Dividend

Eduzendium article

Dividends are payments by a corporation to shareholders that are given to shareholders and represent a return on the capital directly or indirectly contributed to the corporation by the shareholders.

Dividends come in several different forms. The basic types are as follows:

1. Regular Cash Dividends
2. Extra Dividends
3. Special Dividends
4. Liquidating Dividends

Some important characteristics of dividends include the following:

• The payment of dividends is at the discretion of the board of directors. If dividends are declared it is not a liability of the corporation. A corporation cannot default on an undeclared dividend. As a consequence, corporations cannot become bankrupt because of nonpayment of dividends. The amount of dividend and even whether it is paid are decisions made by the board of directors.

• The payment of dividends by the corporation is not a business expense. Dividends are not deductible for corporate tax purposes. In short dividends are paid out of the corporations aftertax profits.

• Dividends received by individual shareholders are taxable. However, corporations that own stock in other corporations are permitted to exclude 70 percent of the dividend amounts they receive and are taxed only the remaining 30 percent. The 70/30 rule only applies when the recipient owns less than 20 percent of the outstanding stock in the corporation.

Forms of Dividends and How They are Paid

Dividends can come in several different forms. The basic forms regarding corporate finance include Cash, Stock, and Stock Repurchase.

The basic types of cash dividends are:

1. Regular Cash Dividends

Cash dividends are the most common type of dividends. It is common for public companies to pay regular cash dividends four times a year. The cash payments are made directly to shareholders and on a regular basis. In addition to the regular cash payments sometimes firms will pay an extra cash cash dividend.

2. Extra Dividends

3. Special Dividends

4. Liquidating Dividends

Dividend Policy

Dividend Policy asks the question: Should the firm pay out money to its shareholders , or should the firm take money and invest it for the shareholders.

Current Policy:

Alternative Policy: