This is a piece I wrote in response to Alphabeta's comments earlier.

It's great we can discuss this at length. Although capital gains tax is not imposed under an independent tax code of its own in Malaysia, the aggregate net gains in a share trade are nonetheless taxed albeit indirectly under a general all purpose income tax that is levied on the taxpayer each year.

As far as dividend payout is concerned, there's always a flipside view of the coin that has not gained currency in the mainstream media for the simple reason the interests of the wall street and main street are not necessarily aligned.

The only reason mainstream media has not taken Tim Cook to task for departing from his predecessor's policy of not paying dividends - for all 16 years of Jobs' tenure at Apple - is because they're being polite and more so they do not wish to upset the financial markets namely the institutional investors that love reaping the cash through a dividend payout although the latter does not actually improve enterprise value.

But it's time we called a spade a spade.

Financially prudent companies listed on stock exchange seek to improve enterprise value by generating a greater turnout in net assets including cash and do not recklessly deplete them on an unproductive exercise such as dividend payout which exist solely to please shareholders who're unable to profit otherwise from capital gains in the stock market.

It's like what Michael Dell has opined over the years dividend expenditure is a hurdle to intelligent financial management. This is the opinion shared (for very good reasons) by Steve Jobs until his untimely demise and Warren Buffet.

                                                                                                                                           Ezra, 21 June 2015