Headed to Costco, just gonna grab some Kirkland jeans, salsa, a hot tub and a special dividend

Costco declared a special  dividend of $7 per share, as it joins a growing list of companies returning cash to investors in advance of anticipated dividend tax increases. The dividend will cost the wholesale retailer $3.07 billion, and it had about $4.8 billion in cash and short term investments as of Sept. 2. CFO Richard Galanti commented, “Our strong balance sheet and favorable access to the credit markets allow us to provide shareholders with this dividend.”

The dividend will be paid on Dec. 18 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 10. Earlier this week, Las Vegas Sands (LVS) announced a special dividend of $2.75 per share at a cost of $2.27 billion and spirits-maker Brown-Forman (BFB) declared a $4 special dividend. Several companies have declared onetime cash dividends in recent days ahead of a likely increase in the dividend tax rate due to the so-called fiscal cliff  - a combination of tax increases and spending cuts due to kick in at the beginning of 2013 if Congress and the White House cannot reach agreement on a plan to reduce the federal budget deficit.

Costco Wholesale (COST : NASDAQ : US$102.58), Net Change: 6.07, % Change: 6.29%, Volume: 10,364,346