Online Share Dealing: investment, trade, stocks

A fixed price quote is available for most UK shares, but only when the market is open. A fixed price quote may not be available for all orders, particularly large orders. If you want to buy or sell a large quantity of shares, you shouldn't split your order into a number of smaller orders so they can be executed with a fixed price quote. This practice is in breach of stock market conduct and may result in your executed orders being cancelled.

If we're unable to give you a fixed price quote, your quote will be labelled '@ best' with a message 'The price at which your order is executed may differ from the indication price'. The price you pay or receive for your shares will be based on the market price available at the time of the deal, and may differ from the '@ best' price you've been quoted.

When you place an order to buy or sell UK shares, in most cases you'll see a fixed price quote on the order preview screen. A fixed price quote is only available for UK share orders when the market is open. It may not be available for all orders, particularly large orders. The fixed price quote system automatically compares share prices from a number of market makers to ensure that the fixed price quote offered to you is the best price available from any of these market makers for the size of your order at the time you're buying or selling your shares. The price will be shown with the label 'fixed price quote' along with a countdown giving you 15 seconds to confirm your order.

Fixed price quotes are not guaranteed. This is because the prices are sourced from third party market makers who may withdraw the price - for example, if there has been market volatility in the 15-second countdown. However, in most cases you'll receive the price you accepted when you confirmed your order. If your fixed price quote is withdrawn, we'll contact you as soon as possible.

Yes. Standard trading taxes and levies also apply to trades and there is a charge for transferring stock out of your account.

Charges for deals placed online
UK equities: £14.95 flat fee
Euro-denominated shares: €21.95 flat fee
US shares: $24.95 flat fee

Charges for deals placed by phone
UK equities: £19.95 flat fee
Euro-denominated shares: €41.95 flat fee
US shares: $29.95 flat fee for orders up to 1,000 shares, $0.03 per share for orders above 1,000 shares

We don't charge you to transfer any shares held by your broker to your HSBC InvestDirect International account. But there's a charge for transferring shares out of your account. Standard trading taxes and levies also apply to trades.

Trading taxes and levies

Stamp duty on UK equity purchases: 0.5%. (From April 2014 purchases of stocks listed on AIM and purchases of UK ETF units will be exempt from Stamp Duty Reserve Tax).
Stamp duty on Irish equity purchases: 1%
PTM Levy on UK equity trades over £10,000: £1.00 per trade
PTM Levy on Irish equity trades over €12,500: €1.25 per trade
SEC Levy on US equity sales 0.00221% of US trade value
French Financial Transaction tax: 0.2%
Italian Financial Transaction tax: 0.1%

Other charges

Please note: Fees are subject to change at our discretion. You will receive a 30-day notice if any of the fees are increased or if a new fee is introduced.

If you're a UK resident and non domiciled for UK tax purposes, using money from your HSBC Expat Bank Account (or any other money you hold offshore) to settle trades through your HSBC InvestDirect International account may create a UK taxable remittance. If you're not sure if our sharedealing service is right for you, we recommend you get independent tax advice.

No. UK dividends aren't subject to UK withholding tax.

Your eligibility to reclaim tax deducted from your dividends will depend on the terms of any tax treaty between the country where the tax was deducted and the country where you live. There's a wide range of tax treaties, so we can't give specific advice on this. We recommend you speak to a tax adviser for further advice.

In most circumstances, you won't be liable for UK tax on the income and gains from any shares you hold. This is a very complex area, and your UK tax liability is determined by your place of residence and your place of domicile. If you're in any doubt about your tax obligations, we recommend you get professional advice - or read the HM Revenue & Customs guidance leaflet HMRC6

Following the end of each tax year, we'll send you a tax certificate with details of all the dividends you've received during that tax year. Your certificate will also show the tax credits associated with UK dividends, and any overseas tax deducted from non-UK dividends. UK tax residents will receive a tax certificate for the year ending 5 April. All our other clients will receive a tax certificate for the year ending 31 December.

The HSBC InvestDirect International service is based in the UK - so all dividends are automatically treated as remitted to the UK.

No. HSBC InvestDirect International is an execution only service - so we can't give you tax advice. If you're in any doubt about your tax obligations, we recommend you talk to a professional tax adviser.

The US Internal Revenue Service asks us to report all the dividend income we pay to clients from the US. We submit a report each calendar year - and send a copy to our clients. The report is made on form 1099 DIV.

Before dividend payments are made, they're often subject to a tax deduction. These are known as withholding taxes. There's no withholding tax on UK dividends. Where a reduced rate of withholding tax is available to whole classes of client, this will be claimed by HSBC InvestDirect International and reflected in the dividend payment made to our clients. Where specific conditions have to be met for individual clients, tax will be deducted at the standard rate, but a client may be able to reclaim some or all of the tax through their own tax authority.

Your tax residency determines the rate of US withholding tax you have to pay. It also determines whether you can use our HSBC InvestDirect International sharedealing service. So you should notify HSBC InvestDirect International immediately if your country of tax residency changes.

From outside the United Kingdom call: +44 1226 261090*
From within the United Kingdom call: 08456 080 848*

Please have your 10 digit PBN and six digit PIN to hand before you call.
If you need help, the HSBC InvestDirect International customer services team is available from 7.30am to 9.30pm, Monday to Friday, and from 10am to 4pm on Saturday. (We're closed on Sunday.) Please note that all times are Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

*Calls maybe monitored and/or recorded for security and service improvement purposes

The tax treaties that affect your tax liability will be those between your country of tax residency and the country where your income originates.

The IRS is the Internal Revenue Service of the United States Treasury. They impose certain obligations on us to report the income of clients from the US.

We have to report certain information for certain clients. For example, for clients from the US we have to report all dividends paid on US shares to the Internal Revenue Service.

We'll only claim the benefit of a double tax treaty where US dividends are concerned. You'll have to make all other claims for relief from withholding taxes yourself.

If you're a UK resident and non domiciled for UK tax purposes, using money from your HSBC Expat Bank Account (or any other money you hold offshore) to settle trades through InvestDirect International may create a UK taxable remittance. If you're not sure if our sharedealing service is right for you, we recommend you get independent tax advice.