Working out how to invest in US stocks from abroad is mostly a matter of paperwork and arithmetic. The trade itself is the same one an American places: you choose a share or a fund, the broker routes the order to a US exchange, and the position settles in your account. The differences arrive later, in how much of each dividend reaches you, what happens to the account if you die, what the dollar does to your returns, and what your own tax authority expects from you. This hub takes those layers one at a time, with the numbers that apply now, and includes a quick reference for 12 countries. For quotes and charts while you read, the US stocks data page tracks the most traded US shares and funds, and the stocks hub explains share and fund basics for first-time investors.
Can non-US residents buy US stocks?
Yes. In most countries, residents can own US-listed shares and ETFs through a broker licensed to serve them, using an account opened with a passport, proof of address and Form W-8BEN.
Three kinds of provider make this possible. Some US-registered brokers accept clients from abroad and hold the shares in the United States. Many banks and brokers in your own country route orders to US exchanges and keep the shares with a custodian. A few markets also list foreign shares locally: Mexico's Sistema Internacional de Cotizaciones (SIC) lets residents trade many US shares through Mexican exchanges. Which route is open to you depends on two gatekeepers. The broker decides which countries it accepts, and your home regulator decides who may offer you foreign securities. Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, has stated that only foreign securities listed on an exchange registered in Nigeria may be offered to the Nigerian public.
Opening the account looks like any other: identity checks, questions about your income and experience, and tax forms. The form that changes your returns is W-8BEN, which certifies that you are not a US person and names the country whose tax treaty you are claiming. Once the account is funded you can buy the same tickers a US investor can, such as the S&P 500 fund on the SPY ETF page.
Who holds your assets matters as much as the commission. A US broker that is a member of SIPC is covered for $500,000 per customer, including up to $250,000 in cash if it fails, and that protection does not depend on citizenship or residence. It does not cover falling prices, and customers of a member firm's foreign affiliate are not covered unless the affiliate is a member itself. With a local broker, your protection is whatever your own country's investor compensation scheme provides. The FDIC vs SIPC guide explains what each scheme does, and the guide to opening a US brokerage account as a nonresident covers documents, funding and account types.
The order of the steps below matters, because two of them, your home-country limits and the W-8BEN, are hard to fix once money has moved.
Check what your home country allows
Look up the cap on sending money abroad, any tax collected when you send it, and whether the platform you plan to use is licensed where you live. The country table later on this page lists the first rule to check in 12 countries.
Choose a broker and confirm who holds the shares
Find out which legal entity opens your account, where your shares are held and which investor protection scheme applies. A familiar brand can sit on top of a local affiliate with different protection.
Complete Form W-8BEN
Enter your permanent home address, your home-country tax ID number and, if your country has a tax treaty with the US, its name on line 9. Without the form, US dividends are withheld at the full 30%.
Fund the account and convert currency
Send money by bank transfer and compare the rate you are offered with the mid-market rate. A 1% markup costs $100 on every $10,000 converted, and you pay it again when money comes home.
Pick the fund domicile before your first purchase
Decide between US-listed ETFs and Irish-domiciled UCITS versions of the same index. Switching later means selling, which can trigger tax at home.
Keep records and renew the form
Save trade confirmations, year-end statements and the Form 1042-S your broker issues each year. Renew the W-8BEN before it expires, and replace it within 30 days if you move to another country.
How much US tax do non-residents pay on dividends and interest?
The US withholds 30% on US-source dividends, unless a tax treaty sets a lower rate, while most interest and capital gains earned by non-residents are not taxed by the US at all.
The broker takes the tax before the dividend reaches your account and reports the income and the tax to you and to the IRS on Form 1042-S after the year ends. When the right amount was withheld, a nonresident whose only US income is this kind of portfolio income usually has no US return to file. When too much was withheld, for example because the W-8BEN was missing or had expired, the usual way to recover it after the year ends is a Form 1040-NR, which needs a US taxpayer identification number such as an ITIN.
Treaty rates for the 12 countries in this guide
The table below comes from the IRS treaty tables. The first dividend column is the one that applies to individuals buying shares on an exchange. The second covers companies that own a large stake, usually 10% or more of the paying company, so it rarely matters for personal investors. Countries without an income tax treaty with the US show the statutory 30%.
| Country | Tax treaty | Dividends (most investors) | Dividends (10%+ corporate owners) | Interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| India | Yes | 25% | 15% | 15% |
| Mexico | Yes | 10% | 5% | 15% |
| Brazil | No | 30% | 30% | 30% |
| Philippines | Yes | 25% | 20% | 15% |
| Pakistan | Yes | 30% | 15% | 30% |
| Nigeria | No | 30% | 30% | 30% |
| Kenya | No | 30% | 30% | 30% |
| South Africa | Yes | 15% | 5% | 0% |
| United Arab Emirates | No | 30% | 30% | 30% |
| Saudi Arabia | No | 30% | 30% | 30% |
| Singapore | No | 30% | 30% | 30% |
| Canada | Yes | 15% | 5% | 0% |
The interest column matters less than it looks, because US domestic law already exempts most of the interest that individual investors earn; the section after next explains which. A treaty also does not always cut the portfolio rate, which is why a country can appear with a treaty and still show 30% on ordinary dividends. For every treaty country, not just these 12, the guide to US dividend withholding tax by country goes through the rates and the conditions attached to them.
Claiming the treaty rate on Form W-8BEN
A treaty rate is never applied automatically. You claim it by giving your broker a signed Form W-8BEN, usually as an online form during account opening. The form goes to the broker or other payer, not to the IRS, and four entries carry most of the weight:
- Permanent residence address. The address in the country where you live and pay tax, not a post office box or an address used only for mail.
- Foreign tax ID number, line 6a. Your home-country tax number. It is generally required; the box on line 6b is for people whose country does not legally require them to have one.
- Treaty country, line 9. The country whose treaty you are claiming, which must be the country where you are resident for tax purposes.
- Signature and date. The form stays valid until the last day of the third calendar year after the year it is signed, so one signed in March 2026 lasts until December 31, 2029.
Line 10, for special rates and conditions, is not needed for ordinary portfolio dividends and interest. Nor do you need a US taxpayer number when the claim covers dividends from actively traded shares, which includes ETFs, or from US mutual funds. If your circumstances change so that the form is no longer correct, for example because you move to another country, you have 30 days to tell the broker and replace it. The W-8BEN guide goes through the form line by line.
Interest and gains the US does not tax
Three common kinds of interest paid to non-residents are exempt under US law, so the treaty interest rate rarely comes into play for individual investors:
- Portfolio interest. Interest on bonds issued in registered form after July 18, 1984, which covers Treasury notes and bonds and most corporate bonds, is exempt once the payer has your W-8BEN. The exemption does not cover anyone who owns 10% or more of the issuer, or interest that rises and falls with the issuer's profits.
- Bank deposit interest. Interest from US banks, savings institutions, credit unions and insurance companies, including interest on CDs, is exempt when it is not connected with a business you run in the US.
- Short-term discount. Interest and original issue discount on obligations payable in 183 days or less from issue are not subject to withholding, even when the payer has no documentation from you.
Capital gains are simpler still. A nonresident who spends fewer than 183 days in the US during the tax year generally owes no US tax on gains from selling US shares, as long as the gain is not connected with a US business. Funds add one wrinkle. A US ETF or mutual fund can report part of its payout as interest-related dividends or short-term capital gain dividends, which are exempt from withholding, and payers may choose not to withhold on capital gain distributions. The ordinary dividend part of the same payout is withheld like any other dividend.
Does US estate tax apply to non-US investors?
Yes: when a non-US investor dies holding more than $60,000 of US-situated assets, the executor must file a US estate tax return, and the tax climbs to 40%.
The threshold surprises people because it is tiny next to the $15,000,000 per person that US citizens and residents can leave free of estate tax, and the nonresident figure is not indexed for inflation. Nonresidents receive a unified credit of only $13,000, which offsets the tax on the first $60,000 of US assets. The federal rate schedule itself starts at 18% on the first $10,000 and reaches 40% on everything above $1 million.
Whether something counts is decided by who issued it, not by where your broker or your paperwork sits:
| Usually a US-situated asset | Usually not a US-situated asset |
|---|---|
| Shares of US companies, wherever the account is held | Shares of non-US companies, including Irish-domiciled UCITS ETFs |
| US-domiciled ETFs and mutual funds, even ones that hold only bonds or T-bills | Treasury bills and other short-term discount obligations held directly |
| US real estate | Treasury notes and bonds, and other bonds whose interest qualifies for the portfolio interest exemption |
| Other debts owed by US people and companies, such as private loans | Deposits at US banks that are not connected with a US business, and life insurance proceeds |
A temporary rule that let part of a US fund's assets count as non-US applied only to deaths between 2005 and 2011, so today a US-domiciled bond fund is just as exposed as a US equity fund.
Worked example: A $500,000 US portfolio with no estate tax treaty
A resident of Singapore dies holding $500,000 of US-listed shares and US-domiciled ETFs at a broker. Singapore has no estate tax treaty with the US, so the standard nonresident rules apply.
- US-situated assets: $500,000
- Tentative tax from the federal rate table: $155,800, which is $70,800 on the first $250,000 plus 34% of the next $250,000
- Minus the nonresident unified credit: −$13,000
- US estate tax due before any deductions: $142,800, about 28.6% of the US holdings
Had the same $500,000 been in Irish-domiciled UCITS ETFs tracking the same indexes, the US-situated total would generally have been zero: no Form 706-NA and no US estate tax, although any inheritance rules at home would still apply.
The process adds delay to the cost. Form 706-NA is due nine months after the death, with Form 4768 available to request more time, and US custodians and transfer agents generally will not move a nonresident decedent's US shares until they see an IRS transfer certificate. Even when the US assets fall below the filing threshold, the IRS quotes 12 to 18 months to process the affidavit and documents it reviews before confirming that no certificate is needed.
Treaties can change the result. Of the 12 countries in this guide, only Canada and South Africa have estate tax provisions with the US, and Canada's goes furthest. A Canadian resident's estate gets a share of the full US credit in proportion to how much of the worldwide estate is in the US, and estates of US$1.2 million or less worldwide can exempt US shares entirely. A Canadian with $500,000 of US shares in a $2 million estate would receive a credit of about $1.49 million, a quarter of the $5,945,800 credit that matches the US exclusion, which more than covers the $155,800 tentative tax. The guide to US estate tax for nonresidents covers the treaty rules, joint accounts and the common ways investors limit their exposure.
Should you buy US-listed or Irish-domiciled ETFs?
The choice turns on three things: your dividend withholding rate, how close your US assets are to the estate-tax threshold, and whether your broker may sell you US ETFs.
Most large index funds exist in both forms. A US-domiciled ETF is a US investment company listed on a US exchange. An Irish-domiciled UCITS ETF tracking the same index is an Irish fund authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland under the EU's UCITS rules and listed on European exchanges such as Xetra, Euronext and SIX Swiss Exchange. The shares inside are the same; the tax plumbing is not.
| US-domiciled ETF | Irish-domiciled UCITS ETF | |
|---|---|---|
| US tax on dividends from US companies | None inside the fund; 30% or your treaty rate is withheld when the fund pays you | Usually 15% inside the fund, under the US-Ireland treaty |
| Tax on payouts to you | US withholding at your rate | Ireland generally withholds nothing from non-residents |
| Reinvesting dividends | Paid out in cash; US funds must distribute at least 90% of their income | Accumulating share classes reinvest inside the fund |
| US estate tax | Counts as a US-situated asset | Not a US asset |
| Retail sale in the EU | Generally not offered, because there is no PRIIPs key information document | Sold with a key information document |
| Example cost for the S&P 500 | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV): 0.03% a year | iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF, accumulating: 0.07% a year |
| Trading | US hours, in dollars, usually tight spreads | European hours, several currencies, spreads can be wider |
Worked example: Yearly tax and fee drag on $10,000 in an S&P 500 ETF
Assume a dividend yield of about 1.1%, close to IVV's trailing 12-month yield of 1.10% on September 30, 2026, so the fund collects about $110 of dividends a year.
- US ETF, investor in a country with no treaty: $110 × 30% = $33 withheld, plus $3 in fees at 0.03%, for $36 a year
- US ETF, investor in a 15% treaty country such as Canada or South Africa: $16.50 withheld plus $3 in fees, for $19.50
- Irish accumulating ETF, any investor: about $16.50 lost inside the fund plus $7 in fees at 0.07%, for about $23.50
At 30%, the Irish fund saves about $12.50 a year per $10,000, roughly 0.13 percentage points. At 15%, the US fund is about $4 cheaper, and the tax withheld from it may be creditable at home, which the 15% paid inside an Irish fund generally is not, because the fund paid it rather than you.
The EU row matters mainly for people who live in an EU country. Under the PRIIPs Regulation, a retail investor must receive a key information document before buying a packaged product; UCITS funds have provided one since January 1, 2023, and US issuers generally do not, so EU brokers usually cannot sell US ETFs to retail clients. Outside the EU, both versions are often available, and the decision comes back to tax and estate exposure. A Canadian investor usually has treaty relief on both, while a Singapore resident with $500,000 in US-domiciled funds faces the full rate schedule. The US vs Irish-domiciled ETFs comparison works through more cases, and the stocks hub explains what an ETF is for readers new to funds.
Can non-residents buy US Treasury bills?
Yes, but rarely through TreasuryDirect, which requires a Social Security number, a US address and a US bank account; most non-residents use a broker instead.
Bills are short-term loans to the US government, sold at a discount and repaid at face value, and they are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. The Treasuries hub explains what a T-bill is and the ways to buy one. For a non-resident, the practical routes come down to four:
- Bills held directly at a broker. Many international brokers buy bills at auction or on the secondary market. Bills of 26 weeks or less fall under the 183-day short-term rule, and the 52-week bill, like Treasury notes and bonds, qualifies for the portfolio interest exemption once your W-8BEN is on file, so US tax is not withheld on any of them. Treasuries held directly also sit outside US estate tax.
- US-domiciled T-bill and Treasury ETFs. They are simple to buy and cheap to hold, but the fund shares are US-situated for estate tax, and only the part of each payout the fund reports as interest-related dividends escapes withholding.
- Irish-domiciled UCITS Treasury ETFs. These hold the same kind of bills inside an Irish fund, so the shares sit outside US estate tax and Ireland does not withhold on payouts to non-residents.
- Tokenized Treasury funds. Tokens that represent shares in a fund holding bills. You own a claim on a fund, not the bills, so the issuer, the custodian and the redemption terms matter as much as the yield; see tokenized Treasuries for non-US investors.
Bills still carry risks: the dollar can fall against your currency, rates can drop before you reinvest, and selling a longer bill early can mean a small loss if rates have risen. The trade-offs between funds and bills held directly are covered in T-bill ETFs vs buying T-bills, and the non-resident view, including how each route is taxed, in can foreigners buy US Treasury bills.
How does the dollar's exchange rate change your returns?
Your return at home combines the US return with the change in the dollar against your currency, so a 10% currency move can outweigh several years of dividends.
Return in your currency = (1 + return in dollars) × (1 + change in the dollar) − 1
Worked example: A 7% US gain when the dollar moves 10%
You convert 1,000,000 units of your currency into $10,000 at an illustrative rate of 100 per dollar, and your US fund gains 7% in a year, to $10,700.
- Dollar rises 10%, to 110: $10,700 × 110 = 1,177,000, a 17.7% gain at home
- Dollar unchanged at 100: $10,700 × 100 = 1,070,000, a 7% gain
- Dollar falls 10%, to 90: $10,700 × 90 = 963,000, a 3.7% loss at home
The fund did exactly the same thing in all three cases. The currency alone turned a 7% gain into anything from a 3.7% loss to a 17.7% gain.
Conversion costs come on top. Each time money crosses the border, the rate you get usually differs from the mid-market rate by a markup. The table below shows what $1,000 and $10,000 of dividends or sale proceeds become in Indian rupees at the latest mid-market rate and at 0.5% and 1.5% markups.
| You send | At the mid-market rate | With a 0.5% markup | With a 1.5% markup |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | ₹94,905 | ₹94,431 | ₹93,482 |
| $10,000 | ₹949,053 | ₹944,308 | ₹934,817 |
Live rates for other currencies in this guide are on the USD to INR, USD to CAD, USD to ZAR and USD to SGD converter pages. Investors who want less currency exposure have a few tools. Many UCITS ETFs offer currency-hedged share classes. Holding some dollars between trades avoids converting every dividend back and forth, a trade-off covered in holding US dollars abroad. Buying in regular installments spreads your entry points over time, which the DCA calculator models for US assets. None of these removes currency risk, and hedging has its own cost; the guide to currency risk on US investments compares hedged and unhedged options.
Country quick reference: treaty status and the first home rule to check
Each row pairs a country's US treaty status with one home-country rule worth checking before you send money. Every rule comes from the central bank, securities regulator or tax authority named; where the source is a regulator, also ask your tax authority how the income is taxed.
| Country | US income tax treaty | First home-country rule to check | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | Yes | The RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme allows USD 250,000 per financial year (April to March), and banks collect TCS of 20% on LRS remittances above ₹10 lakh in a financial year, for purposes other than education or medical treatment, which you can claim against your income tax | US stocks from India |
| UAE | No | The Federal Tax Authority treats personal investment income as outside corporate tax, and there is no personal income tax, so US withholding is usually the only tax on dividends | US stocks from the UAE |
| Saudi Arabia | No | The Capital Market Authority allows only its Authorised Persons to carry on securities business in the Kingdom and treats contracts with unlicensed firms as void | US stocks from Saudi Arabia |
| Nigeria | No | The SEC's position is that only foreign securities listed on an exchange registered in Nigeria may be offered to the Nigerian public, so check a platform's registration first | US stocks from Nigeria |
| Kenya | No | Use an intermediary on the Capital Markets Authority's licensee register; the CMA issued a fresh caution about unlicensed investment platforms in September 2026 | US stocks from Kenya |
| South Africa | Yes | Exchange control allows R2 million per calendar year under the single discretionary allowance, and a further R10 million per calendar year, once SARS approves the transfer | US stocks from South Africa |
| Mexico | Yes | Gains on shares sold through a Mexican exchange, including foreign shares listed in the SIC, pay a final tax of 10%; a foreign account can be taxed differently, so check with the SAT | US stocks from Mexico |
| Brazil | No | Since 2024, income from financial investments abroad, including dividends, gains and currency gains, is taxed at 15% a year in the annual return | US stocks from Brazil |
| Philippines | Yes | Banks can sell residents foreign currency for investments abroad up to US$60 million per investor per calendar year without prior approval from the BSP | US stocks from the Philippines |
| Pakistan | Yes, with no cut for ordinary dividends | Under the SBP's general permission, a designated bank can remit money for a resident to buy listed shares abroad, up to USD 25,000 per calendar year, with no more than 1% of any one company | US stocks from Pakistan |
| Singapore | No | IRAS does not tax foreign dividends received by resident individuals, except through a partnership, so US withholding is usually the only tax on them | US stocks from Singapore |
| Canada | Yes | File Form T1135 if your foreign property, including US shares held at a Canadian broker, had a total cost of more than C$100,000 at any time in the year; property in an RRSP or TFSA is excluded | US stocks from Canada |
Two patterns stand out. In the six countries without a treaty, the full 30% applies to dividends, which is where the Irish-ETF comparison above saves the most. In the countries with capital controls, India, South Africa and Pakistan, the binding limit falls on the transfer rather than on the purchase, so the remittance has to be planned before the trade. These rules change, so confirm the current position with the authority named before acting.
What do you have to report at home?
Usually more than you report to the US: your home country typically taxes your dividends and gains, and it may want an annual list of foreign assets as well.
Most countries tax residents on their worldwide income, and the US tax withheld from your dividends does not settle that bill. What it usually does is earn a credit. US income tax treaties commit the home country to relieving double taxation, generally by crediting the US tax charged at the treaty rate against home tax on the same income; without a treaty, any credit depends on domestic law. Gains are often the bigger item, because the US leaves them alone for most non-residents while your home country may not.
Offshore accounts are also more visible than they used to be. By November 2025, according to the OECD's Global Forum, 116 jurisdictions had begun exchanging information on accounts held by each other's residents under the Common Reporting Standard. The United States is not part of that system; it exchanges account information through its own FATCA agreements, some of which are reciprocal. Either way, the duty to declare is yours, and whatever data your broker sends is no substitute for a correct return.
Typical duties look like this, using countries from the table:
- Canada: Form T1135 for foreign property above the cost threshold, with Canadian tax due on the dividends and gains themselves. Inside an RRSP or RRIF, US dividends are generally exempt from US withholding under Article XXI of the treaty.
- Brazil: income from investments abroad, including currency gains, goes in the annual return at the flat rate shown above.
- India: the TCS collected on LRS remittances is not an extra tax, since it can be claimed against your income tax for the year, but it ties up cash until you file.
- South Africa: moving money beyond the discretionary allowance needs SARS approval, and the application asks for a statement of your assets and liabilities for the previous three tax years.
- UAE and Singapore: dividends from US shares are generally not taxed for individuals, but keeping purchase records still pays off, since a later move to a taxing country can make your cost basis matter.
The guide to reporting US investments at home covers foreign asset schedules and credits in more detail. This page is general education, not tax advice: local rules change, and they interact with US rules in ways that depend on your circumstances, so a tax adviser who works with both your country and the US is the right person to check your situation.
What are the risks of investing in the US from abroad?
The market can fall, but non-US investors also carry risks that US residents do not: currency swings, estate tax, paperwork errors and weaker protection if a platform fails.
- Market risk. US stocks and ETFs can lose a large share of their value in a downturn, and a diversified index fund falls with its market. Money you may need within a few years is exposed to that.
- Currency risk. A stronger home currency cuts your return, as the example above shows, and conversion markups cost money in both directions.
- Estate and access risk. Above the threshold, US-situated assets can lose a large slice to estate tax, and even small estates can wait 12 to 18 months for the IRS before a broker releases the shares.
- Documentation risk. A missing, expired or incorrect W-8BEN means 30% withholding, and a treaty claim for a country you have left is no longer valid.
- Platform and custody risk. Unlicensed investment platforms target savers in many countries; Kenya's CMA named more than a dozen in a single September 2026 notice. Check the regulator's register, the legal entity that holds your assets and whether SIPC or a local scheme applies.
- Rule-change risk. Home-country limits move. South Africa doubled its single discretionary allowance in April 2026, and India cut the TCS rate on education and medical remittances in its 2026-27 budget. Plans built on today's limits may need revisiting.
- Concentration risk. Holding mostly one country's shares, priced in one foreign currency, ties your savings to a single economy and a single exchange rate.
Before your first US trade from abroad
- Your home-country remittance limit and any tax on sending money are confirmed
- The broker is licensed where you live, and you know which entity holds your shares
- Your W-8BEN shows your current country of residence and your foreign tax ID
- You have compared the exchange rate you are offered with the mid-market rate
- You know which holdings are US-situated for estate tax and how close you are to the threshold
- You know what you must declare at home, and by when