One caution note on dividend paying ADR stocks

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stlplace
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Was listening to WealthTrack podcasting in the weekend, and Westwood Holdings CIO Susan Byrne mentioned some European dividend paying stocks (Nestle, Danone, Novartis etc), which reminded me one thing. Not all dividends are equal. As I recall, I bought Sygenta (NYSE: SYN), the Swiss agriculture stock last year, and my broker withhold some of the dividend. Although I did claimed deduction from income in the tax return, I was not happy I did not receive the dividend at first place.

Barron’s had an article on some large European companies earlier this year, and here is the dividend table. Looks quite enticing:

But I would not go there for the sake of the dividend. I did some research on this dividend tax withhold thing, here is some answers from Google answers:

In short, what it says is one can argue, but it’s hard to argue with a foreign government. Meanwhile, keep in mind the money is being withheld.

That’s one reason I don’t like Swiss based companies at this time.

Maybe next time I can call up Scottrade office to ask why they withhold my dividend (I don’t have high hope they will give me a good answer).

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