Historic Dividend Calendar

A dividend is a type of corporate action and one of the many ways a company rewards its shareholders. Dividends are often announced quarterly/annually or to commemorate special feats/events - and can accordingly be categorized as Final, Interim or Special Dividend. While dividends are often seen as a way to share profit with the shareholders, the company might also decide to pay dividends after a non-profitable period using cash reserves.

Read more about Dividends here - Dividends: Definition in Stocks and How Payments Work - by Investopedia

The ex-date or the ex-dividend date is the first day a stock trades with the stock price reduced by the amount of the dividend amount. It is the date before which you need to have bought the stock to be eligible to receive the dividend in your linked bank account.

The record date is the day when a company checks its list of shareholders to determine the shareholders eligible to receive the dividend. This is linked to the ex-date depending on the trade settlement cycle.

While traditionally the record date came a day or two after the ex-date, as Indian Stock Market moves from a T+2 day settlement cycle to T+1 and eventually T+0 phase wise, the ex-date and record date may even fall on the same day. For this very reason, the pFinTools Dividend Calendar shows only the ex-date to avoid any confusion. The record date anyways is for the company's internal bookkeeping purposes and doesn't concern the investor all that much practically.

Read more about the Indian Stock Market's Transition from T+2 to T+0 settlement cycle here - T+0 Settlement: A new dawn in Indian stock market - by The Economic Times

Please note that the actual dividend payment date is independent of the ex-date or the record date and is purely at the discretion of the dividend issuing company.

When a company pays a dividend, the stock price of the company is reduced by the amount of the dividend being paid per share so that the declaration of profit does not affect one's net gains from an investment. So while dividend proves to be a sure shot way of profit booking by transferring a part of your investment to your bank account, it does not really benefit the investor directly by itself (unlike a buyback); instead in many cases it can have a negative impact on your tax liabilities - see How are dividends taxed?

In India, Dividends are added to your regular income and taxed according to your Income Tax Slab depending on whether you are opting for the old tax regime or the new tax regime. This is different from Capital Gains Taxes on income due to Price Appreciation of a Stock.

Read more on the tax implications of Dividends in India here - Tax on Dividend Income: Do I Need to Pay Tax on Dividend Income? - by cleartax

The dividend is paid on the Payment Date which is independent of the ex-date or the record date and is completely at the discretion of the company. It can range from a few days to a few months after the record date.

Read also - What is the ex-date and what is the record date? How are the two related?