Investing in US and Global Stocks from Malaysia

Buying a share of Apple, Nvidia or an S&P 500 ETF from Malaysia works the same way as buying on Bursa. You open a brokerage account, fund it, and place an order on a US exchange (NYSE or Nasdaq) or a European exchange like the London Stock Exchange for global ETFs. The differences are the currency (you trade in USD), the paperwork (a one-time W-8BEN), and the tax layers that sit on top.

There are two broad routes:

• Locally licensed apps: Moomoo, Webull and Rakuten Trade are regulated by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). You fund in ringgit, the app converts to USD, and you trade US-listed names. Simple onboarding with MyKad.
• Foreign brokers: Interactive Brokers (IBKR) gives access to US, UK and European exchanges, which matters if you want Irish-domiciled ETFs. IBKR is not SC-licensed, so you deal directly with its US or foreign entity.

As of 2026, most Malaysian retail investors have very little Malaysian tax to worry about on this activity. The heavier costs come from the US side: the 30% dividend withholding and the US estate-tax exposure. The rest of this guide walks through each layer so you can size it before you commit money.

Four names dominate for Malaysians. Three are SC-licensed and take ringgit directly. IBKR is a foreign broker with the widest market access and the cheapest currency conversion.

How to read this: Moomoo and Webull are the easy entry points for buying US shares with ringgit and small amounts. Rakuten Trade is convenient if you already trade Bursa with them and want US names in one login, and its MYR-denominated option avoids a separate USD conversion. IBKR suits larger portfolios and anyone who wants Irish-domiciled ETFs on the London or German exchanges, since the local apps mostly offer US-listed products only. IBKR funding routes through Wise because it does not natively accept MYR.

Broker promotions expire. Webull's zero commission runs to 31 December 2026, and Rakuten has offered a flat RM1 brokerage promo for new US clients for up to 90 days. Treat these as time-limited, not permanent.

Every Malaysian who buys US shares must complete a W-8BEN with their broker. It certifies you are a non-US person, so you are not taxed as a US resident and are not hit with US backup withholding. It is valid for about three years, and you renew it on expiry. Keep a Malaysian residential address on file.

Here is the point that most Malaysian blogs get wrong. A W-8BEN does not reduce your US dividend withholding from 30% to 15%. That myth assumes a US-Malaysia tax treaty exists. It does not. Malaysia has only a limited agreement with the US covering shipping and air transport income, which says nothing about dividends. This is confirmed by Moomoo Malaysia's own help centre and by PwC's withholding-tax summaries.

So the arithmetic is blunt: US dividends paid to a Malaysian are withheld at the full 30%, whether you hold through Moomoo, Webull, Rakuten Trade or IBKR. A US stock paying a 2% dividend effectively yields 1.4% after the cut. The 15% rate you read about is real, but it comes from a different route entirely (an Ireland-domiciled ETF, covered below), not from any form you sign on a US holding.

File the W-8BEN because you have to. Just do not expect it to lower the dividend rate.

Good news on gains, from both sides.

US side: As a non-resident alien, you pay no US capital gains tax on the sale of US-listed shares or ETFs, provided your broker holds a valid W-8BEN and a non-US residential address. The US does not tax capital gains on the personal property of non-resident aliens. There is no US tax return for a passive Malaysian investor to file.

Malaysian side: Malaysia does not charge capital gains tax on individuals for share disposals. The Capital Gains Tax regime that started on 1 January 2024 applies only to companies, LLPs, co-operatives and trust bodies. A Malaysian individual selling US shares faces no Malaysian CGT.

Foreign-sourced income is treated on a remittance basis. For resident individuals, foreign income and gains brought into Malaysia are tax-exempt. This exemption originally ran to 31 December 2026 and was extended under Budget 2025 to 31 December 2036, and the extension now explicitly covers capital gains from disposing of foreign assets that are remitted in. Money and gains you leave sitting in the overseas broker account are outside the remittance charge entirely.

The practical effect: most retail investors have no Malaysian tax to pay on US share gains or on foreign dividends they bring home, at least to end-2036. The exemption carries a subject-to-tax condition: the foreign income should have been taxed in its country of origin. US dividends meet this through the 30% US withholding, but US capital gains are not taxed for non-resident foreigners, so remitted US gains may not qualify. Keep your trade confirmations and statements, and check with a tax agent before remitting large sums. The exact gazetted wording of the 2036 extension was still being finalised at the time of writing, so cite it as Budget 2025 and check the exemption order when you file.

This is the risk most Malaysians never hear about. US-situs assets are subject to US federal estate tax when a non-resident alien dies. US-situs includes shares of US corporations and US-domiciled ETFs, even when you hold them through a Malaysian or app-based broker. Using a local broker does not change the US situs of the underlying US stock.

The exemption for a non-resident is only USD 60,000, not the multi-million exemption US citizens receive, and it is not indexed for inflation. Malaysia has no US estate-tax treaty to lift it. Value above USD 60,000 is taxed on a graduated scale up to 40%.

A worked example: if you hold USD 200,000 of US stocks directly and pass away, roughly USD 140,000 sits above the exemption and is exposed to estate tax that can reach into tens of thousands of dollars. Your executor may be required to file US Form 706-NA.

One honest caveat. The legal exposure above USD 60,000 is clear, but real-world enforcement and collection against modest cross-border estates is inconsistent. Treat it as a legal risk to plan around rather than a certainty of a bill. For larger portfolios it is a serious planning point, and it is the main reason the next section exists. If your US-situs holdings are growing past USD 60,000, this is the moment to consider structure, and to read our wills and estate guide.

Ireland-domiciled ETFs are the standard workaround, and they solve two problems at once.

Lower dividend drag: Ireland has a comprehensive tax treaty with the US. An Ireland-domiciled fund suffers only 15% US withholding on the US dividends it receives inside the fund, versus 30% if a Malaysian holds US stocks or a US-domiciled ETF directly. That is roughly half the dividend leakage. Ireland then imposes 0% withholding on distributions paid out to non-Irish residents, and no Irish capital gains or inheritance tax applies to non-residents. So on an Irish S&P 500 ETF, the only dividend leakage is the 15% inside the fund.

No US estate exposure: An Ireland-domiciled ETF is a non-US-situs asset, so it sits outside US estate tax even though it holds US stocks. That removes the USD 60,000 problem for the equity portion held this way.

Common Irish-domiciled ETFs Malaysians buy on the London Stock Exchange or Xetra:

Accumulating share classes reinvest dividends inside the fund, so no cash dividend is paid out to be taxed or remitted, which keeps things tidy. To buy these you generally need a broker with London or German exchange access, which usually means IBKR rather than the local apps.

The quietest cost in US investing is the currency spread. Every time you fund in ringgit and buy in USD, someone earns the gap between the rate you get and the mid-market (interbank) rate. "Zero commission" headlines say nothing about this spread.

IBKR is the cheapest for conversion, at about 0.002% (0.2 basis points) with a USD 2 minimum for manual conversions on its FX venue. Automatic conversion at settlement is dearer, around 0.03%. To get the cheap rate you convert manually rather than letting the system do it at trade time.

App-based brokers (Moomoo, Webull) and Rakuten Trade typically embed a wider MYR/USD spread in the in-app conversion. These spreads move and are not published as a fixed figure, so the honest instruction is to compare the rate the app offers you against the mid-market rate on the day, not to assume it is free. On a RM50,000 conversion, even a 0.5% spread is RM250 that never appears as a line item.

Rakuten Trade also lets you trade some US counters in ringgit from a RM1 minimum, which sidesteps a separate USD conversion step, though the pricing is baked in elsewhere. Wise is the common funding rail for IBKR because IBKR does not accept MYR directly, and Wise shows its fee and rate transparently.

Rule of thumb: for small, frequent buys the app spread may be acceptable for convenience. For large lump sums, the conversion route is often where the real money is won or lost.

Beyond conversion, three cost layers apply.

Broker fees (as of 2026):

• Moomoo: 0% commission for new users on a promotional basis (about 180 days, then around 0.03%), plus a USD 0.99 platform fee per order, plus US regulatory and settlement fees (SEC fee, FINRA TAF, CAT fee, and ADR fees where relevant).
• Webull: 0 commission on US trades until 31 December 2026, no platform fee on fractional trades. US regulatory fees still apply.
• Rakuten Trade: 0.10% of trade value, minimum USD 0.88, maximum USD 25 for USD trades, or trade in MYR from RM1. Same-day same-counter trades can be amalgamated into one brokerage fee.

US regulatory micro-fees: Small SEC, FINRA TAF and CAT fees apply on US trades regardless of broker. The rates change over time, so check the live figures at trade time rather than relying on a fixed number.

Malaysian SST: An 8% Sales and Service Tax applies to brokerage commission, platform fees and clearing fees with effect from 1 July 2025. It is charged on the fee, not on the trade value, so on a USD 0.99 platform fee the SST is a few cents. Small per trade, but real.

Fractional shares: All four brokers support fractional US shares, which lets you buy into a USD 500 stock like a single share of a pricey name with a much smaller outlay. Webull allows fractional trading from about USD 1, with a very small minimum quantity floor. Sources differ on whether Webull's floor is USD 1 or USD 5, so confirm the current minimum in the app before you rely on a hard figure. Fractional shares are how most Malaysians start with small, regular ringgit amounts.

Putting it together, here is the workflow for a Malaysian retail investor, start to finish.

1. Pick a broker that matches your goal. Local apps (Moomoo, Webull, Rakuten Trade) for US-listed shares in ringgit. IBKR if you want Irish-domiciled ETFs on London or Xetra.
2. Open the account with MyKad (local apps) or via the foreign entity and Wise funding (IBKR).
3. Complete the W-8BEN. It is mandatory, valid about three years, renewable on expiry. Keep a Malaysian address on file. Remember it does not lower the 30% dividend rate.
4. Fund and convert. Compare the MYR/USD rate you are offered against mid-market. For large sums, favour the cheaper conversion route.
5. Buy. Direct US stocks and US ETFs sit inside 30% dividend withholding and US estate tax. Irish-domiciled ETFs cut the dividend drag to 15% and sit outside US estate tax.
6. Reporting. There is no US tax return for a passive Malaysian investor. On the Malaysian side, foreign income and gains you remit home are exempt to 31 December 2036, so most investors have nothing to pay. Keep trade confirmations and statements to support the exemption if you remit.

Two reminders that catch people out. The 2% dividend tax effective YA2025 hits only Malaysian-sourced dividends above RM100,000 in a year. Foreign dividends, including your US dividends, are specifically excluded, so it does not touch them. And the estate-tax exposure follows the US-situs asset, not your broker, so holding US stocks through a local app does not shelter you from it.