Many funds also offer small trailing commissions, which pay the broker for years afterward. Upfront sales commissions. Funds pay greatly reduced commissions to buy and sell stocks, but they still have to pay them. These are deducted from the fund's share price calculations. All things being equal, funds that trade more pay more, and investors get less.
Funds have to distribute their income and capital gains to shareholders at least once a year.
The shareholders have to pay the taxes. You can find out how much your fund charges in your prospectus. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires every fund to display a fee table in the prospectus that shows how much the fund charges and how much that will cost you over time. If you can't find your prospectus, visit the fund's Internet site.