It can be seen, but one needs to know where to look. I just saw 30% and assume it’s the known annoyance of the Swiss legislation aiming to disadvantage local brokers. Luckily my lesson was not that expensive (a few hundreds, if I remember correctly).
1 Like
Hi all,
I want to make sure I fully understand how this works with Saxo Switzerland:
- With a valid W-8BEN → Saxo shows 30% withholding, split into 15% U.S. (IRS) + 15% Swiss (ESTV).
- Without W-8BEN → the full 30% goes to the IRS.
Questions:
- In the first case, can I reclaim both the 15% U.S. and the 15% Swiss part fully via my Swiss tax return? Or is this worse than with a broker like IBKR, where only 15% U.S. is withheld and nothing extra?
- How exactly do I reclaim the Swiss 15% — is it through the same DA-1 form I use for the U.S. 15%, or separately?
- Is the W-8BEN strictly required at Saxo, or is being a Swiss resident enough to ensure the 15%/15% split instead of 30% U.S.?
Thanks a lot if someone who actually holds U.S. securities with Saxo can clarify.
Thanks a lot for clarifying — that makes sense now.
Just to confirm one more point: you mentioned that for the DA-1 (U.S. 15%) the recoverable amount can be capped at your actual Swiss tax paid (and sometimes not processed if it’s below 100 CHF).
Does the same limitation also apply to the Swiss 15% withholding? In other words, if I live in a very low-tax canton and my effective tax rate is lower, could I lose part of that reclaim as well?
If that’s the case, then it seems using a Swiss broker (with 15% U.S. + 15% Swiss withholding) could actually be worse than using a foreign broker like IBKR (with only 15% U.S.), especially for low-tax residents.
No the extra 15% should be a credit.
3 Likes
A refund not a credit.
5 Likes
Last week, I activated Lombard Loan. I only use this so that I only have to touch the interface once during purchases, i.e. to simplify the process (the loan is therefore small, CHF ~1k-4k).
- Before: Initiate money transfer to Saxo, wait until the money is avaiable, buy ETF
- Now: Initiate money transfer to Saxo, buy ETF
But what I wonder is:
- Where can I see the current interest rate in SaxoTraderGo? It’s visible on the website (landing page), but somehow I would expect to see it in SaxoTraderGo as well.
- Where can I see the costs incurred? I would expect the interest to be debited under Portfolio->Transaction. Or a report somewhere. But I didn’t find anything.
I’m going to be opening a Saxo account this week. Anyone has a referral code to share? I’d be happy to save some fees.
How do the sub accounts work exactly? You make sub-accounts that have a different currency, do they have their own IBAN? Could I move Euros and USD in and out without conversion to appropriate bank accounts?
Can you display all holdings from all subaccounts together?
1 Like
I dont use sub accounts. But yes each one have different Account and can only store cash in currency of sub account. Yes i believe you can move cash in and out of each sub accounts.
Shares can be listed in any currency and they can be any sub account. You can move shares between sub accounts.
3 Likes
To answer my question: Under “Portfolio → Transaction,” the daily transaction/fee for interest is not visible. However, if you click on Export, the fee is listed.
2 Likes
Were the two partials on a single trading day? If I remember correctly, Swissquote doesn’t charge any extra fees as long as the partials are on the same day (and the order wasn’t modified in between). If an order is partially filled across multiple days, normal fees are charged on each trading day.
I just checked the Saxo fees of an ETF buy order (also at SIX) where the first partial amounted to only ~CHF 200, but the total commission was exactly 0.08%. So I can’t confirm your experience.
I deleted my comment in the meantime, as I got back in touch with them and they confirmed—just as you said—that they do not charge for partials if they occur on the same day. However, I was (and still am) quite confused, since in the message boxes it is clearly stated that they are charged separately. In any case, I’ll wait until tomorrow to see my bill.
I opened today a Saxo Trading Account. The process took me about an hour including the funding some hundred bucks from WIR Bank. Very smoothly. I bought Nestle (only because of Goofy’s post on stockpickers thread 
) just for playing around (and to be prepared what to do when BTC hits 1m$).
I used Saxo TraderGO to buy the shares. I didn’t trade much of stocks lately (well several years). Is it normal that my portfolio contains “positions” (i think it’s like in IBKR, as far I remember)? I’m now long NESN (Equity). I’m used to have positions with futures, CFDs etc. So my main question is. Do I own the shares (I suppose yes, as I can lend them) or is it some kind of a contract? Is it with all the brokers similar?
Sorry for the rookie question. I’m trying to evaluate if there are some rollover fees or something for not being a day trader or so… and to know what the heck did I actually buy today? (lol)
PS. no I didn’t read any of the support or help pages as I’m thinking should be self-explaining…
My friend, you just bought a bunch of Kitkat boxes. Have a break and rtfm.
1 Like
tldr… manly men do not do that.
(but read it today for installing the super slow down toilett seat I bought on galaxus)
2 Likes
You did that…You’re up to pee sitting down. No more manly man.
Slightly on-topic: can anyone answer @stojano question about saxo positions
2 Likes
Yes, positions are assets held under your name. (Saxo does not enter you in the share register, but that only affects you if you want physical dividends. Such as a watch or chocolate.)
If it is listed in position and there is a icon that says EQ (for Equities), yes you own stocks.
- EQ = Stocks
- FU = Futures
- BO = Bonds
- etc.
See “Platform settings” → “Trading Products”. There you can see what you are allowed to buy. I only buy stocks and ETFs, so I can’t comment on the other products.
2 Likes
Thanks. Yep, it’s equity with EQ. So I will get the dividens and the usual Corporate Actions (I had to subscribe to the notifications about them).
For optimal fee I should buy at least 3750chf next time.
The one thing I’m missing is to try the trader pro, because no linux version, but is probably not really needed for just holding.l some shares…
In retrospect, I could have translated this specifically for you into Bitcoin-Language.
- Positions = Wallet
- EQ = Bitcoin
- FU, BO, FX, etc. = Crypto
2 Likes
Or you can use referrals: << Every successful referral will earn you CHF 500 in commission credits, which can be used within 90 days after your friend’s account funding.>>
1 Like