A special tax-deduction is permitted for reasonable ESOP dividends on C corporation stock held in the ESOP if they are (i) used to repay an ESOP loan the proceeds of which were used to acquire the employer securities with respect to which the dividends were paid, (ii) distributed in cash to participants no later than 90 days after the close of the plan year in which they were paid, or (iii) paid to the plan and reinvested in company stock. Distributed dividends are taxed as ordinary income.