Offshore Online Share Dealing

air

Hi there,
I was just wondering if anyone is doing share dealing abroad?
I've done some online share dealing with the banks here but the commission charges & taxes make it hard to day trade (or anything near it) as the gains (percentage wise) need to be large to overcome the trading cost.

I haven't looked too hard but I havent found an online trading house yet that allows irish account holders (eg ameritrade doesnt allow irsh people).

Also wrt the tax implications, is it legal / ethical to say send 10k abroad & then pay your capital gains on it when you repatriate it or would you have to pay capital gains on the profits of each trade (as you do here), which would seriously damage one's compound returns.

Anyway just looking for any info you might have.

Reyman

Internax based in Luxembourg is used by a lot of people.
www.internax.com.

I haven't used them myself. I use Davy although just for Irish shares so far! They're very good and give useful research information on different companies

maples180

Hello Air,,,

I have never found any clear information about that.
I have had an Ameritrade account for many years (I'm not Irish
and didn't know that irish people could not open a Ameritrade account ??!!?!?)
even if I live in Ireland, and wired a few thousand €€€ a couple of times
from my AIB account in last 6 years. As I understand this is how the taxation works

You need to pay 1% stamp duty on irish shares, 0.5% on UK shares
and no Stamp duty on any other shares. You need to pay capital gain
of 20% on the dividends. You need to pay 20% on the profit made when you sell the shares

Now I think you need to pay the local irish taxman 20% Capital gain once you transfer the money
from your US account back to the Irish account but not everytime you sell your shares otherwise it becomes an accounting nightmare. That's what I have done so far. I have asked around many people but found none that knows the subject in details. I don't even know if there is a legislation in Ireland around this. Eg I buy and sell shares many times (maybe 4 or 5 times a month). There should be no implication on how much money you transfer to your online account in the US as long as you pay tax on the profits..

I find the US online trading operators very good fast and reliable and every transaction only costs 11$

Let me know if you find something more specific
Thanks

Maples180

ixus

You would probably get a good answer in: www.askaboutmoney.com

RainyDay

The real problem with day-trading is not broker fees. The real problem is you are trying to beat the market of 1000's of professionals with the best tools in the business at their fingertips available to them. What makes you think you can beat the pro's at their own game?

There is nothing illegitimate about offshore accounts. The only illegality occurs if you don't declare your income. Normally CGT applies to any gains you make (though you have the annual allowance of €1,270 in gains before any tax is due). However, if you were truly day-trading, Revenue may deem your gains to be income from a trade and it would then be liable to income tax (which presently has a higher rate 42% than CGT at 20%).

air

I know there's no illegitimacy involved and I wouldnt be interested if there was, I pay my taxes.
I have made money in the past through share dealing (about 15% after tax last yr) & have taken investment courses etc & have a generally quite good financial head. In any case I think it's up to myself if I want to try to "beat the pro's at their own game".

My only interest in the offshore trading arises from the desire to make profits on smaller price fluctuations than I currently do.

I've got no intention of becoming a day trader that would leave me liable to income tax, I have a full time job.