TAXT vs VTEB

TAXTANorthern Trust Tax-Exempt Bond ETF

VTEBAVanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF

In short

TAXT Northern Trust's muni index fund charges 0.05% a year, a fraction of the typical muni ETF fee, and spreads across roughly 1,300 investment-grade bonds along the full maturity curve. Cheap, plain, and brand new.

VTEB Vanguard's national muni index fund, running since 2015 at three basis points, a tenth of what the typical muni ETF charges. Its benchmark screens for investment-grade bonds whose income is exempt from federal tax and the AMT.

Stated mandate

TAXT The Fund seeks results generally corresponding to the price and yield performance of the ICE All Maturity Focused Municipal Bond Index before fees and expenses. It is designed for tax-exempt income through passively managed investment-grade municipal bonds spanning the full municipal curve.

VTEB VTEB seeks to track an index measuring the investment-grade segment of the U.S. municipal bond market. It uses passive sampling to approximate the index and generally invests in federally tax-exempt municipal securities.

Why people hold it

• TAXT Charges 0.05% a year against a 0.30% median for muni bond ETFs, so less of the tax-free coupon leaks out to fees.
• Roughly 1,300 investment-grade munis, short bonds to long, tracking the ICE All Maturity Focused Municipal Bond Index. No manager bets, no single-state tilt.
• Pays income monthly, and the build sits in the top quartile of a crowded national muni field on cost, mandate clarity and portfolio construction.

• VTEB Three basis points a year against a 0.30% muni-ETF median. On tax-exempt bonds, where coupons are modest, that fee gap is a real slice of the payout.
• The index holds only investment-grade munis whose interest is exempt from federal income tax and the alternative minimum tax, so the income carries no AMT surprise.vanguard.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund and one of the most heavily traded in the muni category, which tends to show up as tight bid-ask spreads. Income is paid monthly.
• It has tracked its benchmark closely and sits among the strongest implementations in a crowded muni bond peer group.

Worth knowing

• TAXT Launched in August 2025, so there is no record yet across a full interest-rate cycle.
• Volume is light next to entrenched rivals like VTEB and MUB, which can widen the spread you pay on larger orders.
• Cheap, but not the floor: Vanguard's VTEB and Schwab's SCMB run 0.03%.

• VTEB Federal exemption, not blanket coverage. Income can still be taxable in your home state, which is why single-state funds like NYF exist alongside it.vanguard.com
• Credit quality is investment grade, so rates are the main swing factor: when muni yields rise, bond prices and the fund's share price fall.vanguard.com
• Sampling, not full replication. The fund owns a representative slice of a very large index rather than every bond in it.vanguard.com

Full TAXT profile⁠

Full VTEB profile⁠