Q: Some ETF's collect dividends from their underlying assets, but also employ yield-enhancement strategies. We might expect that such ETF's would account their distributions as some combination of 'pass through' dividends plus (for example) return-of-capital, but it is apparent that some ETF's retain essentially all dividends, and account distributions as (for example) return-of-capital alone. I can see how this policy might be attractive in the short- to medium-term - or even in the long-term, depending on the rate of inflation, and capital gains rules - but a notably cost of this policy is to deprive the investor of the considerable benefits of the dividend tax credit.
Is there a rule-of-thumb one can apply, here, to evaluate the implied trade-off, or is this the sort of thing the determination of which needs an accounting degree? Further (and without implying any judgment), can the ETF itself benefit from the dividend tax credit, or is the credit only available to individual taxpayers?
Is there a rule-of-thumb one can apply, here, to evaluate the implied trade-off, or is this the sort of thing the determination of which needs an accounting degree? Further (and without implying any judgment), can the ETF itself benefit from the dividend tax credit, or is the credit only available to individual taxpayers?
