When you short a stock, you are responsible for paying any dividends issued while your short position is open.
Because short selling involves borrowing shares, any dividends paid by the company are owed to the lender of those shares. If the company declares a dividend while you are short the stock, the dividend amount will be charged to your account on the payable date.
Dividend payments on short positions are not optional and can affect the overall cost of maintaining a short position. In some cases, dividend amounts may be larger or occur more frequently than expected, which can increase losses or reduce returns.