The illegal practice of underwriters marking up the prices on bonds for the purpose of reducing the yield on the bond. This practice, referred to as "burning the yield," is done after the bond is placed in escrow for an investor who is awaiting repayment. 

|||Yield burning is attempted in order to reduce the amount of tax that is incurred on fixed-income investments. However, this practice violates federal tax laws. It is not legally possible for an investor to earn a given yield on a fixed-income investment and use yield-burning activities to evade the full extent of the tax obligations incurred on that investment.