US mutual funds - plain english advice please

So, I phoned the mutual fund company and they confirmed that they are not a bond fund, which from what I can see on the 'foreign' notes page of the self assessment guidance is the only thing that would bar the dividends from being declared in the 'dividends from foreign companies' box.

I also spoke to the HMRC technical adviser line today. I said 'I am receiving dividends from something called a mutual fund in the USA, do I report the dividends as dividends from foreign companies?'. The adviser said 'yes'. I then said 'I also receive capital gains distributions, are these treated like normal capital gains under the UK rules?'. Again, the adviser said yes and that as long as they were under the annual allowance limit that there was no need to report them.

Whether the adviser is actually right or not, I don't know, but I feel more comfortable now knowing that I've asked the question clearly and directly to HMRC and have recorded the date and time of the phone call.

So, I phoned the mutual fund company and they confirmed that they are not a bond fund, which from what I can see on the 'foreign' notes page of the self assessment guidance is the only thing that would bar the dividends from being declared in the 'dividends from foreign companies' box.

I also spoke to the HMRC technical adviser line today. I said 'I am receiving dividends from something called a mutual fund in the USA, do I report the dividends as dividends from foreign companies?'. The adviser said 'yes'. I then said 'I also receive capital gains distributions, are these treated like normal capital gains under the UK rules?'. Again, the adviser said yes and that as long as they were under the annual allowance limit that there was no need to report them.

Whether the adviser is actually right or not, I don't know, but I feel more comfortable now knowing that I've asked the question clearly and directly to HMRC and have recorded the date and time of the phone call.

Excellent feedback, thanks for the update.

So, I phoned the mutual fund company and they confirmed that they are not a bond fund, which from what I can see on the 'foreign' notes page of the self assessment guidance is the only thing that would bar the dividends from being declared in the 'dividends from foreign companies' box.

I also spoke to the HMRC technical adviser line today. I said 'I am receiving dividends from something called a mutual fund in the USA, do I report the dividends as dividends from foreign companies?'. The adviser said 'yes'. I then said 'I also receive capital gains distributions, are these treated like normal capital gains under the UK rules?'. Again, the adviser said yes and that as long as they were under the annual allowance limit that there was no need to report them.

Whether the adviser is actually right or not, I don't know, but I feel more comfortable now knowing that I've asked the question clearly and directly to HMRC and have recorded the date and time of the phone call.

  It is not likely that the HMRC adviser has any idea what a capital gains distribution is.  You might do better getting HMRC to respond in writing. 

  It is not likely that the HMRC adviser has any idea what a capital gains distribution is.  You might do better getting HMRC to respond in writing.

Yes but if the total capital gains are less than £11,100 he is probably correct about not reporting it.

I don’t know how to report it on a self assessment, as a capital gains distribution has no acquisition and disposal dates or change in share price etc. Do UK equivalent funds have anything that is equivalent to a capital gains distribution?

As there is no disposal; most folks report capital gains distributions as foreign dividend income.  This is based on interpretation of case law; nothing to stop anyone taking a different view of how the courts have interpreted the law and disclosing that different position to HMRC.