Joseph Perry, Partner-in-Charge, Tax & Business Services Featured in Long Island Business News Article "CPAs Urge Firms to Pay 4Q Dividends in 2012"
Long Island Business News
Excerpt:
Accountants are urging companies to pay dividends this year rather than wait until next year, when rates are slated to nearly triple.
That tax rate on dividends is slated to rise from a taxpayer-friendly 15 percent to 43.4 percent next year if the Bush tax cuts expire.
The tab will include a 39.6 percent tax on dividends as ordinary income and a 3.8 percent Medicare surcharge on unearned income.
“Unless the Bush tax cuts are extended, shareholders will have tremendous tax exposure in 2013,” said Joseph Perry, Marcum’s partner in charge of tax and business services. “Moving their dividend pay dates into the 2012 tax year is an easy, no-cost way for companies to help shareholders avoid the extreme impact of this part of the so-called fiscal cliff.”
Billions of dollars in taxes could be at stake, based on whether companies pay dividends in December or wait until early next year.
