Nonresident alien investors and Ireland domiciled ETFs

From Bogleheads

This page shows why it is better for a non-US investor who is a US nonresident alien (commonly abbreviated to NRA) with poor or no coverage from a US income tax tax treaty, or with poor or no coverage from a US estate tax treaty, to invest in Ireland domiciled exchange traded funds (ETFs) instead of the popular US domiciled mutual funds and ETFs discussed by US-based investors.

This page uses the rate of 30% for any dividend withholding calculations. This is the US dividend tax rate in the absence of a US income tax tax treaty. A poor US income tax treaty is one where the US dividend tax rate exceeds the 15% US/Ireland treaty rate.[note 1]

In addition, US estate taxes begin at just $60,000 of US holding for nonresident aliens, and apply at rates of 26-40% of assets above that level in the absence of a US estate tax treaty. Only fifteen countries have estate tax treaties with the US, and not all of these treaties are good ones. A poor US estate tax treaty is one that does not increase the US estate tax exemption for nonresident aliens to more than the standard $60,000 amount.[note 2]

Domicile

Domicile is a legal term for being a lawful permanent resident in a particular jurisdiction. Your domicile often determines your best options for investing. Investment funds also have a domicile, and here this too affects how they operate, including taxation.

US tax treaties

Depending on your country of residence, you may be able to benefit from a US tax treaty for lower rates on dividends from US domiciled ETFs, and higher exemptions from US estate taxes. In that case, some parts of this page may not apply directly. For a list of US income tax treaties, see: United States Income Tax Treaties - A to Z.[note 1] For a list of US estate tax tax treaties, see: Estate Gift Tax Treaties International.[note 2]

Canada does not have a separate estate tax treaty with the US. Instead, the US maintains a single treaty with Canada that combines both income taxes and estate taxes. Under this combined treaty, Canadians receive protection up to the level of the US estate tax exemption allowed to US citizens, the same as generally provided by the separate US estate tax treaties for other countries.[1]

Since 2018, European MiFID and PRIIPs regulations have made it difficult or impossible for European and UK investors to buy US domiciled funds.[note 3]

Why invest in Ireland domiciled ETFs?

A few reasons for US nonresident aliens to prefer Ireland domiciled ETFs over US domiciled ETFs:

  • Ireland domiciled ETFs can benefit from the US/Ireland tax treaty rate of 15% on dividends and 0% on interest paid to Irish corporations,[2] instead of 30% for US nonresident aliens in countries without a US tax treaty.
  • Ireland domiciled ETFs insulate you from US estate taxes of up to 40% of the balance of US situated assets above $60,000.
  • US domiciled ETFs holding non-US securities can suffer double tax withholding. The US domiciled ETF pays withholding to international governments, then the US levies 30% of the remaining distributed dividends. Ireland domiciled ETFs avoid this.
  • Complex and constantly changing US tax laws affecting US nonresident aliens. Leave it to iShares and Vanguard Dublin to deal with those.
  • Non-residents of Ireland are not liable to Irish gift tax or inheritance tax.[3][4]
  • Availability of accumulating funds that reinvest dividends and which may help some investors reduce or avoid Level 3 tax.
  • For Europeans it has become difficult to buy US domiciled funds due to 2018 European MiFID and PRIIPs regulations.

For more information about Irish funds, see: Why Ireland for funds?, by Irish Funds.

Caveats of investing in Ireland domiciled ETFs

Some of the possible drawbacks:

No Irish taxes of any kind for Ireland domiciled ETFs

Ireland does not withhold or levy any taxes on capital gains from, or dividends paid by, Ireland domiciled UCITS ETFs for non-residents of Ireland.[note 4] According to Dillon Eustace law firm:[13]

Taxation of investors from the perspective of the investment funds (Non-Residents): ... Irish investment funds are not subject to any taxes on their income (profits) or gains arising on their underlying investments. In addition, there are no Irish withholding taxes in respect of a distribution of payments by investment funds to investors or in relation to any encashment, redemption, cancellation or transfer of units in respect of investors who are neither Irish resident nor ordinarily resident in Ireland, provided the fund has satisfied and availed of certain equivalent measures or the investors have provided the fund with the appropriate relevant declaration of non-Irish residence.

— Dillon Eustace law firm

And according to Irish Funds:[14]

Irish regulated funds are exempt from Irish tax on income and gains derived from their investments and are not subject to any Irish tax on their net asset value. There are additionally no net asset, transfer or capital taxes on the issue, transfer or redemption of units owned by non-Irish resident investors. Other than in respect of certain funds which hold interests in Irish real estate (or particular types of Irish real estate related assets), non-Irish investors are not subject to Irish tax on their investment and do not incur any withholding taxes on payments from the fund.

— Irish Funds

Additionally Ireland does not levy any inheritance, estate, probate, or capital transfer taxes on Ireland domiciled funds held by non-residents of Ireland.[3][4] From Revenue Ireland:[3]

23.6 Exemption of certain investment entities CATCA 2003 s.75 provides an exemption from tax for gifts and inheritances of units of certain investment entities (defined in the TCA 1997, Part 27). Units held in collective investment schemes, common contractual funds, investment limited partnerships or investment undertakings are exempt from tax in cases where neither the disponer nor the donee or successor is domiciled or ordinarily resident in the State, at the date of the disposition and at the date of the gift or inheritance, respectively. The CAT exemption applies in the case of the transfer of units in an investment limited partnership notwithstanding that this type of entity has been removed from the definition of “investment undertaking” in section 739B(1) TCA 1997.

— Revenue Ireland

Ireland applies no taxes of any kind on non-Irish residents who hold Ireland domiciled ETFs. Ireland domiciled ETFs are therefore completely 'tax transparent' to investors, making them preferable to US domiciled ETFs for investors in any country with poor or no US tax treaty coverage, and often acceptable to investors even in countries with good US tax treaty coverage.

Multiple levels of dividend tax withholding

Figure 1. Three levels of dividend taxation can apply to ETFs.

If you own funds that hold securities, multiple countries can tax your dividends, with tax applied at multiple levels.[note 5]

Figure 1 shows how and where you may face three levels of possible dividend tax:

  • L1TW: Percentage of tax withholding by a security's home country on dividends distributed by that security to the fund (Level 1).
  • L2TW: Percentage of tax withholding by the country where the fund is domiciled on the dividends distributed to you by the fund (Level 2).
  • L3T: Percentage of taxation that you need to pay in your home country (Level 3).

Estimating Level 1 dividend tax withholding paid by US domiciled funds

According to the PWL Capital white paper,[note 5] the following are the percentages of tax withholding paid by different types of US domiciled ETFs:

Fund type Fund used 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Five-year average
US-listed ETF of [ex-US] developed markets stocks iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) 07.5% 08.1% 07.6% 07.2% 06.9% 07.5%
US-listed ETF of emerging markets stocks iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) 10.3% 12.2% 10.4% 10.1% 11.1% 10.8%

† iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) excludes the US. You can use that number to approximate Level 1 taxes for the ex-US developed markets portion of the fund in question. If the US domiciled fund you are analyzing has 60% US stocks and 40% ex-US developed markets, the Level 1 tax withholding will be 0.40 × 7.5% = 3.0% approximately.

Estimating Level 1 dividend tax withholding paid by Ireland domiciled funds

Using annual reports of the most traded funds from iShares and Vanguard, the following is the resulting Level 1 percentages leaked by funds per percent dividend yield. Those figures were calculated for this wiki post. If you find other sources online confirming, please update and reference accordingly.

ETF Inception date 2011 2012 2013 2014 Average
Vanguard FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF (VEVE) 30 Sep 2014 - - - 12.3% 12.3%
Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe UCITS ETF (VEUR) 21 May 2013 - - - 05.5% 05.5%
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets UCITS ETF (VFEM) 22 May 2012 - - 09.8% 09.0% 09.4%
Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VWRL) 22 May 2012 - - 10.7% 09.8% 10.3%
iShares Core MSCI World UCITS (IWDA) 25 Sep 2009 12.6% 12.2% 11.9% 11.6% 12.1%
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ETF (IDEM) 18 Nov 2005 11.4% 10.0% 10.1% 11.4% 10.7%
iShares US Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF (IUAG) 13 Sep 2011 - - 00.0% 00.0% 00.0%
iShares $ Corporate Bond UCITS ETF (LQDE) 16 May 2003 00.0% 00.0% 00.0% 00.1% 00.0%
iShares US Property Yield UCITS ETF (IUSP) 3 Nov 2006 12.6% 12.7% 13.6% 13.4% 13.1%

Keep in mind that each index provider (MSCI/FTSE) has a different definition of "Developed Markets" and "Emerging Markets". Different indices have different allocations of those markets, too.

Comparing the dividend yields shown on fund factsheets

When looking at the dividend yield shown on an ETF's factsheet, take care to understand that for the portion of the dividend that comes from underlying US stocks, US domiciled ETFs will show this dividend portion as gross, but Ireland domiciled ETFs will show it net of 15% US withholding tax. This can make it appear as if Ireland domiciled ETFs pay out lower dividends. And in practice, they may (depending on what assets they hold); it is just that if you do not live in a country with a US tax treaty, you will lose 30% of every US domiciled ETF's dividend in broker US tax withholding, whereas there is no broker tax withholding for any country for an Ireland domiciled ETF.

For example, as of the date of writing, the factsheet for US domiciled Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) indicates a 1.74% dividend yield, whereas that for Ireland domiciled Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (VUSA) indicates a 1.47% dividend yield.[note 6] However, on payment of the dividend from VOO to a nonresident alien investor in a country without a US income tax treaty, 30% lost to US tax reduces the 1.74% dividend to an effective 1.218%. This is considerably less than the 1.47% that would be received from VUSD.

Calculating dividend tax withholding as a ratio

To better compare different ETFs we can convert the tax withholding percentages into a total annual approximation of percentage 'tax drag'; call this the Tax Withholding Ratio (TWR). This makes it easily comparable to the expense ratios found on funds' fact sheets.[16][note 7]

To calculate the dividend Tax Withholding Ratio (TWR), we need four pieces of information:

  • L1TW: Percentage of tax withholding by a security's home country on dividends distributed by that security to the fund (Level 1). This can be estimated using a fund's annual report, dividing "Non-reclaimable withholding tax" by "Dividend income".
  • L2TW: Percentage of tax withholding by the country where the fund is domiciled on the dividends distributed to the investor by the fund (Level 2). If you are a non-treaty US nonresident alien investing in US domiciled ETFs, that number is 30%. If you are investing in Ireland domiciled ETFs and you do not reside in Ireland, you do not have to pay any Irish tax withholding.
  • YIELD: Gross yield of the assets held by fund.[note 8] The best estimate will come from using the fund's annual report, dividing "Dividend income" by "Total assets under management". As you cannot know the amount of future dividends in advance, an approximation based on historical values (gross before withholding was paid) should be sufficient. Dividend yield is used in the formula as the Level 1 taxes are paid on dividends received by fund.
  • TER: The fund's Total Expense Ratio. This can be obtained from a fund's factsheet or KIID document.[note 9]

The calculation after that is rather simple:

TWR = (YIELD × L1TW) + ((YIELD × (1 - L1TW) - TER) × L2TW)

The first term in parentheses calculates the Level 1 leakage. The second term uses the remaining dividend, deducts the fund's TER[note 10] and then applies the individual's Level 2 tax to the remaining sum.

You can now add the TWR to the fund's published expense ratio (TER) to get a comparable total ratio paid annually. This number does not include the dividend tax that you may have to pay to to your home country on the dividends you actually receive.

Example calculation for S&P 500 ETFs

Let us compare the US domiciled Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) with Ireland domiciled Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (VUSA).

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO):

  • L1TW = 0%, as it is US domiciled, holding US securities
  • L2TW = 30%, US nonresident alien rate for countries without a US tax treaty
  • YIELD = 1.74%, estimated as we need it for comparison purposes, not exact dollar calculations
  • TER = 0.03%
TWR for VOO = (1.74% × 0) + ((1.74% × (1 - 0) - 0.03%) × 0.3) = 0 + 0.513 = 0.513%

Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF (VUSA):

  • L1TW = 15%, as it is Ireland domiciled, holding US securities[2]
  • L2TW = 0%, no Irish tax withholding on UCITS funds
  • YIELD = 1.74%, estimation, from VOO
  • TER = 0.07%
TWR for VUSA = (1.74% × 0.15) + ((1.74% × (1 - 0.15) - 0.07%) × 0) = 0.261 + 0 = 0.261%

L1TW for VUSA can be also calculated using its annual report.[17] For 2014, Foreign Withholding Tax (7,721,652) divided by Dividend Income (52,371,805) = 14.74%. TedSwippet suggests that it's not 15.0% on the dot due to a 2.5% REIT allocation, which may distribute dividends or capital gains at different rates than the US treaty rate of 15% for dividends. A tax drag differing from the treaty rate may for instance be caused by foreign companies in an index, capital gains being taxed differently than dividends and REITs can recharacterize distributed dividends as return of capital, which is not to be taxed.

Including the funds' expense ratios: VOO's total cost is 0.54% for a nonresident alien with no US tax treaty, while VUSA's total cost is 0.33%. For this investor then, VUSA is the better holding.

Example calculation for FTSE World ETFs

Let us compare the US domiciled Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT) with Ireland domiciled Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VWRL).

Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT):

  • L1TW † = 0% × 52% (US) + 9% × 10.8% (Emerging Markets) + 39% × 7.5% (ex-US developed) = 3.9%
  • L2TW = 30%, US nonresident alien rate for countries without a US tax treaty
  • YIELD = 2.0%, estimation as we need it for comparison purposes, not exact dollar calculations
  • TER = 0.08%

† Ratios of US/EM/DM obtained from VT's Vanguard.com portfolio page.

TWR for VT = (2.0% × 0.039) + ((2.0% × (1 - 0.039) - 0.08%) × 0.3) = 0.078 + 0.5526 = 0.6306%

Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VWRL):

  • L1TW = 10.3%
  • L2TW = 0%, no Irish tax withholding on UCITS funds
  • YIELD = 2.0%, estimation, same as used for VT
  • TER = 0.22%
TWR for VWRL = (2.0% × 0.103) + ((2.0% × (1 - 0.103) - 0.22%) × 0) = 0.206 + 0 = 0.206%

Including the fund expense ratios: VT's total cost is 0.71% for a nonresident alien with no US tax treaty, while VWRL's total cost is 0.43%. For this investor, VWRL is the better holding. As allocation to countries changes over time, the tax drag will change over time as well. Also as yield changes over time, the tax drag will change over time as well.

Dividend tax withholding ratio calculator

The following form calculates a Tax Withholding Ratio (TWR). Enter the Level 1 and Level 2 tax withholding, the ETF yield, and the ETF's Total Expense Ratio (TER). Enter all values as percentages.

Taxation of investments from outside of the country of the investor (dividend withholding tax leakage)

If you own funds that hold securities, multiple countries can tax your dividends, with tax applied at multiple levels. Depending on the tax treaties (for example, US tax treaties or US estate taxes) you can face dividend withholding taxes by the fund's domicile country, the country where the fund's assets are located, or both.

These dividend withholding taxes will apply before any tax you have to pay to your home country.

International withholding tax

As explained above, funds themselves will be taxed internally on the dividends they receive from individual stocks they hold.

Funds that are domiciled in Ireland are liable to foreign (most notably, US) dividend withholding taxation. As of 2020 there is no easily accessible way for individual investors to recuperate these foreign withholding taxes incurred by funds domiciled in Ireland. This international withholding tax loss is often referred to as "dividend tax leakage". While this is highly technical fiscal material, you need to carefully consider the effect of foreign withholding tax on their investment because it lowers your expected returns.

See Estimating Level 1 dividend tax withholding paid by Ireland domiciled funds above for some common figures on well known funds.

Distributing ETF example: FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VWRL)

The Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VWRL) fund notes 9.8% percent Level 1 dividend tax withholding for each percent of dividend yield received during the year 2014. Assuming a typical 2% dividend yield, we can estimate the dividend leakage as follows:

  • 9.8% dividend withholding of a 2% gross dividend = 0.20% dividend leakage

On the other hand, funds gain some income from "securities lending". Vanguard states that it lends some of the securities, although this seems to only add 0.01% to the performance of this fund.[18]

As of 2020, the FTSE All-World charges an 0.22% ongoing cost figure (OCF). But for investors, an additional estimated 0.20% would be lost to foreign withholding tax, and 0.01% would be gained from securities lending. This brings the total estimated figure of cost and taxation incurred by the fund itself to 0.41%. A significant difference although an average 10% dividend leakage is likely lower than the Level 1 dividend withholding rate that the investor can obtain themselves.

A simpler way to account for dividend leakage without delving into balance sheets is to look at the difference between reported fund return (performance) and gross index benchmark return. When funds report annual returns they usually measure these against net index benchmark returns. This is the gross index return minus a tax index benchmark.

Accumulating ETF example: FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (USD) Accumulating (VWRA)

When we compare the Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (USD) Accumulating (VWRA) fund to its gross benchmark published by FTSE Russell for 2019 we obtain these figures:

  • A gross index return of 27.22%
  • A net index return of 26.53% - this takes into account the "typical" Level 1 taxation.
  • A reported fund return of 26.52%

First, the reported fund return is only 0.01% lower than the net index return of 26.53%. A difference that is not intuitive due to the stated 0.22% total expense ratio of the fund. This is likely due to the fact that the tax index benchmark used to obtain the net index return overestimates the 15% withholding tax tariff on US dividends. See the average 10% figure computed in Nonresident alien investors and Ireland domiciled ETFs. This is also one of the reasons why the fund sometimes "outperforms" the net index benchmark.

Secondly, there is a difference of almost 0.7% between the reported fund return and gross index benchmark. 0.25% of that is explained by the funds' stated expense ratio for 2019. The remainder of that difference consists of dividend leakage, the internal transaction cost, the income from securities lending etc.

US estate tax considerations

If you live in a country without a US estate tax treaty, and where total US situated holdings are below $60,000, your might base your choice of whether to use US domiciled or Ireland domiciled ETFs on which will return the dividends from the underlying stocks in the most tax-efficient way.

Where your total US situated holdings exceed $60,000 however, the risk of US estate tax can dominate the decision. For example, the US tax treaties with Bulgaria, China, Mexico, Romania and Russia allow investors in these countries a 10% US tax withholding rate on dividends. This is below the 15% US/Ireland tax treaty rate, and so may make US domiciled ETFs a slightly more tax-efficient way to receive dividends from US stocks. However, none of these countries has a US estate tax treaty. If you live in one of these countries and hold more than $60,000, you may nevertheless prefer Ireland domiciled ETFs over US domiciled ones.

Other country capital gains, estate and inheritance tax

As noted above, unless you are an Irish resident, Ireland does not apply a capital gains tax, inheritance tax, or any other capital transfer or acquisitions tax, to any Ireland domiciled ETFs that you hold.

Also, the exchange where you buy and hold Ireland domiciled ETFs does not add any new capital gains tax, gift tax, or estate or inheritance tax risks. For example, you could buy them on the London Stock Exchange without any risk of them later becoming liable for UK capital gains tax or UK inheritance tax, and similarly for Frankfurt, Paris, and so on. You can simply use the exchange that is most convenient for you.

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 The countries with poor US income tax treaties, ones that provide a US dividend tax rate that is above the 15% US/Ireland tax treaty rate, are Greece, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, India, Israel, Philippines, Tunisia, and Turkey.
  2. 2.0 2.1 The countries with poor US estate tax treaties, ones that appear not to raise the exemption above the standard $60,000 for nonresident aliens, are Ireland and South Africa.
  3. Forum member "finrod_2002" provides details of how an investor might use options trades to work around PRIIPs restrictions, in Bogleheads forum post: "Re: European, dutch investor here: Is investing in VTI and VXUS still a good choice?". 17 Feb 2019, viewed 28 Oct 2019.
  4. A reply received from Saxo Bank customer support dated March 2015: "Our corporate actions team replied that on VWRL there has previously been 0% tax. On Irish ETFs in general they can’t give an answer – it may be different on different ETFs."
  5. 5.0 5.1 From a Canadian perspective, according to PWL Capital:[15]

    Investors are potentially subject to withholding taxes levied by the countries where the stocks are domiciled, whether that is the US, developed markets outside North America (western Europe, Japan, Australia), or emerging markets (China, Brazil, Taiwan). We refer to this as Level 1 withholding tax.

    When international stocks are held indirectly via a Canadian-listed ETF that holds a US-listed ETF, investors may also be subject to what we've called Level 2 withholding tax. This is an additional 15% [30% if no tax treaty] withheld by the US government before the US-listed ETF pays the dividends to Canadian investors.

    You can think of Level 1 foreign withholding tax like a departure tax you pay when taking a direct flight to Canada from a foreign country (including the US). Level 2 tax is like a second departure tax you pay when an overseas flight to Canada has a layover in the US.

    — PWL Capital
  6. Notice here that VUSD's 1.47% is 85% of VOO's 1.74%. The missing 15% is the US withholding tax, US/Ireland tax treaty rate, paid internally by VUSD.
  7. For more about this method, see: "Tax withholding calculation indirectly mentioned by Canadian Couch Potato", in post "Foreign Withholding Tax Explained". Also, "Foreign withholding taxes: How to estimate the hidden tax drag on U.S. and international equity index funds and ETFs". Advisor's Edge. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  8. This is not necessarily the same as the fund's indicated dividend yield.
  9. For background information on KIID requirements, see: "The KIID - A Summary of the Requirements of the Key Investor Information Document". Mondaq. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  10. Some countries allow funds to subtract the fund's TER before paying the dividends, others do not. Please review the taxation of the country where the fund is domiciled.

See also

References

  1. "Canada - Tax Treaty Documents". IRS. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Ireland Tax Facts 2020" (PDF). PwC. Retrieved July 25, 2020. Appendix 2, "Withholding tax on payments to Ireland".
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Part 23 - CAT Exemptions" (PDF). Revenue Ireland. Retrieved September 21, 2020. Section 23.6, "Exemption of certain investment entities".
  4. 4.0 4.1 "An Overview of the Taxation of Irish Regulated Funds" (PDF). A&L Goodbody. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  5. "Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG)". iShares. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  6. "US Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF (IUAG)". iShares. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  7. "Historic ETFs and ETPs Statistics". London Stock Exchange. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  8. "ETF Screener". justETF.com. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  9. "Commissions". Interactive Brokers LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  10. "Trading Rates". Saxo Bank. Retrieved June 11, 2023.
  11. "Trading Account Pricing: Commissions, Fees and Margin Rates". Swissquote. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  12. Bogleheads forum topic: "Help needed. US ETFs vs UCITS ETF for an Irish resident"
  13. "Ireland: Taxation Of Collective Investment Funds And Availability Of Treaty Benefits". Dillon Eustace. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  14. "Why Ireland For Funds" (PDF). Irish Funds. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
  15. "Foreign withholding taxes: How to estimate the hidden tax drag on U.S. and international equity index funds and ETFs". Advisor's Edge. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  16. Bogleheads forum post: "Re: ETF portfolio for non-resident alien with no tax treaty", by Micks (and Galeno).
  17. "Annual Report, Vanguard Funds plc - S&P 500 section". Vanguard. Retrieved July 25, 2020.[dead link]
  18. "The best Vanguard passive index tracker funds for UK investors". Occam Investing. Retrieved December 26, 2020.

External links