Guides / ETF tax statements
ETF tax statements (AMMA / AMIT) explained
Own VAS, VGS, A200, NDQ or any other Australian ETF? The cash you received isn't what you report. Here's how to read the annual tax statement and get your return right.
Why ETFs are different
Australian ETFs are trusts. Each year they pass their income through to you, and that income is a mix of things taxed in different ways: Australian dividends with franking credits, interest, foreign income, capital gains and amounts that aren't taxed straight away. The cash distributions you received during the year don't tell you the mix. The fund's annual tax statement does.
For funds that have opted into the attribution regime (most do) it's called an AMMA statement (attribution managed investment trust member annual statement). It usually arrives between July and September.
Which amounts go where in myTax
| 13U | Share of net income from trusts, excluding capital gains, foreign income and franked distributions (the "non-primary production" income) |
|---|---|
| 13C | Franked distributions from trusts |
| 13Q | Share of franking credits from franked dividends |
| 18H / 18A | Capital gains distributed by the fund, combined with your own share sales in the capital gains section |
| 20E / 20O | Assessable foreign income, and the foreign income tax offset for tax already paid overseas |
Capital gains on the statement are usually shown "grossed up" (before the discount) with the discounted part identified. Put them through the capital gains section so they're combined with any losses you have first.
The June distribution trap
Most ETFs pay their June quarter distribution in July. It still belongs to the tax year that ended on 30 June, because that's when you became entitled to it. If you count it in the year you received the cash, both years will be wrong.
Cost base adjustments
The statement also shows an AMIT cost base net amount. It's either:
- an excess (cash you got that wasn't taxable, often called tax-deferred): this reduces the cost base of your units, or
- a shortfall (income you were taxed on but didn't receive in cash): this increases the cost base.
You don't pay tax on these amounts now, but they change your capital gain when you eventually sell. Skipping them means your gain will be wrong when you sell, sometimes by thousands of dollars after a decade of holding.
Don't want to do this by hand?
In Franked you type in the figures from each AMMA statement once. Every amount lands on the right label, June distributions are counted in the right year, and the cost base of each parcel is adjusted automatically, so your capital gains are right when you sell. Free for investors; accountants can do it for every client for $15 a month.
General information, not tax advice. Check your fund's statement and the ATO website, or speak to a registered tax agent.