How much tax do you pay on an ETF sale?
With some exceptions for certain types of ETFs, long-term capital gains are taxed at no more than 15% (zero for investors in the 10% or 15% tax bracket; 20% for investors in the 39.6% tax bracket ).
For most ETFs, selling after less than a year is taxed as a short-term capital gain. ETFs held for longer than a year are taxed as long-term gains. If you sell an ETF, and buy the same (or a substantially similar) ETF after less than 30 days, you may be subject to the wash sale rule.
Brokerage houses may charge a commission for ETF trades just as they charge for any other market-traded security. These fees are typically around $20 per trade or less but they can add up over time if the investor trades ETFs often.
Not all ETF dividends are taxed the same; they are broken down into qualified and unqualified dividends. Qualified dividends are taxed between 0% and 20%. Unqualified dividends are taxed from 10% to 37%. High earners pay additional tax on dividends, but only if they make a substantial income.
The data is clear—we're seeing a large reduction in tax liability for clients holding ETFs rather than their equivalent mutual funds. This stark difference in Tax Drag is due to the ETF's ability to absorb capital gains distributions through in-kind distribution.
Treatment of gain or loss realized on selling the ETFs: While return of capital is a form of distribution, they are considered a non-taxable event that will impact an investor's book value and therefore affect the calculation of capital gains and losses of the investor when units are sold.
| Tax rate | Single filers | Head of household |
|---|---|---|
| 12% | $11,001 to $44,725 | $15,701 to $59,850 |
| 22% | $44,726 to $95,375 | $59,851 to $95,350 |
| 24% | $95,376 to $182,100 | $95,351 to $182,100 |
| 32% | $182,101 to $231,250 | $182,101 to $231,250 |
Commission-free trades
$01 for online US stock, ETF, and option trades.
Low Liquidity
If an ETF is thinly traded, there can be problems getting out of the investment, depending on the size of your position relative to the average trading volume. The biggest sign of an illiquid investment is large spreads between the bid and the ask.
If an ETF still has large trading volumes, a price that isn't moving radically up and down with each new trade, and fairly small bid-ask spreads (see the next section), then the market price is likely a better indicator of portfolio's true value than the NAV, and it is safe to proceed with a trade.
Why not invest in ETF?
The single biggest risk in ETFs is market risk. Like a mutual fund or a closed-end fund, ETFs are only an investment vehicle—a wrapper for their underlying investment. So if you buy an S&P 500 ETF and the S&P 500 goes down 50%, nothing about how cheap, tax efficient, or transparent an ETF is will help you.
It's important to consider that whichever ETF generates a higher dividend yield will also generate a higher tax burden. For VIG and SCHD as of 2023 that is SCHD. This means for 2023, SCHD will generate a higher tax burden than VIG.
Holding period:
If you hold ETF shares for one year or less, then gain is short-term capital gain. If you hold ETF shares for more than one year, then gain is long-term capital gain.
But there are usually taxes due on S&P 500 funds' dividends. The exact amount of taxes varies by taxpayer, though. For most taxpayers, in the 25% or higher tax bracket, qualified dividends are taxed at 15%.
A wash sale occurs when an investor sells a security at a loss and then purchases the same or a substantially similar security within 30 days, before or after the transaction. This rule is designed to prevent investors from claiming capital losses as tax deductions if they re-enter a similar position too quickly.
One common tax-loss harvesting strategy is to sell an individual stock that has incurred losses and replace it with an ETF or mutual fund that provides exposure to the same asset class, and often a similar segment of that asset class.
Vanguard today launched Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VTEI) and Vanguard California Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VTEC), two index municipal bond ETFs managed by Vanguard Fixed Income Group.
A non-taxable distribution may be a stock dividend, a stock split, or a distribution from a corporate liquidation. A non-taxable distribution is only taxable when you sell the stock of the corporation that issued the distribution.
Dividends come exclusively from your business's profits and count as taxable income for you and other owners. General corporations, unlike S-Corps and LLCs, pay corporate tax on their profits. Distributions that are paid out after that are considered “after-tax” and are taxable to the owners that receive them.
If you are single and a wage earner with an annual salary of $50,000, your federal income tax liability will be approximately $5700. Social security and medicare tax will be approximately $3,800. Depending on your state, additional taxes my apply.
What is the 2 percent rule for taxes?
In the case of an individual, the miscellaneous itemized deductions for any taxable year shall be allowed only to the extent that the aggregate of such deductions exceeds 2 percent of adjusted gross income.
Generally, the amounts an individual withdraws from an IRA or retirement plan before reaching age 59½ are called "early" or "premature" distributions. Individuals must pay an additional 10% early withdrawal tax unless an exception applies.
For iShares® ETFs, Fidelity receives compensation from the ETF sponsor and/or its affiliates in connection with an exclusive long-term marketing program that includes promotion of iShares® ETFs and inclusion of iShares® funds in certain FBS platforms and investment programs.
Overall Appeal. Fidelity and Schwab are both excellent choices. These investment firms offer thousands of funds. There are some nuances, such as Fidelity being better for crypto traders and Schwab being more optimal for futures traders.
Vanguard and Fidelity charge $0 commissions for online equity, options, and ETF trades for U.S.-based customers. Fidelity has a $0.65 per contract option fee; it's $1 at Vanguard. Fidelity will set you back more for broker-assisted stock trades ($32.95 versus Vanguard's $25.
