Westbrook's Painting Co. plans to issue a $1,000 par value, 20-year noncallable bond with a 7.00% annual coupon, paid semiannually. The company's marginal tax rate is 25%, but Congress is considering a change in the corporate tax rate to 15%. By how much would the component cost of debt used to calculate the WACC change if the new tax rate was adopted

The component cost of debt used to calculate the WACC will change by 0.70% if the new tax rate was adopted.

Explanation:

This can be calculated using the formula for calculating the component cost of debt used to calculate the WACC as follows:

CD = WD * PCD * (1 - t) (1)

Where;

CD = Component of cost of debt in WACC

WD = Weight of debt

PCD = Pretax cost of debt

t = tax rate

Note: Since information is provided for only the 20-year noncallable bond in the question, we assume that WD is 100% for simplicity purpose.

We can therefore proceed as follows:

a. CD When tax rate is 25%

Based on equation (1) and the assumption in the note, we have:

CD when t is 25% = Component of cost of debt in WACC = ?

WD = Weight of debt = 100%

PCD = Pretax cost of debt = 7%

t = tax rate = 25%

Substituting into equation (1), we have:

CD when t is 25% = 100% * 7% * (1 - 25%) = 5.25%

b. CD When tax rate is 15%

Based on equation (1) and the assumption in the note, we have:

CD when t is 15% = Component of cost of debt in WACC = ?

WD = Weight of debt = 100%

PCD = Pretax cost of debt = 7%

t = tax rate = 15%

Substituting into equation (1), we have:

CD when t is 15% = 100% * 7% * (1 - 15%) = 5.95%

c. the WACC change if the new tax rate was adopted

Change in WACC = CD when t is 15% - CD when t is 25% = 5.95% - 5.25% = 0.70%

Therefore, the component cost of debt used to calculate the WACC will change by 0.70% if the new tax rate was adopted.

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