Franklin Tax-Free Trust
07/01/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/01/2024 09:01
Summary Prospectus by Investment Company - Form 497K
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SUMMARY PROSPECTUS |
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FRANKLIN PENNSYLVANIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND |
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FRANKLIN TAX-FREE TRUST |
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July 1, 2024 |
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Class A |
Class A1 |
Class C |
Class R6 |
Advisor Class |
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FPAQX |
FRPAX |
FRPTX |
FRPRX |
FPFZX |
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund's prospectus, statement of additional information, reports to shareholders and other information about the Fund online at www.franklintempleton.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236 or by sending an e-mail request to [email protected]. The Fund's prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated July 1, 2024, as may be supplemented, are all incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.
FRANKLIN PENNSYLVANIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
Investment Goal
To provide investors with as high a level of income exempt from federal income taxes and from personal income taxes, if any, for resident shareholders of Pennsylvania as is consistent with prudent investment management and the preservation of shareholders' capital.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
These tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees (including on Class R6 and Advisor Class shares), such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. You may qualify for sales charge discounts in Class A if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in Franklin Templeton funds and certain other funds distributed through Franklin Distributors, LLC, the Fund's distributor. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and under "Your Account" on page 132 in the Fund's Prospectus and under "Buying and Selling Shares" on page 49 of the Fund's Statement of Additional Information. In addition, more information about sales charge discounts and waivers for purchases of shares through specific financial intermediaries is set forth in Appendix A - "Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers" to the Fund's prospectus.
Shareholder Fees
(fees paid directly from your investment)
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Class A |
Class A1 |
Class C |
Class R6 |
Advisor |
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Maximum Sales Charge (Load) |
3.75% |
3.75% |
None |
None |
None |
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Maximum Deferred Sales Charge |
None |
1 |
None |
1 |
1.00% |
None |
None |
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1. |
There is a 1% contingent deferred sales charge that applies to investments of $250,000 or more (see "Investments of $250,000 or More" under "Choosing a Share Class") and purchases by certain retirement plans without an initial sales charge on shares sold within 18 months of purchase. |
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www.franklintempleton.com |
Summary Prospectus |
3 |
FRANKLIN PENNSYLVANIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
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Class A |
Class A1 |
Class C |
Class R6 |
Advisor |
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Management fees |
0.48% |
0.48% |
0.48% |
0.48% |
0.48% |
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Distribution and service (12b-1) fees |
0.25% |
0.10% |
0.65% |
None |
None |
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Other expenses |
0.11% |
0.11% |
0.10% |
0.07% |
0.11% |
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Total annual Fund operating expenses |
0.84% |
0.69% |
1.23% |
0.55% |
0.59% |
Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
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1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
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Class A |
$458 |
$634 |
$824 |
$1,373 |
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Class A1 |
$443 |
$588 |
$745 |
$1,201 |
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Class C |
$225 |
$390 |
$675 |
$1,379 |
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Class R6 |
$56 |
$176 |
$307 |
$689 |
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Advisor Class |
$60 |
$189 |
$330 |
$739 |
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If you do not sell your shares: |
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Class C |
$125 |
$390 |
$675 |
$1,379 |
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Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 11.97% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities whose interest is free from federal income taxes, including the federal alternative minimum tax. In addition, under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its total assets in securities that pay interest free from the
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4 |
Summary Prospectus |
www.franklintempleton.com |
FRANKLIN PENNSYLVANIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
personal income taxes, if any, of Pennsylvania. Although the Fund tries to invest all of its assets in tax-free securities, it is possible that up to 20% of the Fund's net assets may be in securities that pay interest that may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax and in securities that pay interest subject to other federal or state income taxes.
The Fund only buys municipal securities rated, at the time of purchase, in one of the top four ratings categories by one or more U.S. nationally recognized rating services (or unrated or short-term rated securities of comparable credit quality).
The Fund also may invest up to 35% of its total assets in municipal securities issued by U.S. territories.
Although the investment manager will search for investments across a large number of municipal securities that finance different types of projects, from time to time, based on economic conditions, the Fund may have significant positions in municipal securities that finance similar types of projects.
The investment manager selects securities that it believes will provide the best balance between risk and return within the Fund's range of allowable investments and typically invests with a long-term time horizon. This means it generally holds securities in the Fund's portfolio for income purposes, although the investment manager may sell a security at any time if it believes it could help the Fund meet its goal. With a focus on income, individual securities are considered for purchase or sale based on various factors and considerations, including credit profile, risk, structure, pricing, portfolio impact, duration management, restructuring, opportunistic trading and tax loss harvesting opportunities.
Principal Risks
You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Mutual fund shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government.
Interest Rate: When interest rates rise, debt security prices generally fall. The opposite is also generally true: debt security prices rise when interest rates fall. Interest rate changes are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply of and demand for bonds. In general, securities with longer maturities or durations are more sensitive to interest rate changes.
Credit: An issuer of debt securities may fail to make interest payments or repay principal when due, in whole or in part. Changes in an issuer's financial strength or in a security's or government's credit rating may affect a security's value. A change
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www.franklintempleton.com |
Summary Prospectus |
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FRANKLIN PENNSYLVANIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
in the credit rating of a municipal bond insurer that insures securities in the Fund's portfolio may affect the value of the securities it insures, the Fund's share price and Fund performance. The Fund might also be adversely impacted by the inability of an insurer to meet its insurance obligations.
Liquidity: The trading market for a particular security or type of security or other investments in which the Fund invests may become less liquid or even illiquid. Reduced liquidity will have an adverse impact on the Fund's ability to sell such securities or other investments when necessary to meet the Fund's liquidity needs, which may arise or increase in response to a specific economic event or because the investment manager wishes to purchase particular investments or believes that a higher level of liquidity would be advantageous. Reduced liquidity will also generally lower the value of such securities or other investments. Market prices for such securities or other investments may be relatively volatile.
Tax Legislative and Political Changes: The municipal securities market could be significantly affected by adverse political and legislative changes or litigation at the federal or state level. The value of municipal bonds is closely tied to the benefits of tax-exempt income to investors. Significant revisions of federal income tax laws or regulations revising income tax rates or the tax-exempt character of municipal bonds, or even proposed changes and deliberations on this topic by the federal government, could cause municipal bond prices to fall. For example, lower federal income tax rates would reduce certain relative advantages of owning municipal bonds, and lower state income tax rates could have similar effects. In addition, the application of corporate minimum tax rates to financial statement income may have the effect of reducing demand for municipal bonds among corporate investors, which may in turn impact municipal bond prices.
Tax-Exempt Securities: Failure of a municipal security issuer to comply with applicable tax requirements may make income paid thereon taxable, resulting in a decline in the security's value. In addition, there could be changes in applicable tax laws or tax treatments that reduce or eliminate the current federal income tax exemption on municipal securities or otherwise adversely affect the current federal or state tax status of municipal securities.
Market: The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.
Pennsylvania: The Fund invests predominantly in Pennsylvania municipal securities. Therefore, events in Pennsylvania are likely to affect the Fund's
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Summary Prospectus |
www.franklintempleton.com |
FRANKLIN PENNSYLVANIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
investments and its performance. These events may include economic or political policy changes, tax base erosion, unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities, constitutional limits on tax increases, budget deficits and other financial difficulties, and changes in the credit ratings assigned to municipal issuers of Pennsylvania. The same is true of events in other states or U.S. territories, to the extent that the Fund has exposure to any other state or territory at any given time.
Focus: The Fund may invest more than 25% of its assets in municipal securities that finance similar types of projects, such as utilities, hospitals, higher education and transportation. A change that affects one project, such as proposed legislation on the financing of the project, a shortage of the materials needed for the project, or a declining need for the project, would likely affect all similar projects, thereby increasing market risk.
Income: The Fund's distributions to shareholders may decline when prevailing interest rates fall, when the Fund experiences defaults on debt securities it holds or when the Fund realizes a loss upon the sale of a debt security.
Prepayment: Prepayment risk occurs when a debt security can be repaid in whole or in part prior to the security's maturity and the Fund must reinvest the proceeds it receives, during periods of declining interest rates, in securities that pay a lower rate of interest. Also, if a security has been purchased at a premium, the value of the premium would be lost in the event of prepayment. Prepayments generally increase when interest rates fall.
Inflation:The market price of debt securities generally falls as inflation increases because the purchasing power of the future income and repaid principal is expected to be worth less when received by the Fund. Debt securities that pay a fixed rather than variable interest rate are especially vulnerable to inflation risk because variable-rate debt securities may be able to participate, over the long term, in rising interest rates which have historically corresponded with long-term inflationary trends.
Bond Insurers: Market conditions or changes to ratings criteria could adversely impact the ratings of municipal bond insurance companies. Downgrades and withdrawal of ratings from municipal bond insurers have substantially limited the availability of insurance sought by municipal bond issuers thereby reducing the supply of insured municipal securities.
Because of the consolidation among municipal bond insurers the Fund is subject to additional risks including the risk that credit risk may be concentrated among fewer insurers and the risk that events involving one or more municipal bond insurers could have a significant adverse effect on the value of the securities insured by an insurer and on the municipal markets as a whole.
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www.franklintempleton.com |
Summary Prospectus |
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FRANKLIN PENNSYLVANIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
Unrated Debt Securities: Unrated debt securities determined by the investment manager to be of comparable credit quality to rated securities which the Fund may purchase may pay a higher interest rate than such rated debt securities and be subject to a greater risk of illiquidity or price changes. Less public information and independent credit analysis are typically available about unrated securities or issuers, and therefore they may be subject to greater risk of default.
Management: The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed investment portfolio. The Fund's investment manager applies investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, but there can be no guarantee that these decisions will produce the desired results.
Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming or exchanging shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or the investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.
Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on the Fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack. Like other funds and business enterprises, the Fund, the investment manager, and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year for Class A shares. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable, compared with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund's past performance (before
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8 |
Summary Prospectus |
www.franklintempleton.com |
FRANKLIN PENNSYLVANIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at www.franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.
Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.
Class A Annual Total Returns
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Best Quarter: |
2023, Q4 |
8.43% |
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Worst Quarter: |
2022, Q1 |
-6.53% |
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As of March 31, 2024, the Fund's year-to-date return was -0.17%. |
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www.franklintempleton.com |
Summary Prospectus |
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FRANKLIN PENNSYLVANIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
Average Annual Total Returns
(figures reflect sales charges)
For periods ended December 31, 2023
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1 Year |
5 Years |
10 Years |
Since Inception |
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Franklin Pennsylvania Tax-Free Income Fund - Class A |
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Return before taxes |
2.31% |
0.14% |
1.83% |
- |
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Return after taxes on distributions |
2.29% |
0.14% |
1.83% |
- |
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Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
2.51% |
0.72% |
2.16% |
- |
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Franklin Pennsylvania Tax-Free Income Fund - Class A1 |
2.42% |
0.29% |
1.92% |
- |
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Franklin Pennsylvania Tax-Free Income Fund - Class C |
4.79% |
0.47% |
1.72% |
- |
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Franklin Pennsylvania Tax-Free Income Fund - Class R6 |
6.59% |
1.20% |
- |
1.23% |
1 |
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Franklin Pennsylvania Tax-Free Income Fund - Advisor Class |
6.56% |
1.16% |
2.40% |
- |
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Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
6.40% |
2.25% |
3.03% |
- |
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1. |
Since inception August 1, 2017. |
The figures in the average annual total returns table above reflect the Class A and A1 shares maximum front-end sales charge of 3.75%. Prior to March 1, 2019, Class A and A1 shares were subject to a maximum front-end sales charge of 4.25%. If the prior maximum front-end sales charge of 4.25% was reflected, performance for Class A and A1 shares in the average annual total returns table would be lower.
Historical performance for Class A shares in the bar chart and table above prior to their inception is based on the performance of Class A1 shares and has been adjusted to reflect differences in Rule 12b-1 fees between classes.
The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are shown only for Class A and after-tax returns for other classes will vary.
Investment Manager
Franklin Advisers, Inc. (Advisers or investment manager)
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10 |
Summary Prospectus |
www.franklintempleton.com |
FRANKLIN PENNSYLVANIA TAX-FREE INCOME FUND
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
Portfolio Managers
John Wiley
Senior Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2020.
Christopher Sperry, CFA
Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2020.
John Bonelli
Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2020.
Michael Conn
Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2020.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day online through our website at www.franklintempleton.com, by mail (Franklin Templeton Investor Services, P.O. Box 997152, Sacramento, CA 95899-7152), or by telephone at (800) 632-2301. For Class A, A1 and C, the minimum initial purchase for most accounts is $1,000 (or $25 under an automatic investment plan). Class R6 and Advisor Class are only available to certain qualified investors and the minimum initial investment will vary depending on the type of qualified investor, as described under "Your Account - Choosing a Share Class - Qualified Investors - Class R6" and "- Advisor Class" in the Fund's prospectus. There is no minimum investment for subsequent purchases.
Taxes
The Fund's distributions are primarily exempt from regular federal and state income tax for individual residents of Pennsylvania. A portion of these distributions, however, may be subject to federal alternative minimum tax. The Fund may also make distributions that are taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.
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www.franklintempleton.com |
Summary Prospectus |
11 |
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Franklin Distributors, LLC One Franklin Parkway San Mateo, CA 94403-1906 franklintempleton.com Franklin Pennsylvania Tax-Free Income Fund |
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Investment Company Act file #811-04149 © 2024 Franklin Templeton. All rights reserved. 10% Total Recycled Fiber 00070428 |
1129 PSUM 07/24 |