Australian ETF distribution components now available for FY23/24
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Sharesight now has updated ETF distribution component information for the FY23/24 Australian tax year for the majority of ETF providers in Australia, including Betashares, Russell Investments, VanEck, iShares and Vanguard. This means that for most Australian ETFs, Sharesight users will not need to manually update their distribution components using Sharesight’s annual tax statement components form to ensure the cost base for these ETFs is correctly adjusted and recorded in their portfolio. To learn more about the importance of keeping accurate cost base records for your ETFs, plus how you can easily track this in Sharesight, keep reading.
AMIT tax components for Australian ETFs
ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) are a type of unitised investment fund that can be bought and sold on stock exchanges such as the ASX. These funds often pay distribution income to shareholders throughout the financial year (typically quarterly) for any income earned by the fund.
Since 2016, Australian ETFs can be structured as Attribution Managed Investment Trusts (AMITs). AMITs are an evolution of the Managed Investment Trust (MIT) structure that allows trustees to ‘attribute’ taxable income to unit holders without the need to distribute that income immediately.
This means investors may need to record a cost base increase when the attributed taxable income exceeds the distribution paid to the unit holder during the financial year.
For tax purposes, it’s important for investors to keep accurate records of these cost base adjustments on ETFs in their portfolios, as the cost base factors into capital gains tax (CGT) calculations should these ETFs be sold.
AMIT tax components for FY23/24
Sharesight has loaded AMIT components for the following ETFs for the 2023-2024 financial year:
- STW
- DJRE
- E200
- Betashares
- Russell Investments
- VanEck
- Global X
- iShares
- Vanguard
Sharesight’s ETF distribution data
It's important to note that Sharesight receives estimates of the gross distribution values from the ASX when they are announced, however AMIT components are only finalised when fund managers know the breakdown of income earned by the trusts, and then they make these values available to unit holders by issuing year-end AMMA tax statements.
This means that the distribution values Sharesight receives from the ASX throughout the year do not contain AMIT component breakdowns. Sharesight has worked directly with the registries and fund managers involved to collect raw data for the majority of these AMIT trusts, which we then use to calculate the component values for individual ETF holdings.
For ETFs where Sharesight has data, users will be able to accept these values if they have not yet confirmed the distribution payment. For ETFs where users have already confirmed the payment or used the annual tax statement components form and want to return to the original values, clicking ‘Reset’ when editing the distribution will revert the data to the updated values we’ve received. This will also reset any file attachments on the payout, so please ensure you save and re-attach these.
You can see how this process works in Sharesight by viewing the video below on how to confirm the ETF distribution components in Sharesight, before running the taxable income report to ensure the values match your AMMA statement.
How AMIT cost base adjustments impact performance
Sharesight takes into account both AMIT cost base increase and decrease components when calculating investment performance. Here’s how it works in each scenario:
AMIT cost base decrease
When calculating performance, Sharesight adds the AMIT cost base decrease component to your gross dividend given that it represents cash received that was not attributed to you.
AMIT cost base increase
When calculating performance, Sharesight deducts the AMIT cost base increase from your gross dividend given that it reduces your attributed income to the net cash amount you actually received.
How to confirm Australian ETF tax components in Sharesight
Watch this video to learn how to confirm ETF tax components in Sharesight:
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FURTHER READING
1 If you derive income from the share market, your Sharesight subscription may be tax deductible. Check with your accountant for details.
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