How do I calculate withholding tax on US dividends?

Multiply the gross dividend by the rate the United States applies to a resident of your country. That is 30% by default, reduced by an income tax treaty where one is in force and where your broker holds valid documentation for you — commonly to 15%, and to 10% for a few residences. The result is what is taken before the money reaches you. Tax in your own country of residence is a separate, second step.

Does an Irish UCITS reduce my withholding tax?

It depends on your residence. An Irish-domiciled UCITS suffers 15% US tax inside the fund and Ireland withholds nothing further from non-residents. If your own treaty rate is above 15% the UCITS leaks less; if it is 15% the two are equal; and if it is 10% the UCITS actually leaks more. The wrapper's expense ratio, charged on your whole position, has to be weighed against any saving.

Is withholding tax the only tax on a foreign dividend?

No. A dividend crossing a border can pass through two independent layers: tax withheld at source by the fund's country, then tax in the country where you are resident. The two are independent, so moving somewhere with no dividend tax does not remove the first step. This calculator computes only the first.

BorderFolio/Withholding by residence/Calculator

Dividend withholding tax calculator

Rates from IRS Table 1 (Rev. May 2023) · last reviewed 31 August 2026

How much of a US dividend actually reaches you depends on two things you can look up: where you are tax resident, and where the fund is domiciled. Set both below and the first step is computed on your own numbers. The second step — tax in your country of residence — is not included, and the reason is explained underneath.

Gross dividends / year (USD)

Your tax residence

W-8BEN with your broker The form a non-US investor signs with the broker to certify tax residence and claim the treaty rate. It expires and has to be re-signed; without a valid one the broker withholds the full 30%.

This calculator needs JavaScript. Without it, the rate for every residence is listed on the country table.

Why the answer stops at step one

A foreign dividend can pass through two independent tax layers. The first is withheld at source by the fund's country before the money leaves — that is what this page computes, and it comes from a published table. The second is tax in your own country of residence, under its own rules.

Because the two are independent, moving somewhere with no dividend tax does not make step one disappear. That is the single most common surprise for people who relocate partly for the tax treatment.

Step two is not computed here because it depends on your rate, whether a foreign tax credit is available and how it is capped, whether dividend income is aggregated or taxed separately, and which regime you personally fall under. Publishing one number for that would be exactly the kind of confidently wrong figure this product exists to avoid. The full two-step model is here.

What this cannot see

Your actual statement. This is the treaty table rate. What your broker withheld is on your statement, and the two differ most often because documentation was missing or expired.
Eligibility. The IRS table itself cautions that it is not a comprehensive guide to eligibility for a treaty rate; limitation-on-benefits provisions and the treaty text govern.
Interest-type distributions. Treasury and money-market distributions are exempt rather than taxed at the dividend rate — reasoning from fund domicile alone would wrongly charge them.
Expense ratios. The domicile comparison here counts tax only. A UCITS wrapper's higher ongoing cost is charged on your whole position, not just on the income, and can outweigh a tax saving.
This is not advice. Confirm anything material with a qualified adviser in your jurisdiction.

Every residence, side by sideThe rate for every country in the IRS table, with a page each. Withholding methodologyThe two-step model in full, and what the estimate cannot see. Contribution trackerWhat the next contribution does to allocation, income and tax drag. Investment & tax disclaimerThe formal statement of what BorderFolio is and is not.

Run this on your real holdings Informational estimates only — not financial, investment, legal or tax advice.