Chapter 8 of 11
Funds, NAV and the traspaso
Mutual funds don't trade like shares — one price a day, fractional units, and in Spain a way to switch without paying tax.
A mutual fund has no ticker on an exchange. You buy it from the fund company — a subscription — and sell it back to them — a redemption. Orders execute at the fund's next NAV, its once-a-day per-unit price, and fractional units are the norm: invest €250 and you might hold 1.33 units. In your ledger both are computed exactly like a buy and a sell: same cost basis, same realized result when you redeem.
Most index funds sold in Europe are accumulating: instead of paying dividends they reinvest them inside the fund, so the income shows up as a rising NAV rather than cash in your account. That's why a fund position can be doing its job while your dividend calendar shows nothing from it — there is nothing to show.
Spain adds a tool shares don't have: the traspaso. Move money from one fund to another through your depositary and no sale happens for tax purposes — your cost basis and purchase dates travel to the new fund, and tax is only due when you finally redeem for cash. The catch: it must go fund-to-fund. Redeem to your account first and you've realized the gain, 19% withheld on the spot by a Spanish depositary.
On a broker statement the traspaso appears as two rows — a BAJA leaving one fund and an ALTA entering another. Quantic recognises and sets them aside rather than recording a fake sale; importing them as the linked pair they are is on the roadmap.
Key terms
- Mutual fund
- A fund you buy directly from the fund company rather than on an exchange: no ticker to trade, one price per day (the NAV), and fractional units are normal. In Spain most index investing happens through these — and they carry a tax advantage shares don't: you can move between funds without selling (see traspaso).
- Subscription
- Buying into a mutual fund. Same idea as buying shares — money in, units out — but the order executes at the fund's next NAV rather than at a market price, and you usually get fractional units. In your ledger a subscription is computed exactly like a buy.
- Redemption
- Selling out of a mutual fund — the fund buys your units back at the next NAV. It is a taxable disposal, computed like any sale (in Spain, a reembolso: the gain or loss goes in your declaration, and a Spanish depositary withholds 19% of a gain on the spot). If you're moving to another fund, a traspaso avoids realizing the gain at all.
- Traspaso
- Spain's fund-switch regime: move money from one fund to another without a sale in between. Your cost basis and purchase dates carry across to the new fund, so no gain is realized and no tax is due until you finally redeem for cash. It only works fund-to-fund through your depositary — sell to your account first and it's a normal taxable redemption.
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