RE: December 2023 Dividend7 Mar 2024 10:13
With credit to monevator.com...
"As well as being two major Eurovision powers, Ireland and Luxembourg are the domicile of choice for most London-listed ETFs.
Why? Well, for one thing they don’t menace UK investors for withholding tax.
So we’re laughing, right?
Definitely not.
Irish and Luxembourgian ETFs still pay withholding tax to the US on their underlying assets.
In other words, a London-listed S&P 500 ETF will pay 15% withholding tax to the US IRS before they pay the balance to you.
So your dividends are shorn of 15% as usual. But again the UK taxman cometh and this time you can’t claim 15% back. The ETF paid it, not you."
The above is from 2013 but I think still relevant.