Growth, Dividend or Dividend Re-investment
When investing in mutual funds, there are three options that are available in which you could invest: growth, dividend and dividend reinvestment. One is normally expected to select one of the three options when filling an investment form, however, in case if you do not fill any of the option, the fund house selects the default option for the scheme as mentioned in its Scheme Information Document (SID), which is most often the growth option. Investors have the flexibility to change the investment option at a later date to suit their convenience.

Growth option: In this option, the scheme does not pay any dividend, but continues to grow. Therefore, nothing is received by you as a unit holder and hence, there is nothing to reinvest in the scheme. Any gains made by selling the fund holdings are invested back into the scheme, which can be seen in the NAV (net asset value) of the scheme, which rises over time. But, the number of units with the investor remains the same.

Dividend payout: In this option, the mutual fund scheme pays you from the profits made by the scheme at regular periods which could be monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly in case of debt funds and at irregular intervals in case of equity funds. A liquid fund also provides for a daily or weekly dividend option. However, you should be aware that dividends are not guaranteed, which means a fund is not bound to pay out a dividend; it may or may not pay a dividend.

Dividend reinvestment: In this option, the dividend is not paid to you, instead it is reinvested in the fund scheme itself by buying more units on your behalf.

Each of the three options has its share of pros and cons, which will vary depending on your needs. As investors, the treatment of gains and taxes are the two essential features that differentiate these options. If evaluating the returns from an investment at a point of time, there is no difference among the three options. The difference emerges in an implicit form with respect to the applicable taxes.

Further, it is important to consider the tax impact when selecting between the growth, dividend payout or dividend reinvestment options as the post-tax returns' differs between the options. This difference occurs because, the tax treatment is different for long-term and short-term holding period. The tax treatment also differs for equity and debt funds.

Best Tax Saver Mutual Funds or ELSS Mutual Funds for 2015

1. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund

2. Axis Tax Saver Fund

3. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund

4. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund

5. Religare Tax Plan

6. Franklin India TaxShield

7. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund

8. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96

9. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund

10. HDFC TaxSaver

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