Answer:
5.6%
Explanation:
A lot of information is missing, so I looked for similar questions to fill in the blanks:
"Outstanding debt of Home Depot trades with a yield to maturity of 8%.
The tax rate of Home Depot is 30%.
What is the effective cost of debt of Home Depot?"
the effective cost of debt or after tax cost of debt = debt's yield to maturity x (1 - tax rate) = 8% x (1 - 30%) = 8% x 0.7 = 5.6%
Interest is tax deductible, therefore, it creates a tax shield that lowers net interest expense.
