| Abstract: | German dividends typically carry a tax credit which makes thedividend worth 42.86% more to a taxable German shareholder thanto a tax-exempt or foreign shareholder. This results in a penaltyfor foreign investors who buy and hold German dividend-payingstocks. I document that, as a result of the credit, the ex-daydrop exceeds the dividend by more than one-half of the tax credit,and show that futures and option prices embed more than one-halfof the tax credit. The existence of the credit creates opportunitiesfor cross-border tax arbitrage—in which foreign holdersof German stock transfer the dividend to German shareholders—andimplies that it is tax efficient for foreign investors to holdderivatives rather than investing directly in German stocks.The empirical findings are consistent with costly tax arbitrageactivity by German investors, who face tax risk due to antiarbitragerules. Since dividend tax credits exist in many other countries,the findings are potentially of broad interest. |
