors or other managers of the corporation must
declare a dividend payable on their own volition. Dis-
tributions of profi ts by public corporations may take
place irregularly and may not be explicitly labeled as
dividends. Nevertheless, except for distributions by
fi scal, export, or import monopolies, dividends in-
clude all distributions of profi ts by public corpora-
tions to their shareholders or owners.^38 Th e time of
recording of dividends is the point at which the share
price starts to be quoted on an “ex-dividend” basis.
Dividends are described in more detail in paragraphs
5.111–5.117.
6.110 Dividends are notionally payable out of the
current period’s operating surplus, although corpora-
tions oft en smooth the payments of dividends, some-
times paying out less than the operating surplus but
sometimes paying out more, especially when the op-
erating surplus itself is very low. Dividends that are
disproportionately large relative to the recent level of
dividends and earnings, oft en referred to as “super-
dividends,” require special consideration. See para-
graphs 5.115–5.116 for a description of the treatment(^38) Distributions of profi ts by fi scal, export, and import monopolies
are recorded as taxes payable (see paragraphs 5.63–5.68 and 5.86).
Th erefore, in expense, these amounts payable are classifi ed as
transfers not elsewhere classifi ed (282).
Table 6.9 Detailed Classifi cation of Dividends
(2811)
2811 Dividends
28111 To nonresidents
28112 To residents^1
(^1) Further breakdown/“of which” lines could allow for the
identifi cation of subsectors and individual units (see Table 3.1).