Many investors have been touting dividend stocks as way to play it safe amid the rocky economic recovery. But dividends may not be such a safe bet heading into 2013. You can blame Uncle Sam for that. As a result of the slated tax hike for dividends, corporations will be forced to take a hard look at the way they spend extra cash.

They could start “potentially pulling back on dividend increases and increasing share buybacks,” says Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P. “Taxes are the main concern for dividends,” he says. But 2013 is such a ways away. Until then, Silverblatt still expects to see dividend increases “across the board for all sectors.”

Source: Wall Street Journal

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