Two of Lancaster County's largest publicly held companies don't want their investors caught on the wrong end of the "fiscal cliff."

They're speeding up their next dividend payments to spare shareholders from possibly higher 2013 taxes posed by the "fiscal cliff."

Susquehanna Bancshares and Fulton Financial will accelerate their next quarterly dividend payment from January to late December.

In quickening the payout of 7 cents a share to Dec. 31, Susquehanna Bancshares cited "the potential for change in tax rates that would apply to dividends in 2013. ..."

"We are pleased to take this step to ensure that we are providing returns to our shareholders in an efficient manner."

Fulton Financial had a similar explanation for its earlier payout of 8 cents a share, advancing it to Dec. 27.

The company attributed it to "the continued federal fiscal discussions and the uncertainty around the tax treatment of dividends in 2013."

Plenty of publicly held companies in the region and across the nation are doing the same thing.

York-based Bon-Ton and Boyertown-based National Penn Bancshares are among the firms based in this region to have made adjustments.

National Penn called the switch "part of our strategy to return capital to our shareholders in a tax effective manner."

Among the many national firms to have made the same move are Wal-Mart, Caterpillar, Oracle, Best Buy, Walt Disney and Expedia.

Tax rates for dividends are scheduled to revert to ordinary-income rates as high as 39.6 percent beginning Jan. 1.

The current top dividend tax rate is 15 percent.

That's just one of many issues facing Congress and President Obama in the ongoing negotiations to avoid the "fiscal cliff."

The "fiscal cliff" is the nickname for $600 billion worth of tax hikes and spending cuts set to hit New Year's Day, an economic blow that some fear will trigger another recession.
tmekeel@lnpnews.com