Valuation of any asset is pretty simple once you make some reasonable assumptions. As a general rule, you're willing to buy something if the present value of discounted future cash flows is greater than the asking price. Because we live in a world with taxes, it makes sense to take those into account. That's why there's intellectual appeal to the idea that if tax rates on dividends go up, investors would not be willing to pay as much for those income stocks as they would with taxes at the present 15% rate on qualified dividends.
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