As envy as United States citizens may be, some countries don't have capital gain tax. I used to work and live in Hong Kong (China now)... capital gain tax from trading stocks and index futures: zero. Maybe following the Brit's system. Income tax: 15% flat from above-exemption to infinity.
Your point is well taken but your numbers are off. 60 grand of income is in the 25% bracket so net earnings would be something like 5% or so more (18%).
What about non-US citizens trading US based futures? ie. ES, ZB, ZN... you know what i mean. Any taxes required to be paid then?
Interesting question. For US-based brokerage firms, they require a tax payer ID (either Social Security Number or EIN) to open an account. I wonder if they accept foreign nationals to open an account here. My gut feel is "no". When I have time I will chat with some of my brokers. But I suspect residents of Hong Kong or China or Singapore may have local firms that allow them to trade the US S&P futures or the likes. Maybe if you have relatives or trustable partners in those places they can open up accounts for you and let you trade but they pay the local taxes???
I trade to make money, and if I get to make A LOT of money then I will able to buy time to do whatever I want, stress free.
FYI, SS or EIN's are ONLY applicable to US residents. Foreign persons or entities are not obligated to write down gestapo numbers. US-based brokers gladly accept funds from the world over, with the exception of maybe N Korea or Iran. Otherwise, opening an account with a valid foreign passport or corporate documents is no problem.
The USA doesn't have a tax rate of 35%! Futures are 60/40 long term short term and stocks are like 15% and 25% long term and short term respectively. Then there;s currency trades, which usually are NOT reported to the IRS, period. The "correct" thing to do is list it as Misc income, which is taxed like income. Oh well, life sucks, deal with it.
If you are paying taxes, that means you made money. Here's hoping I will be paying huge amounts of taxes this year!!!!! Actually, I look forward to paying my estimated taxes on my trading earnings.....I always like to see that the check I am writing to the IRS is bigger than the check I wrote the previous quarter. I have all sorts of measures for performance, but the one that never lies is the amount on that check I am cutting to Uncle Sam. If that amount is not bigger than last quarter, and preferably in proportion to the amount I've added to the account that quarter, then I'm not doing so hot. As far as why I trade -- I have had lots of jobs. Private sector, public sector, academic, freelance....I've been paid at the minimum wage and in the high six figures, and a whole range of numbers in between. But you know, answering to bosses...clients...coworkers...and dealing with the institutional constraints of any workplace....it all s%cks. Right now, I make about $400-$800 per week trading. It's nothing extraordinary, but I am extremely proud of it because these are the only dollars in my life that I earned without having to answer to a boss, a client or coworkers. To know that I can at least pay the rent by generating income in this way is incredibly liberating. And in this economy, that is a comfort that not too many people have.