US Google shares & W8-ben

lifemagic

Hi,

I just requested to close my account at Selftrade and receive certificates. One of the stock is two US Google shares. The W8-ben is due before Jan 1st. so I enclosed it with the form to close the account and hope they sort it out.

The question is: will they give a certificate on Google shares, and if so, will I have to submit W8-ben myself every year? How?

Thanks.

purch

From what I can remember, a W8 covers you for 3 years from date of submission.

Jake'sGran

Would one of you tell me what a W8 is please? I have never stopped being inquisitive.
I would love to own some Google shares - must look into it.

purch

The W8 is the form provided by the I.R.S. to claim benefit under the tax treaty between the U.K. & U.S.

It means that you will not be deducted the full amount of withholding tax on dividends.

lifemagic

Turns out it might have been an irrelevant question. Selftrade asked me to send a change of address from, and it needs certified documents ... and I'm in Malaysia until October. This company is AWFUL.

lifemagic

Just got another mail from Selftrade. They refuse to issue certificates for foreign stocks or unit tursts or anything other than UK stock on the lse. It really is a nightmare company.

JoeCrystal

I am not surprised. The company I use will only issue certificates which are CREST eligible UK investments. I am assuming that the same applied for Selftrade or indeed, any other share dealing companies in this country. I do not have trouble withdrawing foreign shares since they are also listed on AIM and I do prefer to have proper right of shareholder rather depending on my company despite some drawbacks.

lifemagic

Yeah. I really should have understood all this before I jumped in.

olbas_oil

lifemagic wrote: »

Yeah. I really should have understood all this before I jumped in.

Be wary of disposing of the Google shares without a W8Ben. Witholding tax is charged on capital as well as dividend. I once was desparate to end a relationship with a broker, and told them to sell my US shares. It ended up as a large anount going in witholding tax and the only way to reclaim was to register with the IRS.
Now if you think HMRC forms are complicated, wait till you see the IRS. It sat in my in-tray for years, and I finally pushed it into the recycling bin!

vulcangascompany

Yes just as the last poster said be careful filling out W8 form, the first one I filled out was rejected (although you aren't told this). Six wks on, I found out that you can complete the form (and more importantly have it checked) at the IRS division in the US embassy in London. The IRS office are (relatively) helpful, much easier than posting stuff to US and waiting wks/months..

digerati

lifemagic wrote: »

I just requested to close my account at Selftrade and receive certificates. One of the stock is two US Google shares. The W8-ben is due before Jan 1st. so I enclosed it with the form to close the account and hope they sort it out.

The question is: will they give a certificate on Google shares, and if so, will I have to submit W8-ben myself every year?

You only need complete a W8-BEN if the company in question issues dividends (Google does NOT) or you wish to sell the shares and avoid US withholding tax on the profits via a double-taxation treaty.

As to whether Selftrade can issue you with Google shares, you should ask Selftrade. I would expect that as foreign shares the cost of issuing shares might be £75+ which on such a small amount of Google stock (approx. £740) would represent a large percentage cost to you. Probably it's far cheaper to sell your Google stock and invest the proceeds elsewhere.

I also own Google shares, but hold them in a US discount brokerage account so the cost of buying or selling is in the cents per share. Most US discount brokers charge $50-75 to issue certificates due to the cost and paperwork involved so all my US holdings are in electronic form.