What was your country of residency status at the time that you requested the transfer?
I actually live in the Philippines, but I donāt know how FXCM would know that. Iām a US citizen and the address I use for all my bank, credit card, and brokerage accounts is my home address in Florida.
That explains it. El pipo, you must have some kind of public record of having paid electric, telephone, internet access, water, or some other utility bill in the Philippines where you live, which FXCM detected. If you have at least a part time but verifiable offshore address, you can qualify for FXCMās UK division even if you are a US citizen. Iām stuck here full time in the Austin, Texas area, so I have to put up with FXCMās turtle slow 50:1 US division. I use higher leverage offshore brokers now, like Tradersway. Their narrow spreads are great, but their trade execution time could be a little faster.
ip address.
If that were the case anyone with a proxy server could open an account anywhere.
Hello Clint,
I think I found a broker for your list:
AssetsFX Trading
These guys are located in Finland.
The āOpen Live Accountā page explicitly states, āUS clients acceptedā.
Havenāt opened an account with them yet, but they describe themselves as an ECN/STP broker. Also, they accept Paypal.
Thanks, Shatner. Iāve gone through their website, and I agree with your recommendation. Good find!
Iāll update the List later today, if possible (or tomorrow, for sure). Hereās how I will list AssetsFX:
ā¢ AssetsFX (Finland) ā ECN/NDD/STP broker ā see post #2078 for more info
Platform: MT4. ā Min. initial deposit: 200 USD. ā Max. leverage: 100:1. ā Min. position size: micro lot (0.01 std lot)
ā Spreads: variable (from 0 pips) plus commission (5.20 USD round-turn per std lot, or 0.052 USD round-turn per micro lot)Website: AssetsFX
Email: Contact Us ļæ½ AssetsFX ā Tel: +358-40-324-4839
Edit: the List has been updated
Spot-checking some of the information in our Offshore Broker List, I discovered that Real Trade, previously listed as a British Virgin Islands broker, should be listed as a [U]Seychelles[/U] broker. It appears that this is a Russian company, domiciled in Seychelles, with physical offices in Russia, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, and an IB broker in Indonesia. Their website makes no mention of BVI, or any other Caribbean location.
Accordingly, I have moved [B]Real Trade (Seychelles)[/B] to the [U]Mediterranean/Middle East/Africa[/U] grouping on page 1 of the List.
Other updates: I have made minor corrections to the listings for [B]FinFX (Finland), MRC Markets (Russia), Tallinex (Estonia),[/B] and [B]Renesource Capital (Latvia)[/B] ā all on page 1 of the List.
These changes, together with the [B]AssetsFX (Finland)[/B] listing posted yesterday, are all highlighted in red.
Iāve done only a very limited spot-check of the first few broker listings, so more needs to be done. Basically, I just scanned broker websites and contact info, looking for anything that updates (or contradicts) the information we show in our List.
Help with this spot-checking would be appreciated ā if anyone is so inclined. Please post any information you find.
Hello all,
Thanks for all the great information. I know this has been asked many times, but I was hoping since this subject has been going on for a while. Could some of you tell me your withdrawal experiences with some of these brokers? I am currently testing Traders Way on demo. They donāt seem to have many negative reviews, but 1000 leverage is screaming shady dealings. I played with FinFX demo, but noticed on the micro account they had some massive price spikes because of feed or massive spread. I may have to test out the ECN account to see what changes that will make.
Does anyone have any experience with any of these dealer/brokers? They appear to accept U.S. clients and are regulated by national organizations. The first is Price Markets and they are in London and are regulated by the FCA. The second is UMOFX and they are based in Malaysia and New Zealand. UMOFX is regulated by New Zealandās FSP. Both of these dealer/brokers are ECN in style.
So this is what Iāve gather from reading the thread:
It is okay to have an offshore broker as long as you file the FBAR to IRS. To be tax compliant in US, report profit as an income.
Question? Whether the fund is sitting in the my offshore brokerage account or withdrawn to my US bank, are they considered as an income?
Hello, pipsmyway, and welcome to this forum.
Regarding the FBAR form: If you have one or more offshore financial accounts AND if the total funds in all of your offshore accounts equals $10,000 or more, then you must report all of those accounts on the FBAR form. If you have LESS than $10,000 (total) in all of your offshore accounts, then you do not have to file the FBAR form. However, if you have profits in those accounts, the profits have to be reported as income on your regular tax forms.
If you are a U.S. citizen or U.S. legal resident, all of your worldwide income is taxable under IRS regulations. It doesnāt matter whether you leave profits in an offshore account, or bring those profits back to the U.S. ā they are taxable just the same, in either case.
Hi Clint,
Thank you for your prompt response. The contents of your thread have been beneficial to me. I am glad there is someone like you who cares for his fellow traders. May I ask another question that have been bothering me. Presumably I profited $50,000 this year. This reported profit of $50,000 is taxable for this year. If next year I made a total profit of $20,000. Is my whole balance of $70,000 will be taxable or just the portion of profits of $20,000. I am guessing that only $20,000 is taxable, but with the new rules , and bylaws, i need confirmation/consultation from the experts.
Your guess is correct. Your [U]profits[/U] will be taxable, not your balance.
You referred to āexpertsā. Thatās [U]not me[/U].
Iām happy to chat with you, strictly as a layman, about my understanding of how things work. But, Iām not qualified to give you legal advice regarding taxes.
Furthermore, I donāt know of anyone on this forum who is qualified (and licensed) to give you such advice. So, be cautious about accepting the opinions of anyone here (or elsewhere on the internet) on tax matters, or on any other legal matters. Thatās what paid professionals are for. Their fees are trivial compared to the grief that the IRS can cause you, if you screw up your taxes.
I opened an account with TradersWay: both a Ctrader and an MT4. I would think theyāre find for buy and hold, but slippage is terrible almost all of the time - I would assume because of low liquidity. And needless to say I would not recommend them for news trading. I did not try EAās.
This has been so helpful after reading this thread Iāve learned a lot, Iāve been planning to trade with an offshore brokers and Iām creating a list of ideal candidates, and as pipsmyway mentioned this will never be a problem as long you file the FBAR to IRS.
By the way, How can i verify a broker if they are regulated like 4RunnerForex?
Thanks in advance.
Kelvs
Simple, 99.9% of these offshore brokers are not regulated in this thread including this one you mention. Why go with an off shore broker? So you can loose your money quicker!
Thanks Maulticka for the reply, let us say i agree on the thread title, and utilizing the thread information about offshore brokers.
Those following the Bitcoin mania will find this interestingā¦
FXChoice is now offering Bitcoin trading. Here are the specs:
This oneās a beast. Good luck!
Thanks for your concern about tax filing with IRS. I donāt have a problem with filing tax. However, I am a dual citizen (US/Philippines). Do you have any advice on how to be legally be tax-bound to the Philippines only.
Thanks in advance.