In our newly revised white paper, Justin Bender and I explain the hidden cost of foreign withholding taxes on US and international equity ETFs. I gave an overview of the most important points in my previous blog post. Now let’s look at one of the more subtle ideas: how those taxes affect your personal rate of return.
Meet Julie, an investor who is looking to hold US equities in both her RRSP and non-registered account. After reading our paper, Julie knows the US imposes a 15% withholding tax on dividends paid to Canadians, and with US stocks yielding 2% these days, that would result in a drag of about 0.30%. So she decides on the following:
- In her RRSP, Julie uses the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), because this US-listed fund is exempt from withholding taxes.
. - In her taxable account, Julie uses the Vanguard U.S. Total Market Index ETF (VUN), the Canadian-listed equivalent of VTI. This ETF is denominated in Canadian dollars, which makes it cheaper and easier to trade. Although the fund is not exempt from the foreign withholding taxes in a non-registered account, Julie understands that these taxes are recoverable by claiming the foreign tax credit.
This is a good decision on Julie’s part. When choosing an ETF for maximum tax-efficiency, she is right to treat “exempt” and “recoverable” as though they were equivalent. In other words, whether Julie avoids foreign withholding taxes altogether (as she’s doing in her RRSP) or paying them upfront but later having them refunded (as in her non-registered account), the overall impact is the same. However, these two situations affect will affect her personal rate of return in different ways.
Phantom outperformance
Let’s look at Julie’s RRSP return first. We’ll assume her US-denominated holding in VTI is the equivalent of $10,000 CAD. If the ETF pays a dividend of 2% during the year, she’ll receive cash distribution of about $200. (I’m ignoring the effect of the ETF’s management fee to simplify.) Because US securities are exempt from withholding taxes in RRSPs, Julie will see the full $200 paid into her account. When she calculates her personal rate of return, that entire dividend will be included in her performance numbers.
Now let’s see how this differs in her non-registered account. Here we’ll assume Julie holds the same $10,000 worth of VUN. Because this fund uses VTI as its underlying holding, we can assume the gross dividend will be the same $200. (Again, we’re ignoring the small effect of fees to illustrate a point.) But in this case, the 15% withholding tax will apply, so Julie will receive only $170 in cash.
At tax time, Julie will receive a T3 slip from Vanguard indicating that she paid $30 in foreign taxes, and she can claim this on her tax return. She’ll then receive a credit for that amount, reducing her overall income tax bill by $30. That’s what we mean we when say foreign withholding taxes are “recoverable.”
However, if Julie were to measure her personal rate of return in her RRSP and non-registered account, she would find that the former outperformed by 0.30%. That’s because the $30 Julie recovered by claiming the foreign tax credit won’t change the value of her non-registered account, so it won’t figure into her calculation.
You should also understand that when Canadian ETF providers report performance, they do so after subtracting foreign withholding taxes: in other words, they do not presume these taxes will be subsequently recovered. That helps explain the larger-than-expected tracking error on foreign equity ETFs. Over the 12 months ending June 30, VUN reported a total return of 5.20%, compared with its benchmark return of 5.66%. We know that 15 basis points of that tracking error is explained by the fund’s MER. Almost all of the remaining 31 basis points is likely due to foreign withholding taxes. So if you hold this fund in a taxable account and successfully recover these taxes, your overall investment return would effectively be higher than what Vanguard reported.
For more about how to properly measure investment performance, see our earlier white paper, Understanding your portfolio’s rate of return and download our free rate of return calculators.
Thank you, Dan. For a global equity etf, such as ACWI, is it better off to hold it in a registered or non-registered account?
@Michael: That question depends on many factors that are more important than foreign withholding taxes. Consider the following:
https://canadiancouchpotato.com/2015/01/30/the-wrong-way-to-think-about-withholding-taxes/
https://canadiancouchpotato.com/2013/12/09/ask-the-spud-when-should-i-use-us-listed-etfs/
Hi Dan,
Is there any other international ETFs other than XEF holding international stocks directly?
Thanks!
@BeSmartRich, I’d like to know the answer to this question too. Moreso, I’d like to know if there are Canadian-domiciled ETFs directly holding frontier and emerging market companies.
I started out with a Canadian Couch Potato portfolio a few years ago when I was in my early 20s, but have since sold those holdings (chiefly VTI and XIC) and have invested in low-CAPE countries using ETFs like GVAL, DVYE, DVEM and EWS. In fact, those 4 ETFs make up my complete portfolio. Of course they represent roughly 1000 companies.
Now, having reading Lifecycle Investing, I’m entering into a major new investment era for me: using margin (Interactive Brokers). An exciting time and a good time to re-evaluate the withholding taxes I somewhat unknowingly pay.
Hi,
I understand I need to pay the withholding tax for dividends from my US mutual funds, but I am confused about exactly how much I am supposed to pay. It seems that I am paying more than 15% even though I am Canadian and use a Canadian account.
I own some TD Dow Jones Industrial Index-e fund. It is a mutual fund so I receive a T3 slip for its dividend, but when I look at box 34 of the slip (foreign non-business income tax paid), the amount is quite a bit higher than 15% of my dividend. It’s close to 20%.
So is the US withholding tax actually higher than 15% for mutual fund dividends? Or are there some other foreign taxes included in box 34 of T3?
Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot!
Alex
@Alex: The withholding tax for US dividends is 15%, so if you think more than that is being withheld you may want to contact TD for an explanation.
Hi, Dan. Now that VDU/VEE holds all stocks directly, both for developed and emerging markets, would that be a better choice than XEF/XEC, with XEC still being held through the US-listed ETF. All other things being equal, of course.
@Greg: Neither VDU nor VEE hold their stocks directly: they hold VEA and VWO, respectively. Admittedly, this is not obvious from the way Vanguard presents the holdings on its website. VIU, however, is an option place of XEF, as it does hold its stocks directly, and also excludes Canada (which is included in VDU).
@CCP: After reading the fine print, I guess they did disclose that fact. Thanks for the suggestion on VIU. This does seem like a good substitute and hopefully one day they will hold stocks directly as they gain in popularity.
I want to hold( in my TFSA) Cdn-listed etfs which hold US stocks. I understand that 15% withholding tax applies to the dividends.
I’m confused about the W-8BEN.
After a long chat with my broker (Questrade), they say that W-8BEN is only necessary for CORPORATE accounts. They also say that, since my TFSA is associated with my driver’s licence (thereby proving I’m a Cdn. citizen), the 15% rate will be applied, rather than 30%.
Is this correct? My bottom-line issue is: do I need a W-8BEN or not?
Thanks
@Ellen: Sounds like the Questrade rep is half right. The W-8BEN is for individuals, not corporations (corps need to fill out a W9). However, many brokerages do not require individuals to fill out a W-8BEN, and the investors are not subject to the 30% withholding tax. In my experience it is extremely rare to see any Canadian investors charged anything other than the 15%.
@CCP: Should US and International REIT ETFs be handled the same way as suggested in the paper as “standard” US and International ETFs, respectively?
By the way – thanks for answering my questions on various posts over the last week or so – much appreciated!
Appreciate the 2016 update and have left a message on Justin’s blog regarding the lack of tax effects on the blended ETFs that shrink a 5-ETF to a 3-ETF portfolio, namely XWD, VXC & XAW, whose contents, as you know are hard to identify as to direct holdings versus fund-of-funds, impacting on the tax in various account types.
As I understand it, XWD is the oldster of the bunch, and holds Canada, but no emerging markets, at a higher fee, too.
I desire a replacement for the USD Total World VT, presently in my RRIF account, and I’ll be ignoring that its 3% Canada, as that won’t disrupt my allocation very much, and covering the ROW, with both developed and emerging markets is my goal – replicating the profile of the VT. So the tax profile in a taxable account will change, and may not be the best once moved?
That XAW uses XEF to hold International stocks directly suggests an tax equality to the the USD-registered VT holdings, vs the Canadian-domiciled XEF in a taxable account (foreign tax credit in the latter = zero withholdings in the RRIF), but does the VXC have international developed only in a US-ETF wrap? If so, that’s a tax hit compared to XAW.
I understand there’s no avoiding the unrecoverable emerging market portion, as nobody offers an ETF that holds such equities as individual holdings to escape the Level I, right? At 10% emerging markets in the blend, can you give an approximate value to the extra tax percentage added because of this?
On the US market side, do the XAW and VXC both have holdings that allow recovery of withholding taxes within a taxable account. As the US represents over half of the blend, this is important to consider if it’s to replace the no-withholdings on the VT in the RRIF account.
Knowledge of any higher tax liability is important in trying to avoid buying three new ETFs to cover what the VT is doing (US plus foreign developed and foreign emerging)
My plan is to move the Mawer 105 I bought in a taxable account to crystallize cap gains from Mawer Balanced A (MAW104) leading into our first RRIF year (2018). Small cap gains since that trade, so moving the fixed income to the RRIF seems to make sense. The only equity in the RRIF is the Vanguard Total World (VT), so I’ll need a replacement holding in the taxable account.
Long-winded, but others might benefit from any labours to identify tax liability in these very useful combo ETFs (XWD, XAW & VXC), key building blocks for many of us.
Thanx
I’m a little confused here. So you can claim the 15% withholding tax back on US equities on non-registered accounts, cool. But then you have to claim the entire amount as income and get charged your regular tax rate (around 30% for most) on it anyway, is that correct?
@Don: Yes, any investment income in a non-registered account is fully taxable. The foreign tax credit just ensures you are not taxed twice.
Hi Dan, I invest usually once a year via large bonus into an RRSP. I read your white paper on Foreign Withholding taxes, but was still wondering if it made sense to invest a large part of my non-Canadian equities portfolio (~60% total portfolio) in US-listed ETFs using a large, once per year Norbert’s Gambit transaction at bonus time (ITOT, VEA, IEMG). This seems to be the most tax efficient method to avoid FWT in my RRSP, but am I overlooking any other issues/risks by converting so much of my portfolio into USD? Thanks for all your help!
@Art Bars: Using US-listed ETFs for foreign equities is definitely more tax-efficient in an RRSP. The only issue is that some investors find Norbert’s gambit confusing or inconvenient. There’s really no additional risk, just more work. If you are comfortable with it, and you’re only doing it once a year, it is worthwhile if your RRSP is relatively large. But if you decide to pay a little more for the convenience of using Canadian ETFs, that’s not an unreasonable choice.
Hi Dan,
So there’s no (unacceptable) USD currency risk from so much of my portfolio being concentrated in US-listed ETFs? I’m still trying to wrap my head around all of this. Thanks again!
@Art Bars: No worries, this is a confusing topic. The key ideas are:
– There is no difference in currency risk between a US-listed ETF and a Canadian-listed ETF (unless the Canadian ETF specifically uses currency hedging, which I don’t recommend). The currency exposure comes from the underlying stocks, not the currency that the ETF is traded in. So VUN is the same as VTI, and XUU is the same as ITOT.
https://canadiancouchpotato.com/2014/01/13/how-a-falling-loonie-affects-us-equity-etfs/
– If you hold a US-listed ETF for international stocks, you have no exposure to the US dollar. Even though the ETF is traded in US dollars, again, the currency exposure comes from the underlying stocks. So funds like IEFA and IEMG actually have no exposure to the US dollar, only to the euro, yen, and other overseas currencies.
https://canadiancouchpotato.com/2014/01/16/currency-exposure-in-international-equity-etfs/
Hi Dan,
Great post – very useful.
I have been using your model etf portfolio for a few years, and now wish to save on FWT.
From reading I understand XAW can be replaced 50/50 with
VTI (US$) and XEF (CAN$).
Are these two etf’s still good choices or have any better etf’s arrived?
Thanks
@Mike: XAW cannot be replicated with only VTI and XEF, because you would also need emerging markets. The actual underlying holdings are:
57% US equities (which can be covered by VTI or ITOT)
31% XEF
12% IEMG (a US-listed emerging markets ETF)
Remember that unpacking XAW like this is only worthwhile in an RRSP. There’s no tax advantage in a TFSA or taxable account. Also remember that it will require you rebalance manually, and to trade in USD. This additional cost and complexity can undermine at least some of the benefit, especially if the account is small.
My Canadian global mutual fund gives me a t3 and in box 34 writes non business foreign income tax, but doesn’t specify what countries what taxes are paid in. For Canadian mutual funds that invest in more than 3 countries and pay over $200 in foreign tax what do you do?
The rules are:
The foreign non-business tax credit is calculated separately for each foreign country. However, if the total foreign taxes are less than $200, CRA will usually allow a single calculation. When the tax credit has to be calculated separately for more than three countries, the tax return is no longer eligible for NetFile.
Thank you for your help
@Hans: This is a common issue with global funds since, as you know, the dividends are paid by companies in many countries. I have seen accountants handle it in different ways. If there is an option to say “Global” or “Other” that should be fine. I have also seen accountants use “United States.” My understanding is that CRA is unlikely to challenge foreign tax credits that originate from T3 slips.