The Effect of Taxes on Conventional Preferred Stock: Evidence from the 2003 JGTRRA Dividend Tax Reduction

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the extent to which investor-level taxes affect the pricing and pre-tax returns of securities. Specifically, we investigate whether the pre-tax yield on outstanding conventional preferred stock (CPS) decreased after the 2003 Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) reduced the individual's tax rate on dividends. Our research design for detecting tax effects is strong for two reasons: (1) JGTRRA provides a quasi-experimental setting that permits a pre/post design, and (2) we use trust preferred stock (TPS) issued by the same firm as the tax-disfavored benchmark asset, which permits a matched-pair design that controls for risk. Additional tests including CPS issues without TPS counterparts confirm the effect of JGTRRA on CPS issues. The results indicate that investors reacted to the new tax-favored status of CPS by bidding up its price, which lowered its yield. Data Availability: All data are available from public sources identified in the paper.