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Click here for an explanation of ex-dividend date from the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The ex-dividend date helps determine whether or not a dividend paid to stockholders by a corporation is "qualified" to be taxed at a reduced rate.  In order for a dividend to be "qualified" the proper holding period, relative to the ex-dividend date, must be met for the stock (among other things).  Click here to read what the IRS has to say about this.

Generally, if you've held your most recent purchase of a common stock for at least 61 consecutive days you'll have met the holding period requirement for any dividend you actually receive.  For common stock shares all purchased at least 61 consecutive days ago, if you fail to meet the proper holding period because you purchased too late (on the ex-dividend date or after) you won't receive the dividend anyway.  If you sold too early (before the ex-dividend date), you won't receive the dividend either.  (Or, in what should be an unusual situation where you might receive the dividend even though you sold before the ex-dividend date, you'd owe it to whomever you sold the stock to).

Finding the Ex-Dividend Date

There are numerous places to find ex-dividend date on the internet. 

For example finance.yahoo.com:

• Enter a ticker symbol and click GO
• Click "Historical Prices" (vertical toolbar at the left)
• Select "Dividends Only" and click "Get Prices"
• You should now see Dividends and the dates displayed are the ex-dividend dates.
• Click here for a form that will do this for you.  (You'll need to adjust the date range after using the form.)

Another site with this information is earnings.com (formerly companyboardroom.com):

• Enter a ticker symbol (top right) and click GO.
• Scroll down the page to find the Dividends section (below Earnings Releases).
• You'll see the ex-dividend, payable, record and declaration dates for dividends.
• Look closely at the dividend information to verify that it's for the ticker symbol you want.  Sometimes the information for the ticker symbol you requested isn't the first thing listed in the dividends section.
• Note that the dollar value of the dividend per share is rounded to three decimal places.  For example, look at the Sep'06 - Jun'07 dividends for WAG.  The actual dividend was $0.0775 per share, but it's shown as $0.078 per share.

Also www.stockcentral.com:

• At the top of the web page, click "tools" then "research links" (no need to login).
• Enter a ticker symbol (top right where it says "Ticker:") and click Go.
• Click "View Dividends" (just above "StockCentral Research Links").
• Be aware that the dividend dollar amounts are adjusted for stock splits (which is not what you should enter in club accounting software)!