<P> In financial history of the world, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was the first recorded (public) company ever to pay regular dividends . The VOC paid annual dividends worth around 18 percent of the value of the shares for almost 200 years of existence (1602--1800). </P> <P> Cash dividends are the most common form of payment and are paid out in currency, usually via electronic funds transfer or a printed paper check . Such dividends are a form of investment income and are usually taxable to the recipient in the year they are paid . This is the most common method of sharing corporate profits with the shareholders of the company . For each share owned, a declared amount of money is distributed . Thus, if a person owns 100 shares and the cash dividend is 50 cents per share, the holder of the stock will be paid $50 . Dividends paid are not classified as an expense, but rather a deduction of retained earnings . Dividends paid does not show up on an income statement but does appear on the balance sheet . </P> <P> Stock or scrip dividends are those paid out in the form of additional stock shares of the issuing corporation, or another corporation (such as its subsidiary corporation). They are usually issued in proportion to shares owned (for example, for every 100 shares of stock owned, a 5% stock dividend will yield 5 extra shares). </P> <P> Nothing tangible will be gained if the stock is split because the total number of shares increases, lowering the price of each share, without changing the market capitalization, or total value, of the shares held . (See also Stock dilution .) </P>

Which kind of dividends typically pay dividends with additional shares of the corporation’s stock