Any Amsterdam/NL traders?

[Domo 2]

Hey everyone,

I am moving to Amsterdam in a couple months and wanted to connect with any Amsterdam or NL based traders. I'm a 32 year old American male from San Francisco, and I'll be moving with my wife who will be attending university at UvA. I am not allowed to work on my visa so I am planning to trade full time and I was hoping to meet with some other trader(s) to share strategies, discuss the market, and learn from each other's successes and failures. I also was hoping someone could help me understand how taxes in NL work so I can do what I can to reduce my tax burden. Hope to hear from someone!

-Dominic

[dr4g0nf1y 0]

Hi Dominic, I am currently living in Paris but I am originally from the Netherlands (I used to live in Leiden where I studied for my bachelor's degree). I am curious to know what broker you are planning to use in the Netherlands (as most of them let European customers pay by traded value which is horrible). The only broker that seemed OK to me is SpeedTrader (even though PDT-rules apply). 

I think the Dutch tax system is quite nice for retail traders. In the Netherlands there are basically three categories of income, each with their own rules and tax rates (we call them 'boxes', so there is 'box 1', 'box 2' and 'box 3'); and gains made by retail day traders fall into 'box 3'. In general 'box 3' corresponds to savings and investments but in 2011 the Supreme Court of the Netherlands decided that day trading activities, due to its speculative character, should also be placed in this category. Effectively this means that there is a very low flat tax on your gains.

Before 2017 one needed to pay 1.2% over the gains (more specifically, one needed to pay 30% tax on a fixed assumed yield of 4% of the value of the assets). They have changed this system very recently but the rates and percentages are still on the low side. Details can be found on the website of the 'Dutch IRS': https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/bldcontentnl/belastingdienst/prive/vermogen_en_aanmerkelijk_belang/vermogen/belasting_betalen_over_uw_vermogen/grondslag_sparen_en_beleggen/berekenen_belasting_over_uw_inkomsten_uit_vermogen_vanaf_2017/berekenen_belasting_over_uw_inkomsten_uit_vermogen_vanaf_2017. (Unfortunately, this is written in Dutch so probably you would need someone to help you out.)

Anyhow, good luck in Amsterdam, and feel free to write me back.

-- Ammar

 

[Domo 2]

Hey Ammar,

Thanks for your reply and apologies for the delay in responding but I forgot to set it to notify when I got a reply to my post. 

Anyways, I was planning to use Speedtrader as my broker cause they offer $2.95 trades to Bear Bull traders. I have enough capital to bypass PDT rules so I am not worried about that. I appreciate your insight into the dutch tax system, now my only concern is that I will have to pay US and Dutch taxes. Do you have any idea if I can get around this by setting up a company rather than trading as an individual? I was thinking that I could start an LLC and employ myself, pay myself a monthly salary which I could increase as my capital grows. But I am not an accountant so I am not sure how legal this is. I'll likely have to talk to a professional in netherlands to understand what is possible/legal and what isn't, but if you have any insight there I would appreciate it.

Thanks again for your feedback!

-Dominic