Withtholding Tax on Dividends

Whether dividends are subject to withholding tax typically depends on the country or region where the income originates, and is determined by the tax laws of the company's place of registration.

 

1. Malaysian Stocks

Dividends received from investing in Malaysian stocks are not subject to withholding tax. Click here for more details.

Query Guide

Enter the Bursa Malaysia website, enter the Malaysian stock code (e.g., 02836) or name you wish to search for in the search box, then click search.

After finding the relevant dividend announcement, you can click to view the dividend details.

2. US Stocks

2.1 US Stocks

According to US tax regulations, non-US tax residents are subject to withholding tax on their US-sourced income, which is withheld and paid to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Most types of US-sourced income are subject to a 30% withholding tax rate. If an applicable tax treaty exists between the non-resident investor's country of residence and the United States, a reduced rate may apply. Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and other regions do not have applicable preferential tax treaties with the United States, so investors from these regions will be subject to a 30% dividend withholding tax rate. Click here for more details.

2.2 ADR

American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are not registered in the United States, so the US government typically does not levy the standard 30% withholding tax on dividends they distribute.

Since the companies represented by ADRs are registered overseas, if you hold ADRs and qualify for dividends, the dividend withholding tax will be withheld according to the national tax laws of the company's country of registration. You can check the withholding tax rate for each dividend distribution in the depositary's dividend announcement, as well as the ADR fees charged by the depositary for processing dividends and the actual dividend amount.

ADR Depositary Announcement Query Guide

You may click here and refer to the section 4 "Where to find information on ADR fees" to check the ADR Depositary Announcement Query Guide.

 

3. Singapore Stocks

3.1 Singapore Stocks

Dividends received from investing in Singapore stocks are not subject to withholding tax. Click here for more details.

3.2 S-Shares

Dividends received from investing in S-shares (companies registered in mainland China and listed in Singapore) will be subject to a withholding income tax at a rate of 10%.

Query Guide

Enter the Singapore Exchange website, enter the name of the share you wish to search for in the search box (e.g., TIANJIN PHARM DA REN TANG GRP). After finding the relevant dividend announcement, you can click to view the dividend details.

 

4. Hong Kong Stocks

Dividends received from investing in Hong Kong stocks are not subject to withholding tax. Click here for more details.

4.1 H-Shares

Dividends received from investing in H-shares (companies registered in mainland China and listed in Hong Kong) will be subject to a withholding income tax at a rate of 10%, which is usually deducted from the distribution amount. The dividend you receive will be the after-tax amount. Please refer to the listed company's announcement for details of the withholding tax.

Query Guide

Enter the Hong Kong Stock Exchange "HKEXnews" website, and enter the H-share stock code (e.g., 01211 - BYD Company Limited) or name you wish to search for in the search box.

On the search results page, click to view the dividend announcements disclosed by the listed company.

The announcement's [Information relating to withholding tax - Details of withholding tax applied to the dividend declared] will contain tax deduction details.

Click the download icon in the upper right corner to save the announcement.

4.2 Withholding Tax on Stock Dividends

Stock dividends distributed by companies are also subject to withholding tax. Taking 01211 - BYD Company Limited as an example, the face value of each bonus share is calculated as RMB 1 yuan for taxable income purposes, and is also subject to 10% withholding tax.

Note: Share grants from capital reserves converted to share capital are not subject to withholding tax. For details, please refer to the listed company's dividend announcement.

4.3 Examples of Withholding Income Tax from Selected Countries/Regions

The announcement query method can also refer to the guide in 4.1 Below are examples of withholding income tax information from selected countries/regions.

9987.HK

6889.HK

945.HK

4.4 Interpretation of Dividend Remarks

After dividend processing is completed to your account, you can view specific dividend information in the remarks of your fund transaction records. The remarks typically include dividend amount, tax rate, etc.

For example: 25 I/D-RMB0.055/SH(-10%), PAY IN APPROX. HKD0.00542339999/SH(NET)

Field	Interpretation	Meaning
25 I/D	2025 Interim Dividend	25：Year 2025, representing the financial year to which the dividend belongs I/D：Interim Dividend (Note: Q/D for Quarterly Dividend; F/D for Final Dividend; S/D for Special Dividend)
RMB0.055/SH(-10%)	The pre-tax dividend distributed by the listed company is 0.055 RMB per share, with dividend tax withheld at 10%	RMB：Original currency of dividend distribution 0.055：Pre-tax dividend value distributed by the listed company in original currency /SH：Per share (-10%)：Dividend tax withholding rate; for details, refer to the announcement's [Withholding Income Tax Information]
PAY IN APPROX. HKD0.00542339999/SH(NET)	The distribution amount per share after deducting withholding tax and foreign currency conversion by the exchange is approximately 0.00542339999 HKD	PAY IN APPROX.: Default distribution value after the exchange deducts withholding tax and converts foreign currency

The above example screenshots are from exchanges and are for reference only.

If you have questions about dividend withholding tax, please consult a professional tax advisor.