Here is an interesting reply I got upon inquiry to Scottrade about an account from Taiwan. It doesn’t answer many of the tax issues but is interesting information.
Dear Investor:
Thank you for the e-mail and your interest in Scottrade. Scottrade is now
accepting International Accounts from residents of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
We do hope to begin offering accounts to other countries in the near future.?
To establish an International Brokerage Account, you do not need to have
American citizenship or a Social Security number.
To open an account, you will need to complete the International Brokerage
Account application and IRS W-8 form for non-US residents. If you wish to use a U.S. address as the mailing address (instead of your home country address) you will also need to complete the “Proof of Address Letter.” Scottrade will also require you to provide a copy of the inside pages of your passport, including photo, signature and personal information. If you do not own a passport we will need you to provide a copy of your home country Resident Card. In addition, please send us a copy of your last bank statement, utility bill, or mortgage bill to show proof of residency.
All application forms for International Accounts can be found and downloaded from the Forms Center on Scottrade’s Chinese Web site.? After completing all of the required forms, all application documents and deposits need to be sent to:
Scottrade, Inc.
Asia-Pacific Service Center
12855 Flushing Meadows Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63131
U.S. toll free number: 1-866-246-1788
International Telephone number outside the U.S.: 314-543-6188
Fax: (314) 543-6178
E-mail: chinese@scottrade.com
In order to open an account, international customers need to send in a check issued by a domestic U.S. bank along with their application forms.
For more information regarding opening an International Account, you may go on to http://Chinese.Scottrade.com; click on the International account icon located under Scottrade $7 logo.
If you have any other questions please let us know.
Please feel free to contact us if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Ryan B.
Scottrade Financial Services, Inc. www.scottrade.com
Let me clear this up once and for all. Taiwan citizens who are not a US person for tax filing purposes do not need to pay capital gains taxes on stocks and bonds sales. They do not need to pay taxes on bond income. They will have 30% automatic withholding on stock dividends and interest as that is the rate the USA assigns to Taiwan as a country who has no tax treaty with the USA. China, a country with a tax treaty with the USA, citizens are subject to 10% witholding.
US Cap gains tax on real estate transactions for Taiwan citizens are taxed at the same rates as US persons.
Regarding a US person filing for the 2555-E exemption. Yes its around $83,000 tax exempt on EARNED INCOME. Stocks, bonds, CD interest, real estate gains are all classified as UNEARNED INCOME and as such, you will need to pay tax on this income if you reach the specified amount irregardless if you evoked the 83,000 exemption.
[quote=“panda”]Let me clear this up once and for all. Taiwan citizens who are not a US person for tax filing purposes do not need to pay capital gains taxes on stocks and bonds sales. They do not need to pay taxes on bond income. They will have 30% automatic withholding on stock dividends and interest as that is the rate the USA assigns to Taiwan as a country who has no tax treaty with the USA. China, a country with a tax treaty with the USA, citizens are subject to 10% witholding.
US Cap gains tax on real estate transactions for Taiwan citizens are taxed at the same rates as US persons.
Regarding a US person filing for the 2555-E exemption. Yes its around $83,000 tax exempt on EARNED INCOME. Stocks, bonds, CD interest, real estate gains are all classified as UNEARNED INCOME and as such, you will need to pay tax this income if you reach the specified amount irregardless if you evoked the 83,000 exemption.
Enjoy!!![/quote]
Due to my poor Chinese , I need you to check for me (I always end up on the wrong screen)-although I did ask and heard that they were lowish, too. I don’t follow that indicator, anyway.
On Monday the Govt. changed the downtick shorting rule, for TSE - 50 companies only…which is a bit boring really, they are the large cap slow moving stocks, and won’t encourage many players to short.
By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch
ANNANDALE, Va. (MarketWatch) – According to data released on Monday, corporate insiders are now more bullish than they have been at any time since May 2003, when the Dow Jones Industrials Average was trading around 8,500.
Due to my poor Chinese , I need you to check for me (I always end up on the wrong screen)-although I did ask and heard that they were lowish, too. I don’t follow that indicator, anyway.[/quote]
Well long interest is at NT$198.7bn, which is rather low… They have fallen from NT$258.4bn at the beginning of the year, and it does not seem that they are turning around.
644.2mn shares had been sold short as per yesterday. This indicator has been trending up since mid april, where it hit a low of 272mn shares.
Obvoiusly a rising short ratio is bullish, as any rise in the TAIEX will force the shorters to cover. A low long, however indicates no interest in the stock market from the retail investors yet.
Therefore, if the long starts to trend up, ride the wave up with it.
It seems that the seasonal rally is over and that we are in for a bit of a drift over the spring. The TAIEX is losing momentum, and a fair bit of the technical indicators are looking bearish.
This chart told me enough to decide not to buy local stocks for the time being:
I didnt read all the comments, but oil companies out of Alberta are hot and will continue to be, here are a couple stocks I heard about when they were under a dollar, UTS.TO, IDL.TO, and nanotech stocks are said to be the next big thing most of them have gone up 10x in the last couple years, also Tim Horton’s out of Canada has an IPO soon…
Just jumped into gold with a view to the longer-term. I have to say the fall as HK opened is a concern as I would have thought at current levels support would be there.
You’re crazy Kiwi for “investing” on the local market… that said, I keep an eye on GPC, but not as a company to invest in myself, I try and keep watch on what they buy themselves. I have my eye on an Australian listed company that is trading at below half of its NTA that looks like a GPC takeover target. PM me for details (given that they now hold a 22% stake)
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Just jumped into gold with a view to the longer-term. I have to say the fall as HK opened is a concern as I would have thought at current levels support would be there.
What do you make of this stock? The company, FEI, makes really expensive microscopes and the like and a few days ago their stock gained 26% overnight based on a great 4Q. finance.google.com/finance?q=FEIC
But what I find interesting is how totally flat it’s been since then. Is that because investors are so nervous, not knowing if it will keep rising or drop back down, that they’re afraid to buy or sell this stock? Or is there some other reason? Is it unusual for a stock to suddenly go straight sideways following an impressive gain like that?
, I need you to check for me (I always end up on the wrong screen)-although I did ask and heard that they were lowish, too. I don’t follow that indicator, anyway.
