All dividends from your international holdings are paid in cash into the matching currency cash account. For example, dividends from United States holdings are paid into your USD cash account, while dividends from Hong Kong Exchange holdings are paid into your HKD cash account.
Are there fees on international dividends?
Phillip Capital charges a processing fee of 1.5% on cash dividends after Withholding Tax has been applied. The amount deposited into your international cash account is the net dividend after this fee has been deducted.
| Cash dividends | USD | HKD |
| Calculated on net value of dividend | 1.5% (rounded to nearest cent) | 1.5% (rounded to nearest cent) |
| Fee capped at | $1.50 | $2,500.00 |
Example: Your dividend after Withholding Tax is $90.00 USD. A 1.5% fee of $1.35 is applied. $88.65 USD is deposited to your USD cash account.
For further information, please refer to the Phillip Capital Important Information Guide, specifically the International Trading section.
What is withholding tax and how does it apply to my dividends?
Withholding tax is a tax applied to dividends paid to you as a beneficial owner of international securities. It is calculated on the gross value of your dividend before the net amount is deposited into your cash account. You can view your after-tax dividend amount by navigating to Trading Account and then Cash Account on the Selfwealth website, or in your Selfwealth Annual Statement.
United States stocks
The standard United States withholding tax rate on dividends is 30%. Under the United States and Australia Tax Treaty, this rate is reduced to 15% in most cases. As a W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E form is required for all Selfwealth clients when setting up a US trading account, the reduced rate of 15% will be applied to your dividends automatically.
Hong Kong stocks
For most shares listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, there is no withholding tax on dividends. The only exception is for stocks classified as H-Shares, which are subject to a 10% withholding tax deduction. H-Shares are companies incorporated in mainland China. To find out if a stock is classified as an H-Share, you can search for the company on the official Hong Kong Stock Exchange website.
Can I reinvest my international dividends?
Dividend reinvestment is not available for international holdings. Due to the custodial ownership structure of international securities, all dividends are paid in cash to your cash account. You can manually purchase additional securities once the dividend has been deposited into your cash account.