Mustard Corporation (a C corporation) owns 15% of the stock of Burgundy Corporation (a C corporation), which pays an annual dividend to its shareholders. Mustard is considering the purchase of additional shares of Burgundy stock. Would this stock purchase affect the amount of dividends received deduction that Mustard can claim

Yes, it will affect it.

Explanation:

The dividends received deduction (DRD) refers to a US federal tax law that allows some corporation that are paid dividend by related entities to deduct certain percentage of the dividend received from their income tax depending on their percentage of ownership of the related entity that paid the dividend.

The three criteria or tiers that determines how much to deduct as DRD are as follows:

1. Generally, the DRD a corporation is qualified for is 70% of the dividend received.

2. A DRD equals to 80% of the dividend received can be deducted if the corporation holds more than 20% but less than 80% shareholding of the company that paid the dividend.

3. If the corporation holds more than 80% shareholding of the company that paid the dividend, a DRD of 100% of the dividend applies.

Therefore, additional stock purchase will affect the amount of dividends received deduction that Mustard can claim.