Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 June 2022
Standard portfolio choice models predict that investors consider the tax implications of trading. However, individuals are disposed toward realizing gains and holding losing investments, behaviors that worsen their performance. We show, in an experimental market, that increasing tax salience reduces the disposition effect between 22% and 47%, leading to higher portfolio balances without increasing total trading activity. Using field data, we find that investors’ disposition is sensitive to taxes around tax rate changes when taxes are likely salient. Our analysis demonstrates that increasing tax awareness can affect households’ portfolio choices, which suggests policy implications for improving financial decision-making.
We thank an anonymous referee, Gennaro Bernile, Fernando Chague, Indraneel Chakraborty, Jennifer Conrad (the editor), Carina Cuculiza, Sarah Khalaf, George Korniotis, Alok Kumar, Ville Rantala, and Prithu Vatsa, and seminar participants at the University of Miami and at the 2020 Financial Management Association Annual Conference for insightful comments. We appreciate research funding from the Rowan University Seed Funding Program. The Rowan University Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved the research methods used in the article (IRB Protocol #2019000376).