ETFs and tax-efficiency (2024)

FAQs

ETFs and tax-efficiency? ›

By minimizing capital gains distributions, ETF tax efficiency lets investors defer tax bills until they sell shares, preserving more capital for market investment and potential compounded returns over time.

Although similar to mutual funds, equity ETFs are generally more tax-efficient because they tend not to distribute a lot of capital gains.

If your gain is earned for more than one year, then you are taxed at a capital gains rate of up to 28%. 7 This means that you cannot take advantage of normal capital gains tax rates on investments in ETFs that invest in gold, silver, or platinum.

Index funds—whether mutual funds or ETFs (exchange-traded funds)—are naturally tax-efficient for a couple of reasons: Because index funds simply replicate the holdings of an index, they don't trade in and out of securities as often as an active fund would.

Generally, ETFs will have a slight edge from a tax efficiency perspective. ETFs tend to distribute comparatively fewer capital gains to shareholders – these same gains are simply more challenging to manage efficiently from a mutual fund. Overall, VOO and VTI are considered to have the same level of tax efficiency.

ETFs can be more tax efficient compared to traditional mutual funds. Generally, holding an ETF in a taxable account will generate less tax liabilities than if you held a similarly structured mutual fund in the same account. From the perspective of the IRS, the tax treatment of ETFs and mutual funds are the same.

For starters, because they're index funds, most ETFs have very little turnover, and thus amass far fewer capital gains than an actively managed mutual fund would. But they're also more tax efficient than index mutual funds, thanks to the magic of how new ETF shares are created and redeemed.

Thanks to the tax treatment of in-kind redemptions, ETFs typically record no gains at all. That means the tax hit from winning stock bets is postponed until the investor sells the ETF, a perk holders of mutual funds, hedge funds and individual brokerage accounts don't typically enjoy.

ETFs are generally considered more tax-efficient than mutual funds, owing to the fact that they typically have fewer capital gains distributions. However, they still have tax implications you must consider, both when creating your portfolio as well as when timing the sale of an ETF you hold.

At least once a year, funds must pass on any net gains they've realized. As a fund shareholder, you could be on the hook for taxes on gains even if you haven't sold any of your shares.

How do ETFs avoid capital gains? ›

ETFs can bypass taxable events using the in-kind redemption process, while also purging their portfolios of low-cost-basis securities to help portfolio managers avoid realizing large gains if they must sell holdings.

ETFs and index mutual funds tend to be generally more tax efficient than actively managed funds. And, in general, ETFs tend to be more tax efficient than index mutual funds.

Generally speaking, bonds will tend to be less tax-efficient than stocks. That's because most of the return that bond investors earn is income, and that income is taxed at your ordinary income tax rate, which is higher than the capital gains and dividend tax rates that apply to the gains from most stock holdings.

Or, you could also invest in both, for example, by putting half in VOO and half in VTI. Here's a summary of which one to choose: If you want to own only the biggest and safest stocks, choose VOO. If you want more diversification and exposure to mid-caps and small-caps, choose VTI.

However, if you know that you'd like a bit more exposure to smaller and medium-sized companies or just want to invest in more stocks overall, VTI is your best bet. VOO, meanwhile, is the better option for investors who want to focus heavily on large cap companies.

Both ETFs are excellent, low-fee options for your portfolio. They are Vanguard's largest ETFs by net assets. VTI is a total U.S. market fund and holds more than 3,500 stocks. VTI is better diversified and benefits from small and mid-cap stocks that grow into large caps.

Just as with individual securities, when you sell shares of a mutual fund or ETF (exchange-traded fund) for a profit, you'll owe taxes on that "realized gain." But you may also owe taxes if the fund realizes a gain by selling a security for more than the original purchase price—even if you haven't sold any shares.

On average, our findings show, an ETF gives an extra 0.20 percentage point a year in posttax performance compared with mutual funds, and international-equity ETFs even more—upward of 0.33 percentage point on average.

ETFs have several advantages for investors considering this vehicle. The 4 most prominent advantages are trading flexibility, portfolio diversification and risk management, lower costs versus like mutual funds, and potential tax benefits.