Interactive Brokers Q&A [2025]

[Dr.PI]

@assemblyrequired

I’m surprised I don’t get some kind of PDF or statement automatically when receiving dividends.

What for? You will get a US tax form for the whole year with the total dividend amount indicated.

Interactive Brokers: reports for tax declaration

After completing my 2018 tax return I was asked to send evidence of my VT share purchases. I purchased these shares through Interactive Brokers and reside in the canton of Vaud. On IB the only tax reports I see are the below: [48] I sent the FX Income Worksheet pdf to the Office d’impôt which details all my FX trades and VT trades. I also sent them the Dividend Report html which they seem to have accepted for my DA-1 WHT. However, I have recently received a letter again requesting evidence of…

[assemblyrequired]

@Dr.PI

What for? You will get a US tax form for the whole year with the total dividend amount indicated.

Well, I just like to receive a PDF or something for every transaction, dividend payment etc. That’s just what I’m used to with Swiss banks.

[Abs_max]

I also hold VT in my IBKR account and my base currency is USD for that account. My dividends which were paid recently are in USD and WHT tax deduction is 15%

I think ever since IBKR activated automatic currency conversion, the dividends gets converted to base currency. That’s my assumption.

I hold VWRL in another account with CHF base currency, I will see what happens there on dividend payment date. In March it was still paid in USD but I think this new process was applicable a bit later.

[assemblyrequired]

Does IBKR answer quicker when writing them in English?

[fittim]

@Abs_max

I think ever since IBKR activated automatic currency conversion, the dividends gets converted to base currency. That’s my assumption.

No, I think values below $5 are converted to base currency automatically in general.

Edit: and it was also like this before the AutoFx was introduced last month.

[asinivali]

Not the case for me, I have CHF as base currency and my latest dividends were in USD as usual.

[oswand]

I always write them in English and have gotten a response within 24 hours most of the time.

[assemblyrequired]

I have CHF as base currency as well, and the USD 19.82 dividends I received yesterday were not converted.

[EdgyTwinkle]

Same here, base currency CHF, and received USD dividends as usual (VT)

[Abs_max]

Ok. Good to know.

[assemblyrequired]

My last order was not executed on ARCA, but on DARK instead. Did I buy VT from Satan or what does that mean?

[REandSTOCK]

It is a dark pool. It means that the broker keep his precious buyers and sellers for himself (or with his partners) and have them make transactions outside of the stock exchange

[assemblyrequired]

And is that a good thing? And if not, can I disable it?

[nabalzbhf]

You usually get a price improvement compared to lit exchanges.

[FunnyDjo]

It’s beneficial for the broker but not the customer.
It s like optimising trades for the broker.

[nabalzbhf]

@FunnyDjo

It’s beneficial for the broker but not the customer.

You’d rather get the best quote from a lit exchange? (the broker is not allowed to provide a worse execution than the best available public quote, so it should be winning for the customer)

[almi]

@Abs_max

WHT tax deduction is 15%

Was it spot on 15%? I recently noticed that the deduction was somewhat below this (more like 13.9xx%) and I don’t see why.

[assemblyrequired]

For me it was, yes, down to the last cent.

[Abs_max]

Yes.
Exactly 15%

But for me payment was in USD and also the tax deduction was in USD.

Which ETF do you own? Could it be due to exchange rate differences?

[almi]

@assemblyrequired

For me it was, yes

@Abs_max

Yes.
Exactly 15%

You are both right, I made a mistake when reading the statement file from IBKR. I thought the value in “Witholding tax” was already deducted from the “Dividends” value in the “Change in NAV” table. But actually the value in “Dividends” is before any WHT and I got paid out this “Dividends” amount minus the value in “Witholding tax” and this gives me also exactly 15%.