The Fiscal Cliff scenario, in which automatic budget cuts and tax hikes go into effect starting January 1, isn't a certainty yet, but many companies are already acting in response to it. For instance, the tax on dividends is now at 15 percent, but as of January 1, unless Congress takes action, they will start to be treated as ordinary income.
That's why the retail store chain Dillard's, which has paid out its dividend in January for each of the past ten years, this year decided to move it up to December. Wal-Mart similarly changed the schedule for its dividend payout, moving it up from January 2, 2013, to December 27, 2012.
Don't think this is merely an outburst of altruism on behalf of these companies' shareholders, though. In each of those cases, the prime beneficiary of the preferential tax treatment - if that indeed comes to pass - will be the family that controls a significant portion of the stock.
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