My thinking here is that IB is preparing for the distinct possibility of a transaction tax coming down the pike in the summer of 2021. All three top Dems are promoting a transaction tax. Even Biden! So many traders will be closing their accounts if this passes. IB wants to stay in business of course, so perhaps they are beginning the search for ways to keep their customers if a transaction tax rears its ugly head. Also, with regards to a transaction tax, if the tax were especially large, such as 0.5%, I'm thinking spreads would widen, volatility would increase, and brokers might actually have to start paying customers for their orders. So instead of you paying $1, for example, brokers would pay you $1. (Or 50c, or whatever). Just saying. A transaction tax seems to me that it would change the entire game.
We (in Belgium) have a transaction tax of 0,35% for stock and is has a huge impact on my profits. That is why i am moving my trading to the Netherlands soon, i live close to the border anyway and no transaction tax there.
I I have just read up on the FTT in Belgium. Is seems to cover all stock transactions - not just stocks listed in Belgium. Is that correct? In that case it must be the first time an all-encompassing version of an FTT has been enacted? The EU gave up on plans to introduce an all-encompassing FTT and instead are looking into an FTT similar to the French version. So this Belgian FTT is a cause for concern.
Correct, all stock transactions, not only stocks listed in Belgium. Also both when you buy and sell a stock. So you pay 0,35% on the purchase amount and 0,35% on the amount you sell the stocks for. So if you buy stock worth $10,000 you pay $35. When you close the position for $11,000 you pay $38,5. So $73,5 total.
Dam, that is alot. Were you making a living at trading prior to the tax? Are you still making a living at trading now? You must be a medium- to long-term swing-trader, because I can't imagine daytrading with those fees! I understand you are moving your trading to the Netherlands. Good for you!
Yes i am profitable, even with the tax, however it is taking away a large chunk of my profits. The cost of renting a small office in the Netherlands and driving there every now and then is about as much as the tax i am currently paying for 10 trades, with my current size. So it is more than worth it. Also the Netherlands have much better taxes for trading than Belgium.
Does anyone know whether the enactment of a US FTT would require The Democratic Party to control a majority in both chambers?
A majority in the House, a super-majority in the Senate (to provide a cloture vote on an expected filibuster), and then a Dem in the White House who'd not need to get re-elected. (So Biden -- who knows on which side of his bread lies the butter -- would be a safe veto. I "would not say that" about the others. ) In short? To waste any time on this shows either the idiocy or the insincerity of the candidate.