ETF Tax Basics - Fidelity (2024)

FAQs

What is the tax loophole of an ETF? ›

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. The ETF tax loophole works only on capital gains, though.

This is referred to a FIFO, or first in, first out. However, if you identify which shares you want to sell, you can choose those that produce the lowest gain or the greatest loss, depending on the situation.

Fidelity's actively managed ETFs seek better investing outcomes* and offer trading flexibility along with potential tax efficiency. *While active ETFs offer the potential to outperform an index, these products may more significantly trail an index as compared with passive ETFs.

If you hold these investments in a tax-deferred account, you generally won't be taxed until you make a withdrawal, and the withdrawal will be taxed at your current ordinary income tax rate. If you invest in stocks and bonds via ETFs, you probably won't be in for many surprises.

Tax-loss harvesting can be a great strategy to lower tax exposure but traders must be sure to avoid wash sales. You can't replace a security that you've sold at a loss by purchasing one that's substantially identical from 30 days before the sale until 30 days after it's complete.

Tax loss rules

These capital losses can be used to offset capital gains (from any investments, not just ETFs) and up to $3,000 of ordinary income ($1,500 for married persons filing separately). Capital losses in excess of these limits can be carried forward and used in future years.

The IRS expects taxpayers to keep the original documentation for capital assets, such as real estate and investments. It uses these documents, along with third-party records, bank statements and published market data, to verify the cost basis of assets.

How will Fidelity report cost basis? Unless otherwise instructed, Fidelity uses the Average Cost method, which calculates cost basis by averaging the share price for each purchase into one price per share. Shares are debited from the account using the First In, First Out (FIFO) order.

The bottom line is that the IRS expects you to maintain records that identify the cost basis of your securities. If you don't have adequate records, you might have to rely on the cost basis that your brokerage firm reports—or you may be required to treat the cost basis as zero, which could mean owing more in taxes.

The sale of ETFs is subject to an activity assessment fee (of between $0.01 to $0.03 per $1000 of principal). Fidelity ETFs are subject to a short-term trading fee by Fidelity, if held less than 30 days. 1. Expense Ratio is the total annual fund operating expense ratio from the fund's most recent prospectus.

Is there a downside to investing in ETFs? ›

What's the Biggest Risk of Owning an ETF? The greatest risk for investors is market risk. If the underlying index that an ETF tracks drops in value by 30% due to unfavorable market price movements, the value of the ETF will drop as well.

While Fidelity wins out overall, Vanguard is the best option for retirement savers. Its platform offers tools and education focused specifically on retirement planning.

Holding an ETF for longer than a year may get you a more favorable capital gains tax rate when you sell your investment.

Dividends and interest payments from ETFs are taxed similarly to income from the underlying stocks or bonds inside them. For U.S. taxpayers, this income needs to be reported on form 1099-DIV. 2 If you earn a profit by selling an ETF, they are taxed like the underlying stocks or bonds as well.

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.

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.

The simplest way to avoid this is to own mutual funds in tax-advantaged retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s. You can also make sure to hold the investments for the long term, so that if you do owe taxes, you'll pay them at the lower long-term capital gains rate.

Federal Income Tax

If you do not fill out a tax withholding form, federal law requires ETF to withhold federal taxes as if you are single with no adjustments.

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.