If you are holding Malaysia citizenship and you are NOT a permanent resident of US (or working as temporary worker in US or reside more than 180 days in US), if you have profits of the US stocks, you are NOT subject to capital gains. However, if the stocks that you owned have dividends and if you collect cash from US companies, those are subject to 30% tax by US govt.

Also, I think Malaysia will also tax you when you bring home your profits become those are considered income and is subject to income tax. (ahem..there are ways to do this under the radar.. but that's out of topic for now. )

This post has been edited by danmooncake: Feb 4 2009, 08:42 AM

I am not clear on this either.. I think if you bring in a large sum of money (eg. >1million).. I'm sure
it will attract the Inland Revenue dept because banks maybe required to report those types of transaction due
to anti-money laundering laws.

Yeah, the tax on dividend is high but sale of shares is ok.. no tax.
For some reason US govt consider dividend as income, not as capital gain.
Some US stocks are dirt cheap now..I'm buying 'em for long term investments.

Both FRE and FNM won't be long before they test below 0.50..
But, I won't touch them with a 10m pole. Financial stocks.. are too yucky right now.

But..commodities (Oil, Steel, Copper).. wow.. look those prices.. time to grab some, and
some of the companies that do business with China, when economy recovers..
that's going to big fat cheque!

This post has been edited by danmooncake: Feb 8 2009, 02:26 AM

What existing account are you talking about?

Rephrase your question and ask again. Wasn't sure which post or thread you are refering to.

www.ameritrade.com (good charts and research news).. a tad more expensive than what I'm willing to pay.
www.scottrade.com is cheaper.. only $7 per trade.
www.etrade.com same price as scottrade.com, more tools..but user interface can be confusing. etrade allows you to buy HKSE stocks.
www.sogotrade.com is cheapest..$3/trade but I dunno much on this but many overseas Chinese investors like them.
www.optionsxpress.com - no idea on this one.

To transfer fund, just use WireTransfer or mailing a BankDraft to them together with your paper application.
Yes, most US brokerage are safe.. just look for the SIPC logo. They are licensed brokerage to be your custodian for your securities/stocks that you own and you can transfer them out if you wish change brokerage in future.
IMO, investing on US stocks are more transparent than KLSE.. you can very easily find tons tons of info
on the companies that you wanted to invest and most of them are very up to date (unlike the ones listed on KLSE - most info are always out of date). There are always hidden cost.. be sure to read through everything esp. on the fees... some has no maintenance fees. I know Ameritrade offers money market account with interest if you leave cash into your account. If you're into day trading, be sure to get better Internet speed.. some people complains Streamyx cost them thousands of lost trade because the connection is bad.

This post has been edited by danmooncake: Mar 1 2009, 12:13 AM