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Taxes on Tax‐Exempt Bonds

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  • ANDREW ANG
  • VINEER BHANSALI
  • YUHANG XING

Abstract

Implicit tax rates priced in the cross section of municipal bonds are approximately two to three times as high as statutory income tax rates, with implicit tax rates close to 100% using retail trades and above 70% for interdealer trades. These implied tax rates can be identified because a portion of secondary market municipal bond trades involves income taxes. After valuing the tax payments, market discount bonds, which carry income tax liabilities, trade at yields around 25 basis points higher than comparable municipal bonds not subject to any taxes. The high sensitivities of municipal bond prices to tax rates can be traced to individual retail traders dominating dealers and other institutions.

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  • Andrew Ang & Vineer Bhansali & Yuhang Xing, 2010. "Taxes on Tax‐Exempt Bonds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(2), pages 565-601, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jfinan:v:65:y:2010:i:2:p:565-601
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.2009.01545.x
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    6. Robert Novy-Marx & Joshua D. Rauh, 2012. "Fiscal Imbalances and Borrowing Costs: Evidence from State Investment Losses," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 182-213, May.
    7. Ang, Andrew & Longstaff, Francis A., 2013. "Systemic sovereign credit risk: Lessons from the U.S. and Europe," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 493-510.
    8. Kay Blaufus & Axel Möhlmann, 2014. "Security Returns and Tax Aversion Bias: Behavioral Responses to Tax Labels," Journal of Behavioral Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 56-69, January.
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    10. Ivanov, Ivan T. & Zimmermann, Tom & Heinrich, Nathan W., 2022. "Limits of disclosure regulation in the municipal bond market," CFR Working Papers 22-05, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    11. Goda, Thomas & Lysandrou, Photis & Stewart, Chris, 2013. "The contribution of US bond demand to the US bond yield conundrum of 2004–2007: An empirical investigation," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 113-136.
    12. Tran, Nhu & Uzmanoglu, Cihan, 2023. "Reprint of: COVID-19, lockdowns, and the municipal bond market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
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    15. Tran, Nhu & Uzmanoglu, Cihan, 2022. "COVID-19, lockdowns, and the municipal bond market," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    16. Bourdeau-Brien, Michael & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2019. "Municipal financing costs following disasters," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 48-64.
    17. Francis A. Longstaff, 2009. "Municipal Debt and Marginal Tax Rates: Is there a Tax Premium in Asset Prices?," NBER Working Papers 14687, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Lu, Runjing & Ye, Zihan, 2023. "Roe v. Rates: Reproductive Healthcare and Public Financing Costs," SocArXiv 7t5jz, Center for Open Science.
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    21. Darko B. Vukovic & Carlos J. Rincon & Moinak Maiti, 2021. "Price distortions and municipal bonds premiums: evidence from Switzerland," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-21, December.
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    24. Landoni, Mattia, 2018. "Tax distortions and bond issue pricing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(2), pages 382-393.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies

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