A seven-year municipal bond yields 4.8 percent What if your marginal tax rate is 28 percentWhat interest rate on a seven-year corporate bon of equal risk would provide you with the same after-tax retu?

Answer 1

Figuring Taxable-equivalent Rate for a Bond Here's the formula for figuring the precise taxable-equivalent rate for any bond: Subtract the federal marginal tax bracket percentage from the number 1, and divide the tax-free rate by the result.

For example, assume you're in the 28% tax bracket and are offered a 5.75% tax-free bond. You would divide 5.75 by 0.72 (1 less 0.28) and find that the taxable-equivalent yield is 7.99%. In other words, you'd need a taxable investment paying more than 7.99% to beat the return on the 5.75% tax-exempt. In the 35% bracket, the divisor would be 0.65 (1 less 0.35) and the taxable-equivalent yield would be 8.85%.

Figuring Tax-exempt Equivalent of a Taxable Yield There's a similar formula for figuring finding the tax-exempt equivalent of a taxable yield: Subtract the federal marginal tax bracket percentage from the number 1, and multiply the taxable rate by that number. The result is the tax-free rate.

Assume you're considering a taxable investment yielding 8%. If you're in the 28% tax bracket, multiply 8 by 0.72 (1 less 0.28). The result is 5.76, telling you a 5.76% tax-free yield will put the same amount in your pocket, after tax, as an 8% taxable yield. In the 35% bracket, the multiplier would be 0.65 (1 less 0.35), so a tax-free yield of 5.2% will match a taxable yield of 8%.