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Investment taxation and portfolio performance

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  • Bergstresser, Daniel
  • Pontiff, Jeffrey

Abstract

We use the federal tax codes from 1926 through 2009 to construct the after-tax returns that individual investors, corporations, and broker–dealers would have generated on a set of benchmark portfolios. Portfolio strategies differ in the pace of capital gains realizations. This creates important heterogeneity in effective investment taxation beyond that implied by dividend yields. Tax burdens reduce the return premium that value portfolios earn over growth portfolios and the premium of small market capitalization portfolios over large market capitalization portfolios. Tax burdens exacerbate the equity premium puzzle, although they help explain mixed empirical results about the dividend preferences of high income and corporate investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Bergstresser, Daniel & Pontiff, Jeffrey, 2013. "Investment taxation and portfolio performance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 245-257.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:97:y:2013:i:c:p:245-257
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2012.04.005
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    Cited by:

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    2. Clemens Sialm & Hanjiang Zhang, 2020. "Tax‐Efficient Asset Management: Evidence from Equity Mutual Funds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(2), pages 735-777, April.
    3. Mishra, Anil V. & Anwar, Sajid, 2017. "Foreign portfolio equity holdings and capital gains taxation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 54-68.
    4. Martin Rohleder & Dominik Schulte & Janik Syryca & Marco Wilkens, 2018. "Mutual Fund Stock†Picking Skill: New Evidence from Valuation†versus Liquidity†Motivated Trading," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 47(2), pages 309-347, June.
    5. Zhe Chen & David R. Gallagher & Graham Harman & Geoffrey J. Warren & Lihui Xi, 2020. "How much does tax erode fund excess returns?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(4), pages 3407-3446, December.
    6. Liqun Liu & Zijun Wang, 2020. "Tax avoidance and asset returns: some theoretical results on the tax clientele effects," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(1), pages 41-49.
    7. José María Durán-Cabré & Alejandro Esteller-Moré & Mariona Mas-Montserrat, 2019. "Behavioural responses to the (re)introduction of wealth taxes. Evidence from Spain," Working Papers 2019/04, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    8. Beggs, William & Hill-Kleespie, Austin & Liu, Yanguang, 2022. "Mutual fund tax implications when investment advisors manage tax-exempt separate accounts," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    9. Yin Chen & Roni Israelov, 2024. "Income illusions: challenging the high yield stock narrative," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 25(2), pages 190-202, March.
    10. George Aragon & Bing Liang & Hyuna Park, 2014. "Onshore and Offshore Hedge Funds: Are They Twins?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(1), pages 74-91, January.

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