Updated
Cost Basis - Grantor Trusts
Holding and/or selling a grantor trust fund may require you to adjust your cost basis. Generally this is due to the fact that individual shareholders are treated as owning the underlying assets directly, so any income, sale proceeds, or expenses are treated as if they are paid to/from the shareholder directly. Income and proceeds could potentially increase a shareholder’s tax liability whereas expenses could potentially reduce a shareholder’s tax liability.
For example, assume that a Shareholder purchased 20,000 shares on February 14, 2025 and sold them on September 15, 2025. For the month of February, their expenses are $0.062 x (15/28) = $0.03321428571 per share. This is based on the expenses listed in the factor table below multiplied by the percentage of the month they held those shares. For the months of March through August, the expenses per share are the full amount for each month in the table. For the month of September, the Shareholder’s expenses are $0.061 x (14 /30) = $0.02846666667. The total expenses are $0.5046809524 per share (sum of all factors from February 14th through September 15th) multiplied by the number of shares held (20,000), or $10,093.62.
Factor Table
Date |
Expenses |
| January | 0.056 |
| February | 0.062 |
| March | 0.084 |
| April | 0.069 |
| May | 0.076 |
| June | 0.070 |
| July | 0.073 |
| August | 0.060 |
| September | 0.061 |
| October | 0.069 |
| November | 0.091 |
| December | 0.100 |
| Total for Year | 0.87 |
Fund expense data for grantor trusts offered at Wealthfront can be found on each fund’s website in the links below. Please consult your tax advisor for more guidance.
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