I am an Irish tax resident (Stamp 4). I am non-domiciled.
I am a have recently bought a few QQQ (Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1) shares from NASDAQ through Interactive Brokers. Does it qualify as investing in ETFs?
Your question in relation to QQQ is whether it is subject to:
- capital gains tax treatment [33% CGT on gains; Income tax, USC & PRSI on income distributions; eligible for the remittance basis of taxation], or
- fund tax treatment [41% tax on gains; 41% tax on income distributions (no USC or PRSI); deemed disposal every 8 years;
not eligible for the remittance basis of taxation].
To determine whether fund tax treatment applies, your tax adviser would have to:
- consult
Section 747B(2A) TCA which lists the items that are to be considered, and
- review the
QQQ Prospectus.
It
appears from a quick scan of the prospectus that as QQQ:
- is not UCITS authorised,
- does not redeem units for non-institutional investors and individual investors can only trade shares in a secondary market on a stock exchange,
- does not take steps to ensure that shares trade within a specified percentage of NAV,
- arguably is not materially similar to an Irish Authorised Investment Company/Authorised Unit Trust Scheme,
then it
most likely will not be subject to fund tax treatment and thus could be eligible for the remittance basis of taxation for Irish resident non-domiciled individuals.
It's a complex area. Don't rely on the above - professional tax advice would be advisable.