IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/itaxpf/v27y2020i6d10.1007_s10797-020-09602-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Withholding-tax non-compliance: the case of cum-ex stock-market transactions

Author

Listed:
  • Thiess Buettner

    (FAU (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)
    CESifo)

  • Carolin Holzmann

    (FAU (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg))

  • Felix Kreidl

    (FAU (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg))

  • Hendrik Scholz

    (FAU (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg))

Abstract

This paper explores withholding-tax non-compliance in the context of dividend taxation. It focuses on a specific type of stock-market transactions around ex-dividend dates, so-called “cum-ex” trades, which caused considerable revenue losses due to illegitimate tax refunds in Germany and other countries. We use a stylized model of the stock-market equilibrium to analyze the incentives of traders on the German stock market and find that cum-ex trades are only profitable for both buyer and seller in the presence of collusive tax fraud. Our empirical analysis of market data for publicly traded German stocks from 2009 to 2015 confirms that transaction numbers of stocks suitable for cum-ex trades show the expected increase shortly before ex-dividend dates in the period before the tax refunding was reformed. In line with the collusion hypothesis, effects on stock-market prices are not found.

Suggested Citation

  • Thiess Buettner & Carolin Holzmann & Felix Kreidl & Hendrik Scholz, 2020. "Withholding-tax non-compliance: the case of cum-ex stock-market transactions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(6), pages 1425-1452, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:27:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1007_s10797-020-09602-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10797-020-09602-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10797-020-09602-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10797-020-09602-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arellano, Manuel, 1993. "On the testing of correlated effects with panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1-2), pages 87-97, September.
    2. Karpoff, Jonathan M. & Walkling, Ralph A., 1990. "Dividend capture in NASDAQ stocks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1-2), pages 39-65.
    3. Slemrod, Joel, 2008. "Does It Matter Who Writes the Check to the Government? The Economics of Tax Remittance," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 61(2), pages 251-275, June.
    4. Henrik Jacobsen Kleven & Claus Thustrup Kreiner & Emmanuel Saez, 2016. "Why Can Modern Governments Tax So Much? An Agency Model of Firms as Fiscal Intermediaries," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(330), pages 219-246, April.
    5. Tyler R. Henry & Jennifer L. Koski, 2017. "Ex-Dividend Profitability and Institutional Trading Skill," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(1), pages 461-494, February.
    6. Peter Gomber, 2015. "Cash Equity Markets in Germany," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 27(4), pages 75-80, December.
    7. Elton, Edwin J & Gruber, Martin J, 1970. "Marginal Stockholder Tax Rates and the Clientele Effect," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 52(1), pages 68-74, February.
    8. Dan Dhaliwal & Oliver Zhen Li, 2006. "Investor Tax Heterogeneity and Ex‐Dividend Day Trading Volume," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 463-490, February.
    9. Umid Akhmedov & Keith Jakob, 2010. "The Ex‐dividend Day: Action On and Off the Danish Exchange," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 45(1), pages 83-103, February.
    10. Niels Johannesen & Gabriel Zucman, 2014. "The End of Bank Secrecy? An Evaluation of the G20 Tax Haven Crackdown," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 65-91, February.
    11. Anna Milanez, 2017. "Legal tax liability, legal remittance responsibility and tax incidence: Three dimensions of business taxation," OECD Taxation Working Papers 32, OECD Publishing.
    12. Michaely, Roni & Vila, Jean-Luc, 1995. "Investors' Heterogeneity, Prices, and Volume around the Ex-Dividend Day," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(2), pages 171-198, June.
    13. Lakonishok, Josef & Vermaelen, Theo, 1986. "Tax-induced trading around ex-dividend days," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 287-319, July.
    14. Johannesen, Niels, 2014. "Tax evasion and Swiss bank deposits," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 46-62.
    15. Kalay, Avner, 1982. "The Ex-Dividend Pay Behavior of Stock Prices: A Re-Examination of the Clientele Effect," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1059-1070, September.
    16. Christian Haesner & Deborah Schanz, 2013. "Payout Policy Tax Clienteles, Ex-dividend Day Stock Prices and Trading Behavior in Germany: The Case of the 2001 Tax Reform," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3-4), pages 527-563, April.
    17. Slemrod, Joel, and Christian Gillitzer, 2014. "Tax Systems," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262026724, December.
    18. McDonald, Robert L, 2001. "Cross-Border Investing with Tax Arbitrage: The Case of German Dividend Tax Credits," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(3), pages 617-657.
    19. Henrik Jacobsen Kleven & Martin B. Knudsen & Claus Thustrup Kreiner & Søren Pedersen & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "Unwilling or Unable to Cheat? Evidence From a Tax Audit Experiment in Denmark," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 79(3), pages 651-692, May.
    20. Hartzmark, Samuel M. & Solomon, David H., 2013. "The dividend month premium," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 640-660.
    21. Mundlak, Yair, 1978. "On the Pooling of Time Series and Cross Section Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 69-85, January.
    22. Edwin J. Elton & Martin J. Gruber & Christopher R. Blake, 2005. "Marginal Stockholder Tax Effects and Ex-Dividend-Day Price Behavior: Evidence From Taxable Versus Nontaxable Closed-End Funds," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(3), pages 579-586, August.
    23. Keen, Michael & Smith, Stephen, 2006. "VAT Fraud and Evasion: What Do We Know and What Can Be Done?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 59(4), pages 861-887, December.
    24. Yaniv, Gideon, 1988. "Withholding and non-withheld tax evasion," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 183-204, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Komath, Muhammed Aslam Chelery & Doğan, Murat & Sayılır, Özlem, 2023. "Impact of corporate governance and related controversies on the market value of banks," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    2. Cole, Rebel & Johan, Sofia & Schweizer, Denis, 2021. "Corporate failures: Declines, collapses, and scandals," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    3. Felix Kreidl & Hendrik Scholz, 2021. "Exploiting the dividend month premium: evidence from Germany," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 253-266, July.
    4. Felix Kreidl, 2020. "Stock-Market Behavior on Ex-Dates: New Insights from German Stocks with Tax-Free Dividend," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-21, September.
    5. Moritz Wagner & Xiaopeng Wei, 2020. "Cum-Ex Trading – The Biggest Fraud in History?," Working Papers in Economics 20/19, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    6. Gomber, Peter & Sagade, Satchit & Theissen, Erik & Weber, Moritz Christian & Westheide, Christian, 2023. "Spoilt for choice: Determinants of market shares in fragmented equity markets," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bastian Schulz, 2021. "The Cum-ex Case: A Look at Germany," ACTA VSFS, University of Finance and Administration, vol. 15(1), pages 49-62.
    2. Felix Kreidl, 2020. "Stock-Market Behavior on Ex-Dates: New Insights from German Stocks with Tax-Free Dividend," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Holzmann, Carolin & Scholz, Hendrik & Kreidl, Felix & Büttner, Thiess, 2017. "Stock Market Behavior on Ex-Dividend Dates: The Case of Cum-Ex Transactions in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168242, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Paudel, Shishir & Silveri, Sabatino (Dino) & Wu, Mark, 2022. "Investor sentiment and asset prices: Evidence from the ex-day," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    5. Ming-Chang Cheng & Ching-Hwa Lee, 2016. "Trading Activities Around Ex-Dividend Days: Evidence from the Taiwan Stock Market," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(01), pages 1-17, March.
    6. Andrew Ainsworth & Kingsley YL Fong & David R Gallagher & Graham Partington, 2016. "Institutional trading around the ex-dividend day," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 41(2), pages 299-323, May.
    7. Jakob, Keith J. & Ma, Tongshu, 2007. "Are ex[hyphen (true graphic)]day dividend clientele effects dead? Dividend yield versus dividend size," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 718-735, December.
    8. Asimakopoulos, Panagiotis N. & Tsangarakis, Nickolaos V. & Tsiritakis, Emmanuel D., 2015. "Price adjustment method and ex-dividend day returns in a different institutional setting," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-12.
    9. Tseng, Yun-lan & Hu, Shing-yang, 2013. "Tax reform and the identity of marginal traders around ex-dividend days," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 181-199.
    10. Chen, Hung-Ling & Chow, Edward H. & Shiu, Cheng-Yi, 2013. "Ex-dividend prices and investor trades: Evidence from Taiwan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 39-65.
    11. Castillo, Augusto & Jakob, Keith, 2006. "The Chilean ex-dividend day," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 105-118, September.
    12. Vassilis A. Efthymiou & George N. Leledakis, 2014. "The price impact of the disposition effect on the ex-dividend day of NYSE and AMEX common stocks," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 711-724, April.
    13. Efthymiou, Vassilis A. & Episcopos, Athanasios & Leledakis, George N. & Pyrgiotakis, Emmanouil G., 2021. "Intraday analysis of the limit order bias on the ex-dividend day of U.S. common stocks," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 405-421.
    14. Harris, Lawrence E. & Hartzmark, Samuel M. & Solomon, David H., 2015. "Juicing the dividend yield: Mutual funds and the demand for dividends," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(3), pages 433-451.
    15. Katsushi Suzuki, 2015. "Unique Dividends for Retail Shareholders: Evidence from Shareholder Perks," Discussion Papers 2015-20, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    16. Blau, Benjamin M. & Fuller, Kathleen P. & Van Ness, Robert A., 2011. "Short selling around dividend announcements and ex-dividend days," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 628-639, June.
    17. James Alm, 2019. "What Motivates Tax Compliance?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 353-388, April.
    18. Kai-Wei (Shaun) Siau & Stephen J. Sault & Geoffrey J. Warren & Henk Berkman, 2015. "Are imputation credits capitalised into stock prices?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 55(1), pages 241-277, March.
    19. Rydqvist, Kristian & Dai, Qinglei, 2007. "Investigation of the Costly-Arbitrage Model of Price Formation Around the Ex-Dividend Day," CEPR Discussion Papers 6074, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Al-Yahyaee, Khamis Hamed, 2013. "The effect of a reduction in price discreteness on ex-day stock returns in a unique environment," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 283-294.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax compliance; Tax evasion; Withholding taxes; Collusion; Tax fraud; Tax refunding; Cum-ex trades; Ex-dividend date; Dividend taxes; Capital gains taxes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:27:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1007_s10797-020-09602-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.