consent dividend

Consent Dividend

A dividend that is not actually paid to a shareholder but is kept as part of a company's retained earnings. A shareholder may agree to have a dividend added to his/her gross income even if it not paid. This may increase the shareholder's personal tax liability but may decrease the company's corporate tax liability, which may in turn help the share price.

Farlex Financial Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All Rights Reserved

consent dividend

The retained earnings that are credited to paid-in surplus by a personal holding company. The consent dividend is taxed to stockholders as an ordinary dividend; however, this tax liability is partially offset by the stockholders' increasing the cost basis of the stock by the same amount.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.