I can't really think of a way in which it's not functionally a DRIP
...
I already explained to you that several countries apply tax to Accumulating ETFs very differently to what they'd apply to an individual doing DRIP reinvestment with a Distributing ETF.
In some cases, amount of tax, in some cases, deferment of tax to a time of the investors choosing.

You didn't quote my whole sentence, changing the meaning utterly : )

"I can't really think of a way in which it's not functionally a DRIP, other than the personal tax differences mentioned up thread. "

It's the same purpose, accomplished in almost the same way, with a very similar source-country withholding tax penalty. Functionally it's a DRIP, as I stated. Different holders have differing personal tax situations, as with almost all investment types.


Reinvested dividends *within an accumulating ETF that never leave the ETF accounts* are not subject to dividend tax in the way DRIP investment from a Distributing ETF would be.

Again, that's dependent on and varies only with one's individual tax situation.
But dividends which never leave the fund ARE still subject to source country withholding tax, affecting all holders of the fund. There are varying rates depending on the country of each company, but on average across the investments in the fund, each coupon received takes a cash hit before being reinvested in the fund, causing a dead loss. Nobody gets a tax credit for this withheld tax, either: not the fund, not the individual holder, unlike the situation for most people if they held the shares directly. In many cases this loss may be larger than what they would have paid (after tax credits) themselves if the shares were held directly, since a few countries have very high dividend withholding tax rates, even for Ireland. For example, I think a dividend from Finland loses 35% permanently before the remainder is reinvested.

In a sense, an Irish fund is a lot like my personal situation. Since it has no local income tax return, there is no tax credit that can be used, so the withheld amount is the tax amount. It has a certain simplicity I suppose, especially in terms of paperwork.

Jim