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Dividend Taxation and the Cost of New Share Issues

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  • Tobias Lindhe
  • Jan Södersten

Abstract

It has generally been accepted in earlier research that the dividend tax reduces the rate of return to investments financed by new issues of equity, and hence raises the cost of capital. Still, and virtually without discussion, the existing literature has come to widely diverging conclusions about the size of the tax distortion. We demonstrate that the extent to which shareholders can recover their original equity injections without being subject to tax is a key factor in determining the cost of new equity. Our analysis explains for the first time why the earlier literature has come to diverging conclusions about the size of the tax distortion.

Suggested Citation

  • Tobias Lindhe & Jan Södersten, 2016. "Dividend Taxation and the Cost of New Share Issues," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 72(2), pages 158-174, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:mhr:finarc:urn:sici:0015-2218(201606)72:2_158:dtatco_2.0.tx_2-9
    DOI: 10.1628/001522108X14617591044613
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Stenkula, Mikael & Wykman, Niklas, 2022. "The Taxation of Closely Held Firms: The Achilles Heel of the Dual Income Tax System Reconsidered," Working Paper Series 1434, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    2. Rainer Niemann & Mariana Sailer, 2023. "Is analytical tax research alive and kicking? Insights from 2000 until 2022," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(6), pages 1149-1212, August.
    3. Marko Koethenbuerger & Michael E Stimmelmayr, 2022. "The Efficiency Costs of Dividend Taxation with Managerial Firms," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(643), pages 1123-1149.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    dividend taxation; return of original equity; cost of capital; nucleus theory; growth path;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm

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