Stock dividends

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 175754061X

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-136496

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Stock dividends

Place of publication:: Washington

Publisher:: U.S. Gov. Print. Off.

Year of publication:: 1927

Scope:: vii, 273 S.

Digitisation:: 2021

Collection:: Economics Books

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Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: The nature of the inquiry

Collection:: Economics Books

STOCK DIVIDENDS THE NATURE OF THE INQUIRY The present investigation into the subject of stock dividends was made pursuant to a resolution of the Senate of the United States (S. a, 304) approved December 22, 1926. This resolution reads as follows: Whereas it has become the usual practice of corporations in order to protect stockholders from the payment of income taxes, to declare stock dividends; WA ris this procedure enables corporations to acquire competing plants, and in this way avoid the provisions of the antitrust laws; and Whereas in order to legislate upon the subject, the Senate should be fully informed as to the extent of this practice: Therefore be it Resolved, That the Federal Trade Commission be, and it is hereby, directed to ascertain and report to the Senate the names and the capitalization of cor- porations that have issued stock dividends, together with the amount of such stock dividends, since the decision of the Supreme Court holding that stock dividends were not taxable, and to ascertain and report the same information as to the same corporations for the same period of time prior to such decision. The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States (Eisner v. Macomber, 252 U. S. 189), Appendix I, referred to in the resolution was rendered on March 8, 1920. Because of the closeness of this date to the beginning of the calendar year it was decided to request the necessary information for the seven years ending and beginning January 1, 1920. By this method each of the two 7-year periods would begin approximately two months earlier than if March 8 were used. This would affect the results but slightly and would simplify the making of the returns. As a large proportion of cor- porations keep their books on a calendar-year basis it was believed that this procedure by sparing them some labor and expense would result in securing a larger number of reports to the commission. For the four years 1922-1925: the corporation income-tax returns of the Treasury Department have asked for reports as to the issue of stock dividends. On the request of the commission this depart- ment kindly agreed to compile and furnish a list of all corporations reporting the issue of such dividends in the four years in question. The commission itself compiled from Poor’s and Moodys Manuals the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, and the Cumulative Digest for each of the years 1920 to 1926, inclusive, the names of all corporations which issued, or apparently issued, a stock dividend. Combining the corporations on this latter list with those on the Treasury list and eliminating all duplications gave a total of cor- porations either reported to have issued stock dividends or about which there was information leading to the conclusion that they might have issued such dividends between January 1, 1920, and December 31, 1926.

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