International Investments for Global Investors

This platform to invest in international securities is provided to you via a distribution partnership Centrum Wealth has with Stockal

Your investing account is created with our U.S. brokerage partner DriveWealth. DriveWealth LLC, a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), will serve as the custodian for your securities account. In the event that DriveWealth LLC fails and is placed in liquidation under the Securities Investor Protection Act, securities in your brokerage account may be protected up to USD 500,000. For details, please see www.sipc.org.

It’s super-easy to fund your account and to get your money back from the overseas brokerage account. Just a simple form to fill, with a single click to transact.

If you’re investing from India, under RBI’s Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) you are allowed to invest up to USD 250,000 every year at this stage, limits may change subject to RBI guidance. Tax collected at source on LRS remittances for investment category applies at 20% (from the previously applicable 5%) with effect from 1st July 2023.

Residents of US, Canada and Japan in addition to FATF black and grey list member nations and other restricted nations are not allowed to invest. FEMA rules apply to NRIs; Requirements of 15 CA/CB or other supporting documents are to be confirmed by the investor with their tax professional/advisor independently;

Indian residents can send money overseas for purchase of shares and property, travel, education, medical care, care of relatives living abroad, gifts, and donations. Individuals are also permitted to open, maintain, and hold foreign currency accounts with overseas banks for carrying out transactions. One cannot remit money that comes from certain sources, such as winnings from gambling and lottery, dividends from certain companies, and interest payments from non-resident rupee bank accounts. Individuals also cannot remit money for any prohibited or illegal activities such as margin trading.

We recommend investors refer to their tax professional on this aspect. However as an overview for illustrative purposes, we have outlined the understanding on the subject as follows. The transaction data required for reporting purposes shall be available on the CWL – Stockal investor log in page and be made available to investors on request as well.
There are two types of tax implications for such investments similar to the Long term/Short term tax regime on Indian equities.

This tax aspect becomes applicable when one sells an investment at a higher price than when bought. It is calculated as the sale price minus purchase price.
One attracts tax in India for this gain and this will not be taxed in the US. The amount of tax payable in India (as per tax cycle FY), depends on how long the investment is held

Thus, to fulfill the criterion for being classified as a long term capital asset, the period of holding of such investment should be more than 24 months. Thus if one holds the investment for longer than 24 months, the gain will be taxed at a long term capital gains tax rate of 20% (plus the applicable surcharges and cess).

When one holds the investment for less than 24 months, then such gains qualify as short-term capital gains and will be taxed as normal income (marginal rate of tax meaning as per your tax slab) in India.

Dividends shall be taxed in the US at a flat rate of 25%. This means that the company paying the dividend will deduct 25% by way of taxes before distributing the remaining 75% to the shareholder. Subsequently, this post tax dividend is included as taxable income in India (marginal rate of tax).

On higher value investments (>USD 60,000) there could be inheritance tax incidence for certain investors. Details of tax treatment of such investments should be determined by a qualified tax professional separately at the investors onus.

India and the US are parties to a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), which allows taxpayers to offset income tax already paid in the US. The 25% tax one has already paid in the US is made available as Foreign Tax Credit and can be used to offset your income tax payable in India.

Individual Stocks:
1) Blue : Subscription is NIL; Brokerage : 0.50% or 2 cent per share whichever is higher; For example : Mr./Ms X buys 4 shares of 1$ each so the cost is 4$; Brokerage is 0.50% of 4$ or 2 cent per share i.e 8 cent whichever is higher.

2) Silver : Subscription is Rs.4,999; Brokerage : 0.25% or 1 cent per share whichever is higher; For example : Mr./Ms X buys 4 shares of 1$ each so the cost is 4$; Brokerage is 0.25% of 4$ or 1 cent per share i.e 4 cent whichever is higher.

3) Gold : Subscription is Rs.9,999; Brokerage : 0.15% or 1 cent per share whichever is higher; For example : Mr./Ms X buys 5 shares of 100$ each so the cost is 500$; Brokerage is 0.15% of of 500$ or 1 cent per share i.e 5 cent whichever is higher.

Stacks:
For example, a gold plan member buys a Stack. There is no brokerage while buying. The client invests 1000$. AUM for example is 2% per annum and invested on 1st Oct . For that quarter, after deduction of AUM allocation to the Stack is 995$. Next quarter, based on current value of the Stack in the portfolio and again AUM for that quarter will be deducted from current value. This will continue every quarter till the Stack is held. Then while selling its 1 cent per share. Kindly note that irrespective of the plan while selling a Stack brokerage will be 1 cent per share only.