can I sell a fund and rebuy the equivalent EFT without incurring CGT?

 Author: Bruce4Tax(Taxicorn)Taxicorn

15 Feb 2025

Is there a way to do that without selling the fund and paying CGT for the capital gains?

No

What I would like to do is basically the opposite of a 'wash sale'. Instead of realising a capital loss, I want to *not* realise a capital gain and by buying the equivalent ETF I am showing my intention to keep the same exposure as before the sale.

No - a wash sale would be selling VAN0003AU, then buying the same number of VAN;

or if you could prove that VGS was "essentially the same" as VAN0003AU. (see section 177A)

Because VAN0003AU is a managed fund, and VGS is an ETF, I could not seen them as "essentially the same." The investment holdings are the same, but the unit values are very different ($3.94 v $ 144) because the unit structure is different.

So I think it would be fair from a tax perspective not to incur CGT in the process.

May be fair in an economic sense, but it is not the law.

In any case, wash sales are for obtaining the benefit of a capital loss - so would not be relevant to your example even if you bought VAN again.

https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/pdf/pbr/tr2008-001.pdf