Dividends as a share of after tax profits from current production in the national income and product accounts has ranged from 40 to over 80 percent since 1980. Private-sector reports (for example, the S&P 500) of dividends as a share of operating profits ranged from 27 to 63 percent for the same period.
There are differences in coverage and definitions between the NIPA estimates and the private-sector estimates. One of the most important factors accounting for the difference in the estimates of dividend-to-profits ratios is the inclusion of S corporations in the NIPA estimates; they are excluded from many of the private-sector estimates. S corporations are legal entities that pay no Federal corporate profits taxes; instead, all of their earnings are treated as taxable income of shareholders, regardless of whether the income is distributed as dividends or retained by the corporation. As a result, most income is paid out as dividends. Since 1998, S corporation dividends generally represented 82 to 92 percent of the profits of S corporations that reported gains. When losses are included, dividends accounted for more than 100 percent of net S corporation profits for most years during that period.
For a more in depth analysis of the S corporation estimates and how they compare to total dividends and total profits, please see the paper “Prototype NIPA Estimates of Profits for S Corporatations.”
A table showing cash dividends of S corps and other corporations is available here.