Halilaw
New Member

Do dividends paid by listed companies in Hong Kong meet the "qualified dividend" regulated by IRS?

Do companies listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange meet the defintion of "Qualified Foreign Corporation" stupilated by the US IRS?

RichardG
New Member

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It's not likely.  The dividends must have been paid by a U.S. corporation or a qualified foreign corporation to be "qualified dividends.  The standard for a qualified foreign corporation are as follows:


Qualified foreign corporation.   A foreign corporation is a qualified foreign corporation if it meets any of the following conditions.

  1. The corporation is incorporated in a U.S. possession.

  2. The corporation is eligible for the benefits of a comprehensive income tax treaty with the United States that the Department of the Treasury determines is satisfactory for this purpose and that includes an exchange of information program.

  3. The corporation does not meet (1) or (2) above, but the stock for which the dividend is paid is readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States.

According to IRS Pub 550, dividends from Hong Kong do not meet the second test.  I cannot say whether the stock you own is traded on a US securities market.

Please follow this link for more information. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p550/ch01.html#en_US_2015_publink100010085