Can any one please tell me how much you have to pay thank you.
As a matter of interest:
Is Spread Betting not TAX FREE in the UK??? If so: then why would anybody in the UK trade with a FOREX Broker???
Just curious.
Regards,
Dale.
Just doing my bit for my country.
Hello,
I understand that. But am I right i.e. is Spread Betting INDEED TAX FREE in the UK??? I know of one UK based Spread Betting ‘outfit’ that says that it is but ‘depending on your personal circumstances’ (whatever that means).
And if the above is indeed the case: why the ‘splitting of hairs’ I wonder.
Regards,
Dale.
Yes, well it is kind of Tax Free, I think betting is Tax Free, but if you are a professional gambler, it’s your occupation, so you pay tax on it, but dont quote me.
But no seriously, the reason I trade with Oanda, is that my executions are nearly 100% reliable, I dont think you could trade the ‘Cat and Mouse’ strategy on a Spread Better’s platform, its quite dependant on the Oanda platform, and if it ain’t broke I sure don’t want to try and fix it, in case I end up broke, been there done that don’t want to do it again.
Hello again.
I wasn’t talking about YOU in particular with my ‘why would anybody in the UK trade with a FOREX Broker’ comment. I was just wondering really. I mean I don’t see any difference (for ‘Joe Trader’ anyway). There’s no difference in instruments offered, margin requirements, types of orders, regulation, nothing so far as I can tell.
Regards,
Dale.
And why not? Hey? Am I not good enough to be considered, well know I know where I stand! LOL!
Personally I had a bad experience when I first ever opened a spread betting account, it was terrible, you just couldn’t execute properly some of the time, 20 mins when you couldn’t close a position, put a pending short on for a trade and they’d put it on long, look I’m not saying all Spread Better’s are like that, and I’m not going into the discussion of you may as well use a Spread Better then that posh bucket shop called Oanda.
So I think it’s case of trust in whoever you hold an account with, I remember running a test once, between about 4 different accounts, 1 live and 1 demo with the same broker, 1 other demo and a live Oanda account, I had this system where I could execute a number of different MT4 at the same time, the difference in performance even between brokers was just about enough to account for the tax element, and this was between forex brokers, don’t how a spread betting account would compare in that test.
Hi Dale,
My understanding is that spread betting is tax-free in the UK as long as it is not one’s principal source of income. This has long been used as an explanation here in the UK for why some people offer training courses - charge for the courses, declare that as the principal income, then spread bet all you like on the side tax-free. I don’t know whether this is true (I don’t offer a training course!) but it is certainly counter-argument I have heard to the old question ‘why teach it when you can do it and make far more money?’. So if someone made a sole living from spread betting then they would be liable to income tax. If they ran a company doing something else, and that something else clearly was capable of funding their life, my understanding is that in that case any spread betting that person might do would be free from income tax. So basically, Dale, you have a point as long as it were not someone’s sole income stream.
Yes my understanding is the same as S Templars’. Tax free spread betting as long as it’s not ones sole income.
Of course you will always be using a dealing desk which is an issue for some but not for me.
It is tax free in the UK if you open a spread betting account. It’s only taxable if you start consistently depositing a lot of money into your UK bank account which will trigger investigations from the tax man. If you can then prove you do not solely rely on this as income, you’ll be fine.
Dale - forex brokers appear more competitive, have tighter spreads and I think better technology. The spread betting company that I am with for example has a + or - 2% rollover charge on spot forex on top of the libor rates … so I think if forex WAS your sole income, you’ll probably get stung using a spread betting firm.
thanks for all the replys
Good morning,
Thanks for all the replies to MY queries. Much appreciated.
That all makes sense now.
I’ve just been wondering about it.
I’ll be honest with you here (once AGAIN at the risk of ‘shooting my OWN self in the foot’): I know of one Spread Betting ‘outfit’ in the UK who’s trading platform and charting ‘sticks sh*t’ into any other brokers trading platform and charting (besides ours OF COURSE) and their spreads, on the major indices anyway, are far lower than any other broker, and the choice of instruments is endless. The only problem is that they don’t have demo accounts and are very much ‘geared’ toward taking on only UK residents (although I see they’re trying to expand into the EU). The ‘outfit’ is called ETX Capital. And NO: I’m not affiliated in ANY way with them (as a matter of fact they and I had a slight ‘fallout’ not too long ago but nothing trading related and we’re not ‘on the best of terms’ I don’t think). I’ve had a live account with them for about three years now (they were running a promotion where they literally ‘gave’ you £100 when opening an account i.e. that was their ‘demo’ at the time but they stopped offering that not loo long after the initial offer. I suppose somebody took their £100 and turned it into a few hundred thousand but it was not me I assure you!!! And ‘who could say no’ to £100 FREE!!! Needless to say my account has had £0.19 in it for the last three years i.e. it didn’t take me long to lose the £100 but at least I have access to their charts when I want to check something)!!! LOL!!! Put another way: if anything happened to me or my beloved broker that would be my next ‘stop’. The only thing I cannot comment on is the rollover charge i.e. I never had the privilege of having an active account long enough to see how it works!!! LOL!!! Interestingly enough they are regulated by the FSA as well as being a member of the LSE.
Anyway: there’s a Spread Betting ‘outfit’ for you (in the UK). If you wish to open a trading account at a FOREX broker which is JUST as good (better of course) well, then, you know where to look (we also have offices in the UK and are ALSO regulated by the FSA)!!! LOL!!!
Regards,
Dale.
I can echo what Dale said - I am with ETX Capital, have been for over a year, and am very happy with them, both service and spreads. Have not found a spread betting platform in the UK to better them. Should stress that I don’t use the charts, though, I use a specialist for those.
(And no, other than having an account with them I have no relationship whatsoever with them).
I got the free £100, too, when I signed up. Didn’t take me too long to give it back to them, though, lol…!
ST
And ALL THIS TIME I thought they were a ‘closely guarded secret’!!! LOL!!!
It’s nice to hear though. As I say I’m ‘doing myself in’ here (probably) but hey: if clients are not interested in my beloved broker then I’d rather that they were in ‘decent hands’ to be honest. The one thing that I DO like is that they offer all the cash indexes (not only the futures) and they have a very interesting way of handling margin requirements which I’ve never seen before i.e. (as you know of course) the margin requiremnet takes into account where your stop loss is set. In other words: the tighter your stop the less margin is required to keep the position open and I’ve never seen that before. I don’t know if that’s a Spread Betting ‘thing’ or just ETX Capital???
Anyway: at least I cannot be accused of being ‘biased’ let’s face it. If (another) broker is good then ‘give them their due’ really.
Regards,
Dale.
It’s a spreadbetting thing and a bit dangerous if you’re not careful with your risk management.
Hello,
Thanks for that. I have indeed been wondering about (and they’re the only Spread Betting ‘outfit’ that I’ve ever had anything to do with so I wasn’t sure). They do have a ‘minimum amount required’ (whatever it’s called) to OPEN a position (which in some cases, from what I know, can be a problem i.e. for some instruments you need LOADS of capital to be able to open a position but once you’ve set your stops then the amount of capital reserved or used as margin decreases). But of course: from that point of view it’s no different from managing risk anywhere else really. I guess and put another way: if you have to use stops to free up margin to take other trades then you’re under capitalized and shouldn’t be trading (those instruments) anyway!!! LOL!!! I just thought it was quite ‘neat’ at the time.
Regards,
Dale.
Spread Betting ‘thing’ or just ETX Capital???
At a spread better it is a “bet”, you deposit the stake you
wish to lose, there is no need for margin. You formulate your
TA, find the swing low/high or whatever, then multiply your price
per pip by your stop loss.
ie stop loss 30 pips, price per pip £10
30 X 10 = £300.
£300 is the deposited amount & the amount you wish to lose.
Similar to a bookmaker in the UK, you deposit your stake
& take the odds on the horse, dog, raindrop rolling down the
window, or whatever you would like to bet on.
Aye, forex is taxable, its classed as captial gains tax, and should be declared to HMRC. Believe there is a limit of £10,100 before tax that you are allowed. Spread bettings a different ballgame imho, but is tax free as far as i know it.
Hello,
Thanks for that (daydreamer65). But I’m still not sure I understand the difference. Put it this way: based on my very limited and extremely shortlived exposure to ETX’s platform I cannot fathom the difference. You’re still trading on margin, with leverage, and you’re given the tick value per ‘contract’ (if that’s what it’s called in Spread Betting). So you just set your stops, adhere to your risk and money management rules, and that’s it. When the position is closed the margin is returned to you (same as with a ‘normal’ broker) (hopefully plus profits of course). I guess what I’m saying (and misunderstanding possibly from your post) is that it’s nothing like Binary Options (or any Options for that matter) where the cost of the Option is fixed and is ‘gone’ but limited to the cost of the Option if it expires ‘out of the money’. Sorry: I’m probably comparing apples with breakfast cereal here.
Put it this way: the charts and price quotes are identical to the actual market and to any other ‘normal’ broker’s charts not to mention the indicators provided and everything else. Maybe it’s just that in THEIR case it’s their CLASSIFICATION that makes a difference??? And also: maybe the regulations are different??? I don’t know really. Stuff like segregated accounts, fidelity insurance cover, that type of thing??? Not sure but just curious once again.
Regards,
Dale.