Doesn't look like either QQQ ( https://www.hl.co.uk/shares/shares-search-results/i/invesco-capital-invesco-qqq-trust-series-1 ) or SPY (https://www.hl.co.uk/shares/shares-search-results/s/spdr-s-and-p-500-etf-trust-units-npv ) are available on HL (for example) yet, unless you are talking about EQQQ, the LSE version, I don't know if SPY has a British version. May I ask what are the tax issues on US ETFs? I have heard that "shares on the UK registry" have a stamp duty of 0.5%. US dividends may get taxed by US if I don't fill in the w-8ben form. There is CGT for anything (US, UK or other shares) I hold outside of an ISA, SIPP or spreadbet. Apart from that, what other taxes?
Yeah they are listed by Invesco and another one on the LSE. As for US being recognized in your country depends on your tax code, in germany they would take increases as gains even though you haven't sold and dividends will be a problem I believe if the get reinvested into the fund
Okay, now I remember. If the ETF does not have 'UK reporting status', then HMRC (the UK tax dept) would consider my gains as income, and therefore would subject it to income tax (based on the band I'm in, 20%, 40% etc) rather than the more favourable CGT (10%, 20%, etc) and this I think is applicable for most US ETFs, as you said.
If you are a resident of EU or UK and want to open an account with IB you will get one with IBUK!! A british account! So no opening of ETF positions besides assignments. If you are a resident of EU or UK and you open an account with Tradestation/IB your account will be with IBUS!! A US account! So just trade without any restrictions. My understanding, as IBUS is a popular clearer. But I might be wrong. And btw the UK will NOT leave ESMA, to my knowledge, so all these EU regulations remain in effect for british brokers -like IBUK.
I had always thought it was a UK account, my base currency is GBP, and I use the IB UK website to login. The only role of TSG is in the charge structure (AFAIAC), and although TSG has a platform that works in conjunction with TWS, I never use it. Note also that I opened my account with IB UK first and then converted that account to a TSG one (it was painfully slow, took around a week or two to finish), and I definitely can't buy US ETFs directly. I have checked with both QQQ and SPY, so I don't think it's an IB US account.
If you can`t buy SPY directly you are with IBUK. There are brokers/white labels in the US or outside EU/UK that offer their own frontend plus IBUS as clearing. I use one of those, wonderful frontend which I don`use - instead I log in with my TWS credentials to trade the QQQ and friends.