Originally posted by alanm
Can someone who trades UK stocks comment on whether the additional taxes shown on the commission schedule are really accurate? They seem quite high:
".5% UK Stamp tax, 1% Irish Stamp tax on purchases"
At minimum (depending on how you read it), this means 1.5% tax on purchases only. If you trade 6000 shares of BP at GBP6 each (equivalent to 1000 US ADR shares), this means a tax on the purchase of GBP540 ($750!), in addition to the GBP36 commission. Is this for real? If so, how can anyone make money trading with this high vig?
Even if it is read to mean the Irish stamp tax only applies to Irish stocks, it's still huge at GBP216 total for the purchase, and GBP36-GBP216 (depending on how you read it) for the sale.
Even the Swiss total of 0.17% vig seems heavy (EUR85 per side on a EUR50K trade).
No comment on whether these prices are competitive with other brokers should be construed. I just want to know if it's accurate.