Minimising foreign taxation in a Self Directed / Self Administered Pension or Prsa

[SPC100]

Hi,

I am in the process of setting up my self directed PRSA with Davy. I plan on buying several ETFs.

If foreign jurisdictions tax our funds/shares we don't get the full benefit of buying them inside our pension.

I think, If a US (domiciled?) fund pays dividends, the US fund will apply a dividend withholding tax and I don't think we can claim back this withholding tax. This would be a very significant drag on performance.

Is this a real issue?

How do you minimise the tax from foreign jurisdictions?

What rules should we follow when choosing funds to minimise the impact of foreign tax?

 

[SPC100]

FYI Came across this article which is written from the point of view of a Canadian investor, in some cases withholding tax was even applied twice

[broken link removed]

A 15% withholding tax applied to 2% dividend, is a .3% per anum drag on your return.

 

[SPC100]

http://monevator.com/withholding-tax-on-dividends/

this is a uk view, which is likely to be similar to ours,as i read it, it claims, that all funds holding overseas assets will lose the withholding tax, but if you find funds well domiciled you will avoid double withholding tax.