The company doesn't place the funds into an escrow account, BofA (as an example) does.
Again. How many dividend checks have you received were written from the general account of the company you had stock? None? Ever wonder why?
The company doesn't place the funds into an escrow account, BofA (as an example) does.
Do you really believe that would make the dividends deductible? Seriously?
Yes. I'm just telling you the reality, if you care not to believe it thats up to you. Just my attempt to deliver you from ignorance.
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Dividends Are Not Deductible Interest Payments Are
Now, how does double taxation work? Well, in a sole-proprietorship, because the money is considered yours from the get go, you only have to pay tax on it once – on the personal level. Unfortunately for most people, this personal tax also includes self-employment tax, which can be astronomical.
But corporations first pay corporate taxes on the company profit then, when that profit is distributed to the shareholders in the form of Dividends, the shareholders are then also taxed. In other words, the corporation is paying corporate taxes on the profits at the corporate level, then the shareholders are paying personal taxes on those same profits at the individual level. So, unless you plan on keeping the profits in the company, they will be taxed twice as they flow through to the shareholders.
Avoiding Double Taxation
Salaries paid by closely held corporations are scrutinized. Payments made to an employee who is also the owner of the corporation are subject to very close scrutiny by the IRS. For C corporations, this scrutiny is triggered in part because salaries paid to owner/employees is deducted before the corporate income tax is imposed.
Any after-tax corporate profits are distributed as dividends to the shareholders and taxed at their individual income tax rates. The difference between the corporate income tax rates and the individual income tax rates sometimes tempts business owners to inflate their salaries to get a larger deduction against the corporate income tax.
Undertanding the Tax Consequences of Compensation BizFilings Toolkit
Why do companies issue preferred stock?
Given the lower cost of tax-deductible conventional debt
(preferred stock dividends aren't deductible), one has to ask why companies issue preferred stock, especially when traditional preferred shares are rated two notches below the issuer's rating on unsecured debt.
Why you should avoid preferred stocks - CBS News
Most countries have tax systems that favor debt financing over equity financing.
The cost of equity (dividends, etc.) is not tax deductible, while interest is deductible. But why? More specifically, why not eliminate the deductibility of interest, and at the same time lower business tax rates enough so that the change is revenue neutral?
Why are interest expenses tax deductible Scott Sumner EconLog Library of Economics and Liberty
Business Tax Treatment
The company paying the dividends doesn't get an income tax deduction, because dividends aren't a business expense. If the dividends were deductible, the company would never have to pay corporate income tax, because it could just pass through all the earnings. On the other hand, businesses do get a deduction for the interest paid on loans, because that is a legitimate business expense.
How Do Dividends Interest Differ People - Opposing Views
It’s a perfect tax arbitrage. Let’s say Apple borrows money at an interest cost of 3% a year (which is more than it would likely pay), and uses it to buy back stock at the current price of about $410 a share. Each share that Apple buys back will reduce its annual dividend obligation by $12.20 a share, at the company’s current dividend rate. The interest on the borrowed money would be $12.30 a share — about the same as the dividend.
But interest is tax deductible, and dividends aren’t.
Apple proves that a lower corporate tax rate won t matter - Fortune