Tax clientele and share repurchase execution

Abstract

This study hypothesizes that low-tax clientele firms are reluctant to engage in share repurchases because their shareholders’ dividend tax penalty is less than the expropriation of strategic trading in share repurchases. As a result, firms formed by low-tax clientele execute share repurchases in a cost minimization strategy when they consider the tax status of most of their shareholders. Using novel data from Taiwan, this research finds that, compared to high-tax clientele firms, low-tax clientele firms tend to use market timing skills to repurchase stocks and get a larger price discount in the repurchase execution. The findings enrich the dividend tax penalty and market timing literature and offer practical implications for shareholder activism.