Fairly new to the Freetrade game (December '19) and am slowly expanding my portfolio. I’m in my late 20s and, until now, only held ETFs through Vanguard, but am slowly growing in confidence picking my own stocks in Freetrade and slowly transferring over.
I have recently purchased a small amount of £HGM that is traded on the LSE and headquartered in Jersey. It’s my first non-UK company (and almost certainly not my last) but I was wondering about any fees associated. I didn’t have to pay 0.5% stamp duty (as it’s Jersey) but also didn’t pay the 0.5% forex charge as it’s still in GBP. I’m assuming I’ll have to pay some sort of tax on it if/when I decide to sell, but am wondering what that would be.
Any information from anyone wanting to help out a newbie would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!
Jersey-incorporated companies are exempt from SDRT (Stamp Duty Reserve Tax), which paid online, as you do with FT, is 0.5%. I really hope FT will lobby against what I find a deeply unfair tax.
There are a number of Jersey-incorporated firms on the LSE, forum-favourite £TRIG comes to mind.
I think the currency conversion cost is spot price + 0.45% last I checked the prices page, which is quite good.
Anyhow, when you sell, all things should be the same (to note, there is no SDRT when selling UK incorporated companies’ shares either).
It has a handy dividends tax calculator as well (for the 19/20) tax year.
Tax is a very individual thing, so none of this is advice, and please do your own research or ask a professional who can advise you if any deeper questions come up.
Many thanks for your response, and good to know that it doesn’t look I am missing anything in particular. I will indeed have a look at the Which? article you sent through and will also speak to those useful accountant family members before I start looking to sell (which I am not planning on doing any time soon)!
One more thing, Mark. AIM-listed (Alternative Investment Market listed, the junior tier of the London Stock Exchange) shares are exempt from SDRT as well.
Not that those are generally good stocks to start with, but there is the AIM 100, the top hundred stocks. Some of its constituents, eg ASOS (ASC) and Fevertree (FEVR), would justify inclusion in the FTSE 100 based on their respective market capitalisations. So the exemption for AIM stocks matters.
In any case, for selling, I think your plan of educating yourself and tapping into free accounting advice is solid. If you invest meaningful amounts you might even consider a Stocks and Shares ISA to make your gains tax efficient.