Non-US Investor Guide

Most investing content assumes you are a US taxpayer with a US broker. A large share of this site’s readers are not. They live in Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, London or Frankfurt and buy US stocks and ETFs from there. This guide covers the practical side of that: the four ways to reach the US market, the form you sign when you open the account, what is withheld from every dividend, how gains are treated on each side, the US estate-tax exposure that starts at only $60,000, what currency conversion costs you, and a worked example comparing three ways a Taipei investor could buy the S&P 500. The tax lesson’s Part II has the rules in brief. This page is about the decisions you make with them.

⚠️ Read this first. This guide is an educational illustration of how the rules generally work. Treaty rates, thresholds, broker offerings and local tax rules change, and some of the legislation mentioned here is pending. Your own facts can change the answer: your residence, your citizenship, your days in the US, your other income, your heirs. Nothing here is a filing position, tax advice, legal advice or a broker recommendation. Confirm with a qualified cross-border tax professional, and check the current rule, before acting.

What you’ll learn

• Who this guide is for, and who it is not for (US citizens and green-card holders abroad)
• The four routes into US stocks: a US broker, your local broker’s US access (Taiwan’s 複委託), local-listed funds, and Irish UCITS ETFs
• What W-8BEN certifies, how long it lasts, and what happens without one
• Dividend withholding: the 30% default, treaty rates, and why fund domicile matters as much as the fund
• Why the US generally does not tax your gains, and why your home country may
• The $60,000 US estate-tax threshold, and the practical problem of a US account when the holder dies
• What FX costs, and how currency moves change your return
• A one-page checklist, and a worked NT$600,000 example

1. Who this guide is for

This guide is for a non-resident alien: someone who is not a US citizen, does not hold a US green card, and does not live in the US long enough to become a US tax resident. That person buys US-listed stocks or ETFs, or funds that hold them, from their home country. The worked examples use Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and the EU/UK, because their rules differ in ways that change the answer.

It is not for:

• US citizens and green-card holders living abroad. The US taxes them on worldwide income wherever they live, and the non-US funds this guide discusses (UCITS ETFs, local funds) can be PFICs for them, which brings punitive treatment. Read Part I of the tax lesson instead.
• Anyone who spends long stretches in the US. Enough days of presence can make you a US tax resident under the “substantial presence” test. That is a question for a professional, not for this page.

The guide covers the US side in detail and the home side only in outline. Your country taxes the same income under its own rules, and those rules are what decide your final number.

2. Ways to access US markets

There are four common routes. They can hold exactly the same underlying stocks and still produce noticeably different after-tax, after-fee results.

A US broker that accepts non-residents

Several US-based or internationally operating brokers open accounts for non-US residents. Interactive Brokers, Charles Schwab International and Firstrade are names readers often mention. We do not endorse any of them. Which brokers accept residents of which countries varies, and it changes as brokers enter and leave markets, so check what applies to you today.

What to check, in this order:

• Which legal entity holds your account. One brand may serve you through its US entity or through a local subsidiary (for example in Hong Kong, Singapore or the UK). The entity decides which regulator and which protection scheme apply.
• Account protection. A US broker-dealer that is a SIPC member is covered by SIPC, which protects against the broker failing (not against market losses) up to set limits. A local subsidiary falls under the local scheme instead.
• FX cost, which is often your largest cost (Section 7), then commissions, fractional shares, and whether the broker gives access to European exchanges if you want UCITS ETFs.
• Tax documents: you sign W-8BEN at opening and receive Form 1042-S at year end.

Your local broker’s US-market access (Taiwan’s 複委託)

Many local brokers route orders to US exchanges for you. In Taiwan this is 複委託 (sub-brokerage): you place the order with a Taiwan securities firm, which passes it to a foreign broker. The foreign broker typically holds the shares in an omnibus account in the Taiwan firm’s name, on behalf of its clients. Hong Kong, Singapore and Japanese brokers offer similar services.

How it typically differs from a US broker (general; terms vary by firm):

• Costs. Commissions have historically been higher, often a percentage with a minimum per trade, though competition has pushed them down sharply. FX is usually done through your local bank or a foreign-currency account. Compare the total cost on a real order size.
• Settlement and cash. You often need to fund the order in advance or have the cash ready, in TWD or in a USD foreign-currency account (外幣帳戶) linked to the broker. Settling in USD avoids converting currency on every trade.
• Custody and protection. Your relationship is with the local firm, under your local regulator. Any SIPC-type cover at the foreign broker attaches to the omnibus account, not to you personally. Ask how client assets are segregated.
• Tax is the same. US withholding on dividends still applies, usually at 30% for a Taiwan resident. Shares held through 複委託 are still US-situs assets for US estate tax (Section 6). What changes is the paperwork: inheritance is handled through a local firm, in your language.
• Convenience. Local language, local statements, local customer service, and a familiar tax-reporting process.

Local-listed funds that hold US stocks

A fund domiciled and listed in your own market can hold the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq-100 for you. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan all have such funds. Japan’s investment trusts are also widely held inside NISA accounts.

• Withholding happens inside the fund, at whatever rate the fund’s own domicile gets. Japan’s treaty gives a Japanese fund 10%. A Taiwan-domiciled fund has no treaty, so it suffers 30%.
• US estate tax: you own units of a local fund, not US shares, so the holding is generally not US-situs.
• Costs are usually higher than the largest US ETFs. Check the expense ratio, the tracking difference and the trading spread on the local exchange.
• Local tax treatment of the fund’s distributions depends on your country’s rules. In Taiwan, for example, the overseas-sourced part of a domestic fund’s distribution can count as overseas income (Section 5). Check how it applies to you.

Irish- or Luxembourg-domiciled UCITS ETFs

A UCITS ETF is a European-regulated fund, usually domiciled in Ireland for US-equity exposure (Luxembourg is the other common domicile) and listed in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Milan. The tax lesson explains the Irish route in detail. In brief:

• 15% withholding at the fund level on US dividends under the US–Ireland treaty, and no further Irish withholding to non-Irish holders. A Luxembourg fund does not generally get the same treaty rate on US dividends, so domicile matters, not just the UCITS label.
• Accumulating share classes reinvest dividends inside the fund.
• Not US-situs for US estate tax.
• You need access to European exchanges. Many US brokers do not offer it. Some international brokers and some 複委託 desks do.
• EU/UK retail investors generally cannot buy US-domiciled ETFs at all, because those funds do not publish the required EU/UK key-information document. For them, UCITS is usually the default rather than an alternative. UK rules on this are being reformed, so check the current rule. UK investors should also check that a fund has UK reporting-fund status.

Side by side

(General and illustrative. Every cell depends on the specific broker, fund and country.)

Key idea: Pick the route that suits you before you pick the fund. If you hold the same S&P 500 through two different routes, your after-tax, after-FX result can differ more than it would between two good S&P 500 funds.

3. Opening the account

What you will typically need

A passport (or national ID), proof of address (often a utility bill or bank statement from the last few months), your foreign tax identification number (in Taiwan, typically your national ID number), employment and financial information for the suitability questions, and a bank account to fund from. Some brokers ask for a video or in-person identity check. The Setup lesson covers the rest of the account basics.

W-8BEN: what it certifies and how long it lasts

Form W-8BEN is an IRS form you give your broker, not something you file with the IRS. On it you certify that:

• you are not a US person and are the beneficial owner of the income, and
• (Part II, the treaty claim) you are a resident of a country that has an income-tax treaty with the US, which lets you claim its reduced rate. If your country has no treaty, as with Taiwan, Hong Kong or Singapore, there is nothing to claim there.

It is generally valid until the end of the third calendar year after the year you sign it. A form signed in any month of 2026 generally expires on 31 December 2029. If your facts change before then, for example you move country, you must give the broker an updated form. Put the expiry year in your calendar. Many brokers prompt you to renew, but not all do.

Without a valid form

If the form is missing, expired or incorrect, the broker cannot apply non-resident rules or a treaty rate. Depending on the broker and what it knows about you:

• dividends are withheld at the full 30%, even if your country has a treaty, and
• the broker may apply backup withholding to payments that would otherwise not be withheld, which can include sale proceeds. It may also restrict the account until a form is on file.

Treaty-rate tax withheld in excess can sometimes be reclaimed by filing a US non-resident return. That is slow and costs money. A current W-8BEN is cheaper.

4. Dividend withholding

US-source dividends paid to a non-resident are withheld at 30% before the cash reaches you, unless a treaty applies and you have claimed it (withholding tax). Your broker reports what was withheld on Form 1042-S.

Treaty rates: a few well-established cases

(Portfolio dividends to an individual with a valid W-8BEN. Treaties can be amended, and special rates apply to pensions and large holdings. Check the current treaty for your own country.)

On Taiwan: Taiwan and the US have no comprehensive income-tax treaty. US legislation to extend treaty-like relief to Taiwan residents has been proposed. The House passed a bill in 2025, and as of autumn 2026 it was still awaiting Senate action. Even if it is enacted, relief would depend on reciprocal arrangements and implementation. Until the change is actually in force, plan on 30%, and check the current status.

US ETFs vs. Irish UCITS ETFs: where the withholding happens

The fund’s domicile decides where the tax is withheld and at what rate:

The 15% is invisible: it shows up as slightly lower fund returns, not as a line on your statement. For a treaty investor at 15%, the two structures come out about the same. For a Japanese investor at 10%, the US-domiciled fund can win on withholding. For a Taiwan, Hong Kong or Singapore investor at 30%, the Irish fund generally wins. Distributions from US funds are not all ordinary dividends: capital-gain distributions and some interest-related distributions can be treated differently. Reconcile with your 1042-S rather than assume.

ADRs of non-US companies

An ADR is a US-listed receipt for shares of a non-US company (TSMC’s ADR is one Taiwan readers often hold). Its dividend is not US-source, so the 30% US rate does not apply. The issuer’s home country withholds at whatever rate it sets for non-residents, and the depositary bank deducts small fees. Compare the ADR with the company’s local listing on rate, fees and liquidity before choosing. ADRs of foreign issuers are also generally not US-situs for estate tax.

REITs, MLPs and other partnerships

• REITs. Ordinary REIT dividends are withheld like other dividends. Some REIT distributions fall under the FIRPTA rules for US real-property gains and are taxed differently. Treaty relief for REIT dividends can be narrower.
• MLPs and other publicly traded partnerships (PTPs) are a different category. For a non-resident, partnership income can be effectively connected US income, which is withheld at high rates and can create a US tax-filing obligation. Since 2023, brokers must also generally withhold 10% of the gross sale proceeds when a non-US person sells a PTP interest. That is 10% of the proceeds, not of any gain. Some commodity and futures ETFs are structured as partnerships too.

Key idea: As a non-US investor, avoid MLPs and other partnership-structured securities unless a professional has walked you through the filings. A K-1 can be a sign the security is a partnership (it is the form partnerships issue), and many brokers block non-residents from these securities for this reason.

5. Capital gains

The US side: generally not taxed, with conditions

For a non-resident alien, gains on selling US stocks and ETFs are generally not taxed by the United States. The condition is that you were present in the US for fewer than 183 days in the tax year and the gain is not connected with a US trade or business. Exceptions include gains from US real-property interests under FIRPTA (which can reach certain REIT holdings) and partnership interests (Section 4). Spending 183 days or more in the US also raises the separate question of whether you have become a US tax resident. See the tax lesson for details.

So the US side of your gain is usually zero, but that does not make the gain tax-free. Your home country’s rules decide.

The home side: a sketch, not a rule book

(High level only. Rates, thresholds and definitions change, and the details depend on your facts. Check the current year’s rules with a local professional.)

• Taiwan. Overseas income, including realised gains and dividends from overseas securities, is generally kept out of regular income tax. It feeds into the Alternative Minimum Tax (basic income tax, 基本稅額) system instead. Broadly, overseas income counts only if it reaches a threshold in the year (NT$1 million under the long-standing rule). Your total basic income is then compared against a separate, higher exemption amount that is adjusted over time, and tax is due only if the basic tax exceeds your regular tax. Gains and losses on overseas securities within the same year can generally be netted, and foreign tax paid can be credited within limits. Keep your 1042-S and trade records, because this is the paperwork the calculation needs.
• Hong Kong. No tax on capital gains or dividends for individual investors in general. Profits from activity that amounts to a trading business can be taxable.
• Singapore. No capital gains tax for individual investors in general, and foreign dividends received by individuals are generally exempt. Again, trading as a business is different.
• Japan. Gains and dividends are generally taxed, at roughly 20% combined under the current separate-taxation rules. Foreign tax credits and tax-free NISA accounts change the arithmetic.
• EU/UK. Rules vary widely by country: capital-gains allowances, deemed-return systems and the UK’s reporting-fund rules for offshore funds, among others.

6. US estate tax

The $60,000 threshold

When a non-resident alien dies, their US-situs assets are subject to US estate tax. US-situs assets include US-domiciled stocks and US-domiciled ETFs, whether you hold them at a US broker or through 複委託. The effective exemption is only $60,000, compared with the multi-million-dollar exemption US persons get. Rates rise through a graduated scale to 40%. US Treasury bonds, US bank deposits, shares of non-US companies (including ADRs of foreign issuers) and non-US-domiciled funds are generally outside it.

An estate-tax treaty can change this, and the US has only a limited number of them. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore have none. Japan, the UK and several EU countries do. Where a treaty exists, it often gives a larger, pro-rated exemption, so check your treaty’s terms.

Illustration (statutory rates, no deductions, no treaty): a Singapore resident dies holding $220,000 of US-listed stocks and ETFs. The tentative tax on $220,000 is about $61,200. After the $13,000 credit that produces the $60,000 exemption, the tax is about $48,200, roughly 22% of the whole holding. (Illustrative and rounded. The rate schedule can change.)

Practical mitigations

• Hold US exposure through non-US-domiciled funds. The Irish UCITS ETF route keeps the same index out of the US estate-tax net.
• Watch your US-situs total. Below $60,000, the exposure is limited. Above it, every additional dollar of US-domiciled holdings is exposed at the marginal rate.
• Get professional advice before using structures such as holding companies or trusts. These are cross-border legal questions with their own costs and reporting, not something to set up yourself.
• Your home country’s inheritance tax can apply as well. Taiwan, for example, has its own estate tax (遺產稅). The two systems do not automatically coordinate.

When an account holder dies

This is a practical problem as well as a tax one. Even when little or no tax is due, a US broker usually freezes the account until it receives documents. These typically include a death certificate (often translated and certified), proof of who the heirs or executors are, and for larger US-situs estates an IRS transfer certificate confirming the estate tax is settled. This can take months, and heirs who do not speak English or lack the paperwork struggle with it.

• Some brokers allow a transfer-on-death (TOD) or beneficiary designation on non-resident accounts. It can simplify probate (who receives the assets) but does not remove the estate tax.
• Tell your family where the accounts are and keep a written list of the broker, account number and contacts with your will.
• A 複委託 holding goes through your local firm’s inheritance process, which is often easier for local heirs. The US estate-tax rules on the underlying assets still apply.

7. FX: currency is part of your return

What conversion costs

You pay two things every time you change TWD, HKD, SGD, JPY, EUR or GBP into USD and back: the spread between the buy and sell rate, and any fee. Bank board rates can be 0.3–1% away from the mid-market rate, while some brokers convert near mid for a small commission (illustrative ranges). At 0.5% each way, a round trip costs 1%. That is more than ten years of fees on the cheapest S&P 500 fund. The Setup lesson’s broker table makes the same point: for a non-US investor, the FX line is often the largest cost.

Holding USD cash (a USD foreign-currency account, or USD balances at the broker) lets you convert once, in larger amounts, at a better rate, and then keep dividends and sale proceeds in USD for the next purchase. Check whether idle USD earns interest and what the account charges.

Currency risk on your return

Your return in home currency = (1 + return in USD) × (1 + change in USD against your currency) − 1.

Worked example (illustrative): you convert NT$320,000 at 32.00 TWD per USD and buy US$10,000 of an ETF. A year later the ETF is up 10% (US$11,000), but the TWD has appreciated 5% against the USD (the rate moves from 32.00 to about 30.48).

If the TWD had weakened 5% instead, the same 10% USD gain would be worth about +15.5% in TWD. Over long horizons, currency moves partly even out, but over a few years they can dominate the result. Hedged share classes exist for some funds, but they cost money and change what you own.

When to convert

• On a schedule, not on a forecast. Convert alongside your regular contributions (for example monthly), the same way you dollar-cost average into the fund. Nobody forecasts exchange rates reliably.
• Keep spending money in your spending currency. If you will need the money in TWD within a few years, its currency risk matters more than its USD return.
• Minimise round trips. Reinvest USD dividends in USD rather than converting home and back.
• Know any local limits. Some countries cap or report personal currency conversion (Taiwan has an annual personal quota that is high enough not to matter for most investors). Large one-off transfers may need paperwork.

8. Checklist and worked example

The one-page decision checklist

1. Status. Am I a non-resident alien (not a US citizen or green-card holder, not living in the US)? If not, stop and read the US rules.
2. Treaty. Does my country have a US income-tax treaty, and at what dividend rate? Does it have an estate-tax treaty?
3. Route. US broker, local broker (複委託), local-listed fund, or Irish UCITS ETF? Which entity holds the account, and which protection scheme applies?
4. W-8BEN. Signed, treaty line correct (or blank if there is no treaty), and expiry year in the calendar.
5. Dividend drag. Fund yield × my withholding rate, compared across US vs. Irish domicile.
6. Estate exposure. My total US-situs holdings today and in five years, compared with $60,000. Have I told my heirs where the accounts are?
7. FX. The cost per conversion, a USD account, and a conversion schedule.
8. Home tax. How my country taxes overseas dividends and gains, and the records I must keep (1042-S, trade confirmations).
9. Avoid MLPs and other partnership-structured securities, and (for US persons only) UCITS funds.
10. Review once a year: the W-8BEN expiry, treaty or legislation changes, the US-situs total, and fees.

Worked example: a Taipei investor with NT$600,000

(All numbers are illustrative and rounded, and fees, yields and rates change. Check the current figures before using any of them.)

Setup. A Taiwan resident, not a US person, invests NT$600,000 in the S&P 500. At 32 TWD per USD that is about US$18,750. Assume a dividend yield of about 1.3%, so about US$244 a year in gross dividends, and taxes paid as the dividends arrive. The three routes:

What the arithmetic says.

• Annual difference, C vs. A: about 0.42% − 0.27% ≈ 0.15% a year, roughly US$29 on this balance. At this size the difference is small. Over 20 years of contributions it compounds into something worth noticing. In the illustrative 0.15%-a-year gap above, the UCITS fund comes out ahead even after its higher fee.
• Estate exposure: US$18,750 is below the $60,000 line today. A plan that adds NT$20,000 a month for 10 years in US-domiciled funds will cross the line, so it is better to choose the route now than to switch later. Switching means selling, which can create gains your home country taxes.
• B vs. A comes down to commissions, FX and convenience, not tax: the withholding and estate treatment are the same. If 複委託 commissions are a minimum fee on every small monthly purchase, that minimum can outweigh everything else in the table.
• Taiwan’s side: the 1.3% dividend from A or B is overseas income in the year it is paid. C pays nothing out, so the gain is realised only when you sell. How either counts toward the basic-income-tax threshold is a Taiwan question (Section 5).

A reasonable reading (not a recommendation): for a long-horizon, no-treaty investor who expects to keep adding, C’s lower withholding and estate treatment usually outweigh its slightly higher fee, if the investor can reach a European exchange cheaply. If not, A or B with a plan to watch the $60,000 line is a sensible fallback. Run your own numbers with the skills below.

9. Which InvestSkill skills help

/us-stock-analysis:tax-lens --non-us Taiwan — I hold $45k of VOO and $15k of AAPL at a US broker, W-8BEN signed 2025
/us-stock-analysis:etf-analysis VOO CSPX VUAA — I live in Hong Kong, no US tax treaty; compare after withholding
/us-stock-analysis:dividend-analysis KO — Singapore resident, show the yield after 30% withholding
/us-stock-analysis:portfolio-review — Taiwan resident; US broker + 複委託 + one UCITS ETF (paste holdings)

Each skill covers the US side only and says so in its output. Your home-country tax is outside what they do.

Check yourself

1. A Hong Kong resident and a UK resident each receive a US$200 gross dividend from the same US stock, both with a valid W-8BEN. How much reaches each of them?
2. A Taiwan investor holds VOO through 複委託 instead of at a US broker. Does that change the US estate-tax exposure?
3. You signed your W-8BEN in June 2026. When does it generally expire, and what happens if it lapses?
4. For a Singapore resident, why does an Irish-domiciled S&P 500 UCITS ETF usually lose less to withholding than VOO, and what does it cost in exchange?
5. Your ETF rose 10% in USD over a year, and your home currency appreciated 5% against the USD. Roughly what is your return in home currency?

Key takeaways

• If you are not a US person, the US rules for you are different, and most US-centric content does not cover them. Choose your route (US broker, 複委託, local fund, Irish UCITS) as deliberately as your fund.
• W-8BEN sets your rate: sign it before the first dividend and renew it before the end of the third calendar year after signing. Without a valid form you get the full 30% and possibly backup withholding.
• Dividends are withheld at 30% unless a treaty applies (e.g. Japan 10%, UK and most of the EU 15%). Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore have no US income-tax treaty. Taiwan relief legislation is pending, so check its status.
• An Irish-domiciled UCITS ETF cuts US withholding to 15% at the fund level and sits outside US estate tax, at a slightly higher fee. Avoid MLPs and other partnerships (since 2023, 10% of sale proceeds is withheld, on top of possible filing obligations).
• The US generally does not tax a non-resident’s stock gains under 183 days of presence, but your home country may (Taiwan: overseas income in the basic income tax above a threshold, so check the current year’s figures).
• US-situs holdings above $60,000 are exposed to US estate tax at up to 40%, with no treaty for Taiwan, Hong Kong or Singapore. 複委託 does not change that. Tell your heirs where the accounts are.
• FX is often your biggest cost, and currency moves multiply your return. Convert on a schedule, hold USD to avoid round trips, and judge results in the currency you spend.
• None of this is tax or legal advice. Rules change, so confirm your own facts with a qualified cross-border professional.

Next / Related: The rules in brief: Taxes & Account Types, Part II. Opening the account and choosing a broker: Before Your First Trade. Choosing the fund itself: ETFs & Index Investing. Terms: W-8BEN, Withholding Tax, UCITS ETF, Estate Tax (Non-Resident). Or head back to the Learning hub, then Choose a Skill to run tax-lens --non-us on your own holdings.

Educational content only. Not financial, tax or legal advice. Confirm with a qualified professional.