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Dividend taxation, share repurchases and the equity trap

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  • Södersten, Jan

    (Department of Economics)

  • Lindhe, Tobias

    (Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies)

Abstract

This paper reconsiders the effects of dividend taxation. Particular attention is paid to the form of the “equity trap”, that is, the extent to which cash paid to the shareholders must be taxed as dividends. Our analysis shows that Sinn’s (1991) criticism of the well-known King and Fullerton (1984) methodology for underestimating the cost of new share issues amounts to a misleading comparison across two different regimes for the equity trap. Contrary to Sinn, we find that when dividends are paid following a new issue, as assumed by King-Fullerton, the cost of capital is higher than is the case when no dividends are paid.

Suggested Citation

  • Södersten, Jan & Lindhe, Tobias, 2009. "Dividend taxation, share repurchases and the equity trap," Working Paper Series 2009:7, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:uunewp:2009_007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hans-Werner Sinn, 1991. "Taxation and the Cost of Capital: The "Old" View, the "New" View, and Another View," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 5, pages 25-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Auerbach, Alan J, 1983. "Taxation, Corporate Financial Policy and the Cost of Capital," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 21(3), pages 905-940, September.
    3. Sinn, Hans-Werner, 1991. "The vanishing harberger triangle," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 271-300, August.
    4. Alan J. Auerbach & Kevin A. Hassett, 2005. "The 2003 Dividend Tax Cuts and the Value of the Firm: An Event Study," NBER Working Papers 11449, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Mervyn A. King & Don Fullerton, 1984. "The United Kingdom," NBER Chapters, in: The Taxation of Income from Capital: A Comparative Study of the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany, pages 31-86, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Bradford, David F., 1981. "The incidence and allocation effects of a tax on corporate distributions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Sinn, Hans-Werner, 1991. "Share repurchases, the 'new' view, and the cost of capital," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 187-190, June.
    8. Lindhe, Tobias & Södersten, Jan, 2006. "The Equity Trap, the Cost of Capital and the Firm´s Growth Path," Working Paper Series 2006:19, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    9. Kevin A. Hassett & Alan J. Auerbach, 2005. "The 2003 Dividend Tax Cuts and the Value of the Firm," AEI Economics Working Papers 49878, American Enterprise Institute.
    10. Auerbach, Alan J. & Hassett, Kevin A., 2003. "On the marginal source of investment funds," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 205-232, January.
    11. Mervyn A. King & Don Fullerton, 1984. "Introduction to "The Taxation of Income from Capital: A Comparative Study of the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany"," NBER Chapters, in: The Taxation of Income from Capital: A Comparative Study of the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany, pages 1-6, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Auerbach, Alan J., 2002. "Taxation and corporate financial policy," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 19, pages 1251-1292, Elsevier.
    13. Mervyn A. King & Don Fullerton, 1984. "The United States," NBER Chapters, in: The Taxation of Income from Capital: A Comparative Study of the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Germany, pages 193-267, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Seppo Kari & Jussi Laitila, 2015. "Nonlinear Dividend Tax and the Dynamics of the Firm," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 71(2), pages 153-177, June.
    2. Michael Funke & Marc Gronwald, 2009. "A Convex Hull Approach to Counterfactual Analysis of Trade Openness and Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series 2692, CESifo.
    3. 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.
    4. Lindhe, Tobias & Södersten, Jan, 2013. "Distortive Effects of Dividend Taxation," Working Paper Series, Center for Fiscal Studies 2013:9, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    dividend taxation; share repurchases; equity trap; 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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