Degiro Technical Problems

eggerb

Registered User
Messages
383
Is anybody experiencing technical issues buying / selling within the Degiro app? Have had issues since yesterday evening. Sent them an email last night. Waiting to hear back.
 
It appears more and more irish money going to US domiciled ETFs because of the taxation situation, obviously no politician wants to address it as not advantageous politically, but with increasing prosperity and with increasing money moving to US ETFs, if it gets to billions which it will, what will be the response of the establishment
 
Here here. Just bought us domiciled etf's myself due to this. Would be insanity to go anywhere near euro domiciled etf's.
 
They will extend the 41% exit tax to cover all ETP's - that is what I am expecting. It is Revenue policy to tap all sources of tax revenue or leakages they find. Dont think for a second they are not aware of this.

There is a troyskyite element in Revenue that sees this as wealth, and therefore it must be taxed as such.
 
They will extend the 41% exit tax to cover all ETP's - that is what I am expecting. It is Revenue policy to tap all sources of tax revenue or leakages they find. Dont think for a second they are not aware of this.

There is a troyskyite element in Revenue that sees this as wealth, and therefore it must be taxed as such.

As in, to cover US domiciled ETFs also? In which cases, UCITS ETFs would then become preferable, due to the lack of inheritance taxation
 
Yes, thats what I mean.
I dont think its going to matter, switching into UCITS ETS. There could be marginal benefits, but its like being the tallest of the 7 dwarves.
 
Under certain scenarios, gross roll up funds (including UCITS ETFs) can already be more tax efficient than US ETFs for investors with high marginal tax rates.
 
They will extend the 41% exit tax to cover all ETP's - that is what I am expecting. It is Revenue policy to tap all sources of tax revenue or leakages they find. Dont think for a second they are not aware of this.

There is a troyskyite element in Revenue that sees this as wealth, and therefore it must be taxed as such.

Maybe with US ETFs they can do something but what about UK investment trusts, these have very long histories of being traded like shares, also the investment trust share price does not match the value of the underlying stocks in most cases. They would have a hell of a job to try and do this. Also they could not apply the change to ETFs already purchased before hand.
 
Can you explain this please?
It has to do with the compounding impact of the tax drag on dividends received on shares (including US-domiciled ETFs) that are subject to income tax/CGT.

So, if you assume that dividends represent a relatively high proportion of total return and are subject to a high marginal tax rate, a gross roll-up fund can be more efficient from a tax perspective.

The principle is discussed here:-
https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/is-it-mad-to-pay-off-a-cheap-tracker.193088/page-2
 
It has to do with the compounding impact of the tax drag on dividends received on shares (including US-domiciled ETFs) that are subject to income tax/CGT.

So, if you assume that dividends represent a relatively high proportion of total return and are subject to a high marginal tax rate, a gross roll-up fund can be more efficient from a tax perspective.

The principle is discussed here:-
https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/is-it-mad-to-pay-off-a-cheap-tracker.193088/page-2

Thanks for response. Excuse my financial illiteracy, but does this mean that appreciating US-domiciled ETFs cannot be obtained? (And hence dividends are taxed at a high marginal rate?)
 
Thanks for response. Excuse my financial illiteracy, but does this mean that appreciating US-domiciled ETFs cannot be obtained? (And hence dividends are taxed at a high marginal rate?)
That's right.

US-domiciled mutual funds and ETFs are required (by US tax law) to distribute substantially all their net investment income and realised capital gains from their underlying portfolios. So, there's really no such thing as an accumulating US fund/ETF. Dividends received from those funds are subject to income tax in the hands of an Irish investor (which means there is less to reinvest compared to accumulating, gross-roll up funds that are subject to 41% exit tax).

So, shares/ETFs that are subject to income tax/CGT (including US-domiciled ETFs) may be more attractive to an investor with a low marginal tax rate and/or that is carrying (capital) losses forward. On the other hand, gross roll up funds (including UCITS ETFs) may be more attractive to an investor with a higher marginal tax rate and/or that is not carrying losses forward.

Hopefully that all makes sense.
 
Last edited:
That's right.

US-domiciled mutual funds and ETFs are required (by US tax law) to distribute substantially all their net investment income and realised capital gains from their underlying portfolios. So, there's really no such thing as an accumulating US fund/ETF. Dividends received from those funds are subject to income tax in the hands of an Irish investor (which means there is less to reinvest compared to accumulating, gross-roll up funds that are subject to 41% exit tax).

So, shares/ETFs that are subject to income tax/CGT (including US-domiciled ETFs) may be more attractive to an investor with a low marginal tax rate and/or that is carrying (capital) losses forward. On the other hand, gross roll up funds (including UCITS ETFs) may be more attractive to an investor with a higher marginal tax rate and/or that is not carrying losses forward.

Hopefully that all makes sense.

I think it makes sense. Marginal rate taxation on dividends meaning basically taxed as extra income, not like regular CGT? So with a high income it might be better to have gross roll up funds and just pay the 41%?

Interesting.

With deemed disposal, however, are you not essentially paying tax twice, once at eight years and then on disposal (provided the ETFs are held longer than 8 years)? Therefore, is this not a substantial disadvantage that outweights the abovementioned benefit?
 
I think it makes sense. Marginal rate taxation on dividends meaning basically taxed as extra income, not like regular CGT? So with a high income it might be better to have gross roll up funds and just pay the 41%?
That's right.

Dividends (net of US withholding tax) received by an Irish investor in a US-domiciled ETF are subject to income tax at the taxpayer's marginal rate. Capital gains are subject to CGT.
With deemed disposal, however, are you not essentially paying tax twice, once at eight years and then on disposal (provided the ETFs are held longer than 8 years)? Therefore, is this not a substantial disadvantage that outweights the abovementioned benefit?
No, there is no "double dip" by the taxman.

If the UCITS ETF shares rise in value between the date of the deemed disposal and the date of the actual disposal, then exit tax is only payable on the difference. If the ETF shares fall in value between the date of the deemed disposal and the date of actual disposal, then the taxpayer can apply to Revenue for a refund of exit tax paid as appropriate.
 
That's right.

Dividends (net of US withholding tax) received by an Irish investor in a US-domiciled ETF are subject to income tax at the taxpayer's marginal rate. Capital gains are subject to CGT.

No, there is no "double dip" by the taxman.

If the UCITS ETF shares rise in value between the date of the deemed disposal and the date of the actual disposal, then exit tax is only payable on the difference. If the ETF shares fall in value between the date of the deemed disposal and the date of actual disposal, then the taxpayer can apply to Revenue for a refund of exit tax paid as appropriate.

I see. Interesting food for thought. In the case of exit tax being only payable on the difference, then I don't understand what is the big deal about the deemed disposal rule, seeing as it all works out in the end, tax wise? (Nothwithstanding the fact that 41% is a high rate of exit tax.)

By the way, here's an interesting thread from bogleheads re Irish investing. OP seems to believe that US based stocks are a wiser investment for Irish investors. Would be interested to hear your opinion:



He also discusses it here:
 
My opinion is that it is not necessarily the case that US-domiciled funds are more tax efficient for Irish investors than UCITs ETFs - it depends on the contribution of dividends to total return that you assume, the marginal tax rate of the investor and whether or not the investor is carrying losses forward.

Did you look at the spreadsheet referenced in the thread that I linked above?
 
My opinion is that it is not necessarily the case that US-domiciled funds are more tax efficient for Irish investors than UCITs ETFs - it depends on the contribution of dividends to total return that you assume, the marginal tax rate of the investor and whether or not the investor is carrying losses forward.

Did you look at the spreadsheet referenced in the thread that I linked above?

Yes, I looked at it. Not sure I understood fully but it basically seems to say that accumulating ETFs did better than US-domiciled, albeit the exit tax rate was incorrectly 36% but even at 41% accumulating ETFs would do better?

The other problem however is that in the case of a market downturn, UCITS ETFs that lose their value can't be written off against other capital gains? And another issue is the complexity of filing tax reports for UCITS as each transaction must be logged.

I'm aware I'm playing devil's advocate a bit here!
 
Yes, I looked at it. Not sure I understood fully but it basically seems to say that accumulating ETFs did better than US-domiciled, albeit the exit tax rate was incorrectly 36% but even at 41% accumulating ETFs would do better?
Yes, gross roll-up funds can produce a more favourable tax result but the calculation is very sensitive to the assumptions used regarding the dividend yield, capital gains and the marginal tax rate.
The other problem however is that in the case of a market downturn, UCITS ETFs that lose their value can't be written off against other capital gains?
That's correct - losses on a gross roll-up fund cannot be offset against capital gains made elsewhere.
And another issue is the complexity of filing tax reports for UCITS as each transaction must be logged.
I'm not sure that the tax filings are any more complex than CGT returns.

But your broader point is well made - there are definitely pros and cons to gross roll-up funds.
 
Last edited:
At the end of the day, it's not an easy decision between them. I am currently a tax resident in australia, where capital gains are taxed as income, but the tax is halved on assets held for > 1 year so effectively taxation on capital gains is very low. So I was considering selling all my ETFs, paying the low capital gains tax, and then buying back in on return to Ireland
 
Back
Top