Companies from Wynn Resorts Ltd. to IDT Corp. are paying special dividends at four times the pace of last year, helping investors stay a step ahead of the taxman with rates poised to jump in 2013.

From the end of September to mid-November, 59 companies in the Russell 3000 stock index declared a one-time cash payment to shareholders, up from about 15 in the year-earlier period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. More than a dozen said they acted because of a pending dividend-tax increase.