Vanguard Conservative ETF Portfolio declares its year-end reinvested ("phantom") capital gains distribution each late December. It's taxable income with no cash attached — and it adds to your adjusted cost base. Here are the official per-unit amounts for 2023–2025.
Enter how many units of VCNS you held on the year-end record date.
Yes. Vanguard Conservative ETF Portfolio paid a reinvested (non-cash) capital gains distribution in 2025 ($0.42871/unit), 2024 ($0.41857/unit), 2023 ($0.20589/unit). If you held units on the year-end record date, this amount is taxable in that year and should be ADDED to your adjusted cost base.
A reinvested (phantom) distribution is taxable income you never receive in cash — the fund reinvests it and immediately consolidates units. Because you already paid tax on it, you add the amount to your adjusted cost base. Forgetting this means paying tax twice on the same gain when you eventually sell.
From Vanguard's official final year-end distribution announcements (linked below). Always cross-check against the T3 slip your broker issues.
Return of capital works the opposite way — it reduces your ACB. Per-unit ROC comes from the fund's tax-breakdown filing each spring and appears in box 42 of your T3 slip. Take it from your slip, or let Sched3 apply both adjustments to your holdings automatically.
Educational information, not tax advice. Always cross-check against the T3 slip your broker issues.
Sched3 pre-fills phantom distributions for 111 Canadian ETFs and applies them to your ACB automatically — alongside superficial-loss detection and Schedule 3 export.
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