Buying equities through keytrade

[kerryman43]

I'm wondering if there any hidden gotchas regarding tax that I might not know about when it comes to buying Irish or European equities through an account with the Belgian Keytrade bank versus using an Irish broker. I have a few specific questions:

I appear to be able to buy BOI shares via the Londan Stock Exchange on keytrade. The price is in euros not sterling, is this not unusual? or would there be an implicit currency conversion at time of purchase? (and if so how much would I be likely to lose on this) .

I've heard that there is a 1% stamp duty on Irish share purchases, how does this work in relation to the above scenario of buying on the LSE via keytrade versus using an Irish broker?

Finally, are there are any issues about withholding tax on dividends I should be aware of?

 

[Rory Gillen]

If you are Irish resident then you account for your taxes in Ireland. It does not matter where you buy a particular share or investment. Listed companies domiciled in Ireland are subject to 1% stamp duty, and it doesn't matter whether you buy them on ISEQ or abroad. The stockbroker has to apply the 1%. There are some exceptions, but too complicated to outline here. Dividends paid by Irish domiciled listed companies are subject to 20% WHT.

You can buy many Irish shares on the LSE sometimes in either sterling or Euros. Obviously, it makes no difference! If you don't follow why, we have a featured article that deals in detail with 'Currency Issues' on our website and here is a link to that article.
http://www.gillenmarkets.com/featured_articles/currency-exposure-frequent-questions-answered.cfm

Rory Gillen
Investment Advisor
Founder, GillenMarkets.com