Thread: Cost of Debt
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Old 02-28-06, 05:29 PM
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WallStGolfer31 WallStGolfer31 is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2005
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Quote:
Originally Posted by acdelatorre
Hello,

I was referred to join here by Mr. Joe Styles from Investopedia.com. There is this one question that has been bugging me for about a month now.

WACC is calculated as:

[(E/V) * Re] + [(D/V) * Rd * (1-Rt)]

Where;

E = Total Equity

D = Total Debt

V = E + D

Re = Cost of Equity

Rd = Cost of debt

Rt = Tax rate

Now, my question is - why is there such a concept as a pre-tax cost of debt and post-tax cost of debt? Why is the cost of debt being multiplied by (1-Rt)? I have begun my foray into the world of management accounting by first studying cash flows, so I can't see the implications of these concepts. I mean...why not be the 'cost of debt' be just it and not multiply it anymore by the said factor? Please help me.

Many thanks,

lex


You have two different cots of debt, post taxes and pre taxes, becasue often times you can get a tax break on interest paid during certian circumstances. I can't recall exactly how though, I left my book back home on the subject, but If i had it here I could tell you exactly why! lol
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