Market valuation of tax-timing options: evidence from capital gains distributions

Deskripsi

We examine a distribution that is taxed as a capital gain rather than as a dividend. Since the distribution induces a realized capital gain while the price change is an unrealized gain, ex-day return behavior provides evidence of the value of tax-timing capital gains. We show that investors are compensated $0.07 in unrealized gains for each dollar of realized capital gains, that is, $1 of realized capital gains is equivalent to $0.93 of unrealized gains. An investor with a tax rate on realized gains of 15% has an effective tax rate on unrealized capital gains of 8.6%. .Printed Journal