Does selling and buying an identical ETF stock trigger a taxable event (capital gains)?

[Matt18]

I would like to sell QQQ and buy QQQM. These ETFs are identical except one has a lower expense fee.  Will this trigger a taxable event for capital gains?

If this doesn't trigger a taxable event, how do I prevent my broker (Vanguard) from putting the capital gain on my tax forms?

[tagteam · Accepted solution]

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@Matt18 wrote:

I would like to sell QQQ and buy QQQM. These ETFs are identical except one has a lower expense fee.  Will this trigger a taxable event for capital gains?

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Yes. Even selling QQQ and then buying QQQ would trigger a taxable event for the purposes of calculating a capital gain.

Note that a loss would result in wash sale treatment (i.e., a loss would not be immediately recognized).