Withdrawals from the income of quasi-corporations (D.422)

4.56 Definition:

Withdrawals from the income of quasi-corporations (D.422) consist of the amounts which entrepreneurs actually withdraw for their own use from the profits earned by the quasi-corporations which belong to them.

4.57 These amounts are to be recorded before the deduction of any current taxes on income, wealth, etc. which are deemed always to be paid by the owners of the businesses.

4.58 When a quasi-corporation makes a trading profit, the unit which owns it may choose to leave part or all of the profit in the business, especially for investment purposes. This income left in the business appears as saving by the quasi-corporation, and only the profits actually withdrawn by the owner units are recorded in the accounts under the heading withdrawals from the income of quasi-corporations.

4.59 When profits are earned in the rest of the world by the branch-offices, agencies, etc. of resident enterprises, in so far as these branch-offices etc. are treated as non-resident units, retained earnings appear as reinvested earnings on direct foreign investment (D.43). Only the income actually transferred to the parent enterprise is treated in the accounts as withdrawals from the income of quasi-corporations received from the rest of the world. The same principles are applied to deal with the relations between branch-offices, agencies, etc. operating on the economic territory and the non-resident parent enterprise to which they belong.

4.60 This heading includes the net operating surplus received by residents as owners of land and buildings in the rest of the world, or by non-residents as owners of land or buildings on the economic territory. In effect, in respect of all transactions in land and buildings carried out on the economic territory of a country by non-resident units, the latter are considered, in accordance with the conventions adopted in the ESA, to be notional resident units in which the non-resident owners own the equity.

The rental value of owner-occupied dwellings abroad is registered as imports of services and the corresponding net operating surplus as primary income received from the rest of the world; the rental value of owner-occupied dwellings belonging to non-residents is registered as exports of services and the corresponding net operating surplus as primary income paid to the rest of the world.

4.61 The heading withdrawals from the income of quasi-corporations does not include amounts which their owners receive:

  1. from the sale of existing fixed capital goods;
  2. from the sale of land and intangible assets;
  3. from withdrawals of capital (e.g. the total or partial liquidation of their equity in the quasi-corporation).
These amounts are treated as withdrawals from equity in the financial account. Conversely, any funds provided by the owner(s) of a quasi-corporation for the purpose of acquiring assets or reducing its liabilities is treated as additions to its equity. However, if the quasi-corporation is owned by government, and if it runs a persistent operating deficit as a matter of deliberate government economic and social policy, any regular transfers of funds into the enterprise made by government to cover its losses should be treated as subsidies.

4.62 Time of recording: Withdrawals from the income of quasi-corporations are recorded when they are made by the owners.

4.63 In the system of accounts, withdrawals from the income of quasi-corporations appear:

  1. among uses in the allocation of primary income account of the sectors in which the quasi-corporations are classified;
  2. among resources in the allocation of primary income account of the owner sectors;
  3. among uses and resources in the external account of primary incomes and current transfers.