Dividend vs. Systematic Withdrawal: Which mutual fund option is best for regular income?

Mutual fund schemes have two options while investing – Growth Plan and Income Distribution Capital Withdrawal (IDCW) erstwhile known as Dividend Plan. Usually, investments in mutual funds are made for long-term wealth creation. However, there are times when investments in Mutual Funds are made from the perspective of regular income. In that case, two options are most suitable: the SWP option and the IDCW plan. 

1. Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP):
   A facility that allows investors to withdraw a fixed amount from their mutual fund investment at regular intervals (e.g., monthly, quarterly). It provides a steady income stream while keeping the remaining investment to potentially grow.
2. IDCW:
   Mutual funds aim to generate income for investors through dividend payouts, which can be distributed periodically to the investors or reinvested in the scheme.

The underlying constituents of both the Growth & IDCW are the same; the difference is how the returns of the scheme are used; on the one hand, in the IDCW Plan, you can opt to receive the returns from your investments at regular intervals in the form of distributions, in the Growth Plan of a Mutual Fund scheme, you let returns made by the scheme get reinvested, you do not opt to receive them at regular intervals. However, if you want systematic returns from a Growth Plan, you can set up a Systematic Withdrawal Plan (SWP) based on your needs and requirements.

Let’s understand the mechanics of SWP in a Growth Plan and IDCW:

Suppose an individual holds 10,000 units of a mutual fund with an NAV of each unit at ₹100, totaling the investor’s corpus at ₹10,00,000. 

1. IDCW Plan:
   The mutual fund scheme announces an IDCW (distribution/payout) of ₹5 per unit, totaling the total distribution to ₹50,000. On account of the announcement of the distribution, the NAV of the mutual fund would be reduced by ₹5, which brings the NAV to ₹95 per unit with a total corpus standing at ₹9,50,000.
   
   
2. SWP in a Growth Plan:
   If the individual has set a quarterly withdrawal plan of ₹50,000, the withdrawal would be 500 units [Withdrawal amount (₹50,000)/ NAV per unit (100)]. After the withdrawal of the amount, the NAV of the mutual fund would remain the same i.e. ₹100. However, the no. of units will reduce to 9500 (10,000 – 500 units)

Now that we have understood the mechanics of both the options let’s understand how taxation of IDCW Plan and SWP in a Growth plan works:

1. IDCW Plan:
   The distributions of IDCW plan are taxed at the marginal tax rate of the individual i.e. at the applicable slab rate. Let’s understand this through an example: 

Suppose, a mutual fund scheme distributes ₹2,00,000 in a financial year, the entire distribution will be taxed at the incremental slab rates of the individual. Assuming the individual opts for the new tax regime and the total income excluding the distribution of the individual is ₹15,00,000; the distribution will be taxed at 30% + CESS.

1. SWP in a Growth Plan:
   In the SWP, capital gains tax is charged based on the gains of the withdrawal amount. Let’s understand this through an example of an Equity Scheme. 

Suppose an investor withdraws ₹2,00,000 through redeeming ~2000 units, and the investment value for the 2000 units was ₹1,50,000; the gains in this case is ₹50,000, and the capital gains tax will be charged on the same amount. In this case, the capital gains tax charged will depend on whether the holding period is long-term (12.5%) / short-term (20%). Additionally, if the gain is a long-term capital gain, there is an exemption of ₹1.25 Lakhs per annum for equity-oriented investments. 

Other differences between IDCW and SWP plan:

What should investors opt for

For individuals in the lower income tax slab, if there’s comfort with uncertainty in the dividend payout from the fund house, one can choose the dividend option and for individuals in the higher income tax slab, given the greater flexibility and tax advantages of SWP compared to IDCW, investors generally benefit more from opting for SWP.

SWP option or IDCW option make sense when you are planning a consistent source of income from your mutual fund corpus. If your goal is to grow your capital, neither of SWP or IDCW is optimal because when the market is in a downward trajectory, the withdrawals may not only happen at a lower value i.e. booking a potential loss but also there will be a reduced corpus left which makes it difficult to recover the loss. 

For an individual, it’s important to have a balanced asset allocation between debt and equity to avoid tapping in the equity side of the portfolio when there are needs. The ideal way to go about with debt and equity exposure is to  balance the same through individual exposure to debt and equity mutual funds.