Taxation question.....

Hi all,

I currently trade prop in NYC but am relocating to London soon. Anyway, I am of neither US or EU nationality and I will be opening a retail account in the USA but exercising control from London.
From what I have read, the US govt will not tax me on capital gains if i sign a w-8. As for UK taxes, since i am not a citizen/permanent resident of the UK, i am of non-domicile status, and I will only be taxed on income thats repatriated to the UK. Someone please correct me if i am wrong?

If anyone knows of a good accountant that deals with financial traders in London on equity trading, please do let me know.

thanks a lot!!!

Your nationality is immaterial as is the location of your account.If you are earning income from an activity controlled from the UK you will be taxed here on your gains. There may be some latitude as to how those gains are taxed ,that is as earned income ,or on a capital gains basis. You should check that out with an accountant here in the Uk as soon as you can.

thanks chucky, will consult one as soon as humanly possible

Alientrade,

You are correct about the taxation of non-domiciles - you will be only taxed on that part of your gain that you repatriate to the UK.

thanks Bunyip thats wht i thought.

Hi alientrade, first thing I would stress is seek professional advice on this matter, I cannot stress that enough.

ince i am not a citizen/permanent resident of the UK,

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As soon as you exceed 90 days in the UK in any given tax year you will be a resident, obviously assuming you are not here on holiday. Non residence of the UK requires that you spend no more that 90 days in any one tax year. How the non dom fits in with this I do not know, as I am completely unfamiliar with the laws of domicile. From the US perspective a W8 BEN would be filed, I think, every three years, in a normal case such as a UK resident who is paying tax in the UK the US government relinquishes tax under the auspices of the tax treaty in existence between the two countries, again I am unsure how your situation would play into this if you were not taxed here.
As I say seek professional advice on this from a tax lawyer.

Do you guys have any good tax lawyers to recommend in the London area?


thanks, very deeply appreciated

FWIW, and to help any others in the same situation, i have consulted a couple of accountants, Most had no idea what was going on. One of them felt that since i was daytrading, as most of us are, British taxation authorities will regard it as an occupation, and you wil be deemed to have originated income in the british isles AND you will be subjected to the income tax regime, irregardless of the non-domicile rule and where your income was generated. The only way to get around that it seems is to transact very infrequently, then you might be subjected to non-domicile status. i will probably consult another accountant about this, but that seems to be the case.

Alien...there are relatively few loopholes left through which you can drop for taxation purposes and by the year they get fewer and fewer. There are other countries where you can find the tax advantages that you want ,but the Uk is not one of them. There's not really any argument about how you will be taxed given what you wish to do and where you wish to do it from. I'm sure Bunyip was well intentioned with his 'advice' ,but it was not correct.
Good Luck