I'm new to investing but trying to educate myself. As a UK resident, I understand the best option for investing in an ETF that tracks the S&P 500 is to use ones that are domiciled in Ireland and trade on the London Stock Exchange. One thing I'm unsure about is US withholding tax.
As a beginner, I know the advice would be stay clear of synthetic ETFs because of the added complexity and risk, and I probably will avoid it for now. But, I'd still like to understand it.
- As I understand it, choosing an ETF based in Ireland (VUAG for example) that has full physical replication, will still be liable to a US (taxed at source) withholding tax of 15%?
- Additionally, I read that as Synthetic ETFs does not actually own the equities of the S&P 500 and merely track it through other commodities, it is therefore not subject to a withholding tax of 15%?
- However, synthetic ETFs do have a swap fee to consider. So I guess what I'm asking is (and leaving aside differing levels of risk), if you were to have two ETFs performing equally in terms of growth (gross, before any deductions/fees). One being VUAG (physical replication, subject to 15% withholding tax), one being Invesco G500 (synthetic, not subject to withholding tax, but has a swap fee of 0.3%). Which is the best on to go for? Because on the face of it, not losing 15% of your returns to tax seems a no brainer?
As a beginner, I know the advice would be stay clear of synthetic ETFs because of the added complexity and risk, and I probably will avoid it for now. But, I'd still like to understand it.
Statistics: Posted by Mumbo_Jumbo — Sat Jun 15, 2024 5:38 pm — Replies 0 — Views 68