Frank Hecker

The ETN Tax Advantage: Do Individual Investors Care?

Maybe there are two explanations here: Lots of individual investors don't even know what ETNs are and how they work, let alone any potential tax advantages they might have. (I was in this category until relatively recently, despite reading Seeking Alpha on a regular basis.) Of those individual investors who do know about ETNs and the tax advantages thereof, based on recent commentary some might likely be concerned that the tax advantages will be taken away by Congress and the IRS, and/or that individual investors using ETNs might be subject to additional IRS scrutiny, up to and including audits. Such people might be reluctant to be pioneers in terms of investing in ETNs, and prefer to wait until there's more clarity. (I'm in this category right now.)