agree, a half-decent (way below Japanese standards) flat of around 1,000 sqft sets you back around 5000 usd per month in rent alone. You do not need a car in HK at all, its a major pain to drive in HK which is why most any show-off and newly rich as well as mainland Chinese kleptomaniac bureaucrat is driven by a chauffeur. Eating out costs as much as eating out in NYC or London or Tokyo. So, sure, living expenses in HK are higher than somewhere in Omaha, Nebraska, but if you live in NYC and trade successfully and can chose to work there or in HK then I would not think twice and immediately choose HK for couple years. The capital gains tax difference is 20-30% depending on asset class.
I agree that my English is below average as well as spelling. Now, suppose you are in US tax boundary, do you pay HK stamp tax, when you trade HK stocks using your US-based security account? If not sure, please call your broker to find it our for sure. Actually I am out of states now, so that it is hard to call to my brokerage (etrade.com in US soil where I currently hold MSFT, DD and C) Because I have Social Security Number as well as my FICO credit score in US soil, I can open (regular) stock account by ONLINE, when I am staying in Korea. Also, do you pay Korean stamp (trading tax), if you like to buy/sell SamsungElectronics listed in Korea (NOT NYSE-listed ADR)? Probably it is biggest in Korea and well-known to everyone. My guess is that you may pay HK gov to trade HK stocks, but you may NOT pay Korean gov for stamp(trading tax) to trade SamsungElectronics. I will be appreciated if you can talk to your brokerage company in US soil. Some countries like Japan, China and Korea do NOT have symbols such as MSFT. Please not that SamsungElectronics is "KR-005930" for most brokers in US.
My guess is that for the DIVIDEND, most countries charge 15~25% for the CapGain. I mean gov take about $20 for yearly dividend of every $100. Same is true for most countries so that it is NOT main point here. Here main point is the difference between CapGain and stamp(trading tax), depending on various countries.
yes you do pay HK stamp duty every time you trade a HK listed stock, no matter where in the world you sit. And yes, same story with stocks listed in Korea. Just trust me on this, I have worked professionally in this industry around the globe for more than 14 years now. But again, this is not what this discussion is about, its about those taxation items that differentiate where you have your primary residence and your citizen status. The US imposes very strict rules on capital gains in that regardless of where you live you still pay at the least US capital gains (plus the differential if your residence taxation scheme imposes higher capital gains taxes). This does not apply in the same way to citizens of most other countries. If you are European and live and work in Hong Kong you do not pay taxes on capital gains of most asset classes which makes it much more desirable for a Frenchman, for example to consider a different residence base for trading purposes, thank, for example an American.
I am fully agree with your kind explanation. I heard French has more CapGainTax rate than US so that LiousVuitton is moving our of the French territory, for its hugh company tax rate. Also, if I heard correctly, NIKE already moved their headquater to Iceland where they want more company to pay tax, by economic collapse of Iceland. In most countries, I guess at least 20% of what he earned. I am NOT a person to avoid even the 20%. But there is reason to hope to pay less than 40%, such cap rate in recent US 1040 tax bracket. In the last five years, trust me that I paid between 40~50% for the CapGain portion, of course thru trading tax(stamp) NOT by CapGain system. The former is INDIRECT tax but the latter is DIRECT tax. / Hugh difference. BTW, based on 14 years experience and friends in that area, would you find out any other country (than HK and Korea) which charge trading tax, possibly with NO CapGainTax? I heard, in Japan or Taiwan, they used to be trading tax but now CapGainTax from few years ago.
Who cares. Every large, true fund manager, has at least one US based hedge fund. I doubt anyone here is making tens of millions and if you were you wouldn't be posting/responding to a thread on a free market forum rather consulting your advisors. lalalalala this thread sucks
Worst scenarios is, for example, GS trade often the SamSung listed in Korea, with a lot of trading tax to Korean gov. / And also it pay company tax to US gov since GS is in US tax boundary. If so, I won't do it if I am a GS professional(institutional) trader. NEVER. For example for a year (240days), with initial $10000K in GS capital, he should pay $7200K for 240 round(buy/sell) to Korean gov / Furthermore he pay CapGainTax to US gov, if he made profit. / NO ONE will do it. Will you? Please mote that SamSung ADR listed in NY has very small volumn so that frequent trader can't participate there.
Let me explain briefly with some simple example. Suppose one has before-tax annual return of 30%, with initial cash of 100K. 1)If he pay 20% of CapGainTax, then his life time profit for 40 years (from 30 to 70) will be 100K*1.26^40 = ] 545591.3K However, 2)If he pay 40% of CapGainTax, the his profit will be 100*1.18^40 = 75037.83K Therefore, the difference 545591 - 75037 = 470554K is enough to fly out of country, with even BIG expense like airfare and others. Isn't it? *************************************************************** Suppose before-tax return is 20% with same situation 1) 100*1.16^40 = 37872.12K 2) 100*1.12^40 = 9305.097K How much is the difference?