The following internet brokerage specializes in overseas investors.
U.S. Invest, a service of Pacific Continental Securities Corporation
(PCOS), is an on-line stock trading system for overseas investors to
trade on stock markets in the United States. Visit their web site at
usinvest.com
USINVEST.COM
is already registered
Registrant:
Momentum Internet (USINVEST-DOM)
17th Floor, 53 - 55 Lockhart Road
Wan Chai, n/a n/a
HK
Domain Name: USINVEST.COM
Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Daley, Graham (GD284) gdaley@PINMAIL.COM
852 - 28778059
Billing Contact:
Daley, Graham (GD284) gdaley@PINMAIL.COM
852 - 28778059
Record last updated on 12-Feb-97.
Record created on 14-Jan-97.
Database last updated on 22-Apr-99 11:06:22 EDT.
Domain servers in listed order:
WS1.MOMENTUM-HK.COM 204.254.71.158
NS2.MOMENTUM.COM.HK 210.176.85.38
stockleader.com
Subject: Trading - Non-Resident Aliens and US ExchangesLast-Revised: 22 Oct 1997
Contributed-By: lott@invest-faq.com , rbest@worldcom.ch ,
ptiga01@pthp6.tphys.physik.uni-tuebingen.de
It is perfectly legal for non-resident aliens to trade equities on
exchanges in the United States using US brokerage houses directly. (A
"non-resident alien" (NRA) is the US government's name for a citizen of
a country other than the US who also lives outside the US.) The current
surge in availability of on-line brokerage services has effectively
eliminated the problems of different time zones and high telephone
charges, and has made it really easy for people living outside the US to
trade on US exchanges. This route is generally far cheaper as compared
to using any bank or brokerage house in the foreign country, and
therefore very attractive to many people.
Of course there are certain formalities concerning tax treatment of such
accounts, and these formalities must be clarified with the brokerage
house when the account is opened. Individuals who are not US citizens
must complete a W-8 form, which is a certificate of foreign status, and
return it to the brokerage house.
The specific rules of how these accounts are taxed are described in IRS
Publication 515 (Withholding of tax on non-resident aliens) and IRS
Publication 901 (Tax treaties). The tax treaty is especially important.
If the individual's country of residence has an agreement (tax treaty)
with the US government, those rules apply. For example, residents of
Germany should not have any tax withheld on interest or capital gains,
only for dividend payments. However, if the individual's country of
residence has no agreement with the US, then the individual should
complete the 1001 form (exemption form), and no tax will be withheld atall.
I'm fairly certain that US citizens and green-card holders living abroad
are not required to fill out either of these forms, since these
individuals are required to report their world-wide income to the US
annually. And none of this applies to bona fide residents of the US,
regardless of citizenship, who are automatically subject to the US
taxation laws.
To avoid overseas telephone charges, the internet brokerages are clearly
the most attractive option. Most large brokerage firms accept foreign
clients, although some brokerage houses that offer trading via the
internet still require their customers to be US residents. Just to give
you a starting point, ProTrade welcomes foreign clients. Visit them at
protrade.com
The following internet brokerage specializes in overseas investors.
U.S. Invest, a service of Pacific Continental Securities Corporation
(PCOS), is an on-line stock trading system for overseas investors to
trade on stock markets in the United States. Visit their web site at
usinvest.com |
