Do Bank Stockholders Share the Burden of Required Reserve Tax? Evidence from Turkey

This study examines whether bank shareholders bear the burden of required reserves tax by analyzing the reaction of banks' stock returns to the changes in the required reserve ratio. Results show that increases in reserve requirements significantly lower bank returns implying that shareholders share a portion of the required reserve tax. Required reserves changes are partially predicted by the investors, and increases and decreases in required reserve rates have an asymmetric effect on stock returns. In addition, large and public banks bear a larger share of the tax, and the remuneration of reserves has important implications for the tax burden. Finally, there exists some heterogeneity across banks as reflected by differences in signs and magnitudes of the estimated coefficients