2009 Qualified Dividends

Fidelity shows qualified dividends paid on funds in a taxable account at www.fidelity.com and on 2009 Form 1099-DIV. These dividends are from companies the funds held for the required holding periods to qualify as qualified dividends. In addition to meeting the holding period within the fund, however, you also have to hold your fund shares for the required holding period for your dividends to be qualified. To pass the qualified dividend holding period test, you must hold your fund shares for a period of at least 61 days, which can precede, straddle, or follow the ex-date of the dividend.

Fidelity paid dividends on several funds in Fundranker’s Top Eight Model Portfolio in April and December, 2009. Here is a list of those dividends, ex-dates, days Fundranker held shares in the funds, and whether those days pass the qualified dividends holding test:

Assuming you bought and sold the above funds on Fundranker exchange dates, the bottom line here is that you should claim dividends that Fidelity reports as qualified for Gold, Materials, Pharmaceuticals, and Telecommunications as qualified dividends, but not those that Fidelity reports as qualified for Chemicals, Electronics, or Multimedia.

If you bought and sold the above funds on dates other than Fundranker exchange dates, or if you held, in a taxable account, other Fidelity funds which paid qualified dividends, you’ll need to calculate your own holding periods to determine whether the dividends Fidelity reports as qualified are truly qualified.

Posted 3/03/10 11:20am ET in Fidelity Investments, Fundranker, Tax Tips

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