Question

Jackson has the choice to invest in city of Mitchell bonds or Sundial, Incorporated corporate bonds that pay 5.8 percent interest. Jackson is a single taxpayer who earns $52,500 annually. Assume that the city of Mitchell bonds and the Sundial, Incorporated bonds have similar risk. What interest rate would the city of Mitchell have to pay in order to make Jackson indifferent between investing in the city of Mitchell and the Sundial, Incorporated bonds for 2020

Answer 1

4.524%

Step-by-step explanation:

Jackson's marginal tax rate = 22%

after tax return of Sundial Incorporated bonds = 5.8% x (1 - 22%) = 4.524%

since municipal bonds are not taxed by the federal government, in order to compare the yields we must calculate the after tax return of corporate bonds. On the other hand, federal bonds do not pay state and local taxes.