Which bank account should I get? International trading

[fringe]

This is a follow up of my earlier thread http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/632985-Help-with-online-trading?p=13137109#post13137109


I plan on doing some online trading using stockpair.net, it uses foreign currency for both payouts and payments. What would be the best bank account for me as I will not be trading a lot to start with around R2000 - R5000. I am currently with Capitec and their account does not allow trading or foreign exchange transfers.


I would also like to know if anyone knows the legal steps to trade internationally. As well the steps to follow with SARS.


Thanks for taking the time to read and reply to my post. Any advice is appreciated as this is the first time I am doing anything in trading.

 

[bchip]

Im assuming your referring to trading international stocks/derivatives/etc.

As far as I know the options that are available
(depending on what it is that you actually want to buy/sell,
are you an investor or trader, trading derivatives or pure equities, or options, etc
are you a long term hold or short term?)
- Locally
You dont need to necessarily go through a whole process to buy/sell equities
IG Markets, Terminal Velocity(DWT), Sanlam Itrade and Standard bank now offer options to trade overseas markets
IG = CFDs
DWT = Index futures
Sanlam and SBK = Equities and some derivatives.
Investec also has some options

- Internationally
You have a limit of R 4 mil a year to take out.
You could take this out (by first applying to SARS)
Then you have options of Forex or international brokers.
A very well known broker is TD Ameritrade (public company in the US),
I believe that they are quite reputable and offer a lot.

My knowledge is quite limited and I havent done international trading myself.
I am, however, eyeing TD Ameritrade as an option in some time to come.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[MKFrost]

This is a follow up of my earlier thread http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/632985-Help-with-online-trading?p=13137109#post13137109


I plan on doing some online trading using stockpair.net, it uses foreign currency for both payouts and payments. What would be the best bank account for me as I will not be trading a lot to start with around R2000 - R5000. I am currently with Capitec and their account does not allow trading or foreign exchange transfers.


I would also like to know if anyone knows the legal steps to trade internationally. As well the steps to follow with SARS.


Thanks for taking the time to read and reply to my post. Any advice is appreciated as this is the first time I am doing anything in trading.

You can use any bank account except for Capitec. When you trade you transfer funds to your broker. This is a normal transfer from your bank to theirs. When you withdraw profits its just the reverse. So any bank account will do.

 

[fringe]

Im assuming your referring to trading international stocks/derivatives/etc.

As far as I know the options that are available
(depending on what it is that you actually want to buy/sell,
are you an investor or trader, trading derivatives or pure equities, or options, etc
are you a long term hold or short term?)
- Locally
You dont need to necessarily go through a whole process to buy/sell equities
IG Markets, Terminal Velocity(DWT), Sanlam Itrade and Standard bank now offer options to trade overseas markets
IG = CFDs
DWT = Index futures
Sanlam and SBK = Equities and some derivatives.
Investec also has some options

- Internationally
You have a limit of R 4 mil a year to take out.
You could take this out (by first applying to SARS)
Then you have options of Forex or international brokers.
A very well known broker is TD Ameritrade (public company in the US),
I believe that they are quite reputable and offer a lot.

My knowledge is quite limited and I havent done international trading myself.
I am, however, eyeing TD Ameritrade as an option in some time to come.

Hope that helps a bit.

It plan on working with international broker that trades in most European, American and Australian commodities and also indices. Thanks for the reply.

 

[fringe]

You can use any bank account except for Capitec. When you trade you transfer funds to your broker. This is a normal transfer from your bank to theirs. When you withdraw profits its just the reverse. So any bank account will do.

Do you know what the proper steps on the tax side would be.
Thanks for the reply

 

[MKFrost]

Do you know what the proper steps on the tax side would be.
Thanks for the reply

Go to your nearest tax office, get the forms,think its 2 pages. Complete and hand to them. They will give you a clearance which you ten take to your bank to have the funds transferred.

I think you can download the forms as well. Not sure whether one can submit it via email or electronically.

 

[fringe]

Go to your nearest tax office, get the forms,think its 2 pages. Complete and hand to them. They will give you a clearance which you ten take to your bank to have the funds transferred.

I think you can download the forms as well. Not sure whether one can submit it via email or electronically.

Are you referring to a tax clearance certificate or the actual tax registration. As I am not registered for tax (I don't think I am)

And will that be all the legal steps that I need to take to be able to do this trading legally.


Thanks for the help

 

[HavocXphere]

Well Investec would be ideal purely from convenience point of view...the quality of the people you're interacting with is just plain superior. More expensive but you don't have to deal with idiots.

As for tax...as long as you declare the gains as pure income (not capital gains) SARS isn't going to rain on your parade. If your trading in a personal capacity then its simply a matter of disclosing the gains. i.e. You buy at R2 and sell at R5 so you need to make sure you're taxed on R3 income at whatever tax bracket you fall under.

As long as SARS gets their money you're generally not going to catch any serious grief on the details.

>> As I am not registered for tax (I don't think I am)

You'll need to register and submit a return. Scratch the Investec plan too then...don't think you'll be able to sign up.

You'll need to get clearance to move money into the off-shore trading account though afaik.

 

[Lukcydog]

Go to your nearest tax office, get the forms,think its 2 pages. Complete and hand to them. They will give you a clearance which you ten take to your bank to have the funds transferred.

I think you can download the forms as well. Not sure whether one can submit it via email or electronically.

This is only necessary if you are taking the 4 mil offshore. You have a 1mil yearly allowance that doesn't need to be cleared by SARS. I opened a Standard Bank Webtrader account, did all that FICA stuff as required. You then go to the forex desk, fill in your information to transfer offshore (which includes your tax number) and voila, the same evening the amount you specified disappears from your account and appears on the other side.