Seeking Advice on Lowering Withholding Tax on U.S. Investments through Relocation
- Thread starter Clank
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So, basically you're looking to lower your 30% WHT tax on dividends. For that you need to find countries that have good DTT with US and also to check if the dividends will be taxed as PT (not really sure about this part - would like if someone knows more to write about it).
So, as far as I know the lowest WHT options (also mentioned here above) are Romania and China (and Russia) at 10%.
Romania could be the great choice (low cost of living, big country, EU state, etc).
At 15% rate you have a lot more "shopping" to do as the list︀ of the countries is much larger: Ireland, Cyprus, Slovenia, Poland, Netherlands, Malta, Thailand...
All other︁ countries (that have no DTT) fall into 30% tax (including UAE).
More details:
https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/united-states/corporate/withholding-taxes
So, if you have $2M in your stock portfolio and it produces you 4% - you︂ would be making $80k/year and if you decide to live in Romania for eg, that︃ would leave you with $72k after the WHT. That's $6k/month and more than enough for︄ above the average lfie in Romania.
Edit:
Also, worth noting is that if you invest︅ in Canadian or European stocks from UAE you'll pay 15% WHT on these. Even if︆ you buy for eg. $BNS on NYSE you'll still pay 15% WHT (and not 30%)︇ - so you don't have to move to Thailand LOL
So, as far as I know the lowest WHT options (also mentioned here above) are Romania and China (and Russia) at 10%.
Romania could be the great choice (low cost of living, big country, EU state, etc).
At 15% rate you have a lot more "shopping" to do as the list︀ of the countries is much larger: Ireland, Cyprus, Slovenia, Poland, Netherlands, Malta, Thailand...
All other︁ countries (that have no DTT) fall into 30% tax (including UAE).
More details:
https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/united-states/corporate/withholding-taxes
So, if you have $2M in your stock portfolio and it produces you 4% - you︂ would be making $80k/year and if you decide to live in Romania for eg, that︃ would leave you with $72k after the WHT. That's $6k/month and more than enough for︄ above the average lfie in Romania.
Edit:
Also, worth noting is that if you invest︅ in Canadian or European stocks from UAE you'll pay 15% WHT on these. Even if︆ you buy for eg. $BNS on NYSE you'll still pay 15% WHT (and not 30%)︇ - so you don't have to move to Thailand LOL
What we where talking about here was article 4 that specifies who is considered resident and specifically the part that says that US doesn't considers you a Thai resident in the context of the treaty if you are only taxed on local source income (which is what you were doing).
The fact︀ that you got away with a lower WHT by providing your Thai TIN but income︁ wasn't taxed in Thailand doesn't mean you were compliant.
So you are bringing money into Thailand.
The fact︀ that you got away with a lower WHT by providing your Thai TIN but income︁ wasn't taxed in Thailand doesn't mean you were compliant.
So you are bringing money into Thailand.
I went to the UOB (old Citibank) today to ask what their opinion is on the new tax rules.
They simply said that if you have "large" inward remittances, they will call and ask what the source of the money is and she said you can simply reply "savings". The calls will be recorded.
After this, the revenue/tax department may do random checks with people.
That's what they said today. It may change or you may get a different answer from another bank.
They simply said that if you have "large" inward remittances, they will call and ask what the source of the money is and she said you can simply reply "savings". The calls will be recorded.
After this, the revenue/tax department may do random checks with people.
That's what they said today. It may change or you may get a different answer from another bank.
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