Is FX trading classified as self employment?

Beginner Questions
1

Thanks for your time for reading (and hopefully replying)

So is fx considered to be a self employment or any kind of employment at all?
I am a foreign student in London doing my phd and my student visa states that i cant be self employment and i can only have employment up to 20 h/w, so i wasnt sure if i open a real account , that will violate any regulations ? anyone in the same position?

Thanks!

L

2

Hi,

I guess you will have to clear out the details with someone that has knowledge of your local laws but … I would say from a legal point of view trading is not an employment as you dont have any merchant relationship with other company… what you have is a financial account in which you are changing the assets it is invested in.

When you do taxes all incomes from trading go to financial gains they are not considered personal income from work so it is not employment of any kind.

Anyway you can have your account in switzerland and the english authorities will not even know that you are trading :).

Hope it helps!.

3

Thanks for your time Alph, really appreciate the info

4

Well it certainly depends on the laws of your country, but it can be argued that trading is a hobby, even if you make money. If you are losing, then it is an easy argument to make. I don’t like the advice about trying to hide your account in another country. That is almost certainly illegal if its being done to avoid taxes. If you caught, the penalties are severe.

5

I know in Australia taxation wise(they get you on everything) they can separate traders from investors for taxation purposes. (Capital gains, losses etc…) I think you could do a work around via registering a company that isn’t a trust fund here where you are the employee and the company performs business activities (trading etc…). For my personal situation I have been told to keep working to get my home loan as the banks won’t take into consideration my trading statements etc… even if I have an ABN or registered as a sole trader(self employed/contractor). I imagine there are countries that have laws that work to a forex trader’s benefit.