How to start an overseas investment club

Rip West on

Here is a question that seems to come up a lot. It is a complicated subject, and I don't pretend to have all the answers. That being said, I will share my limited knowledge with you.

I'm interested in starting a youth investment club overseas. I've read some of the literature on this already. Most of the members would be minors, so their legal interests would be held by their parents. This has been done before, I know. The "youth" part is not a problem.

My question is: how should we start one overseas? We (many of us are Americans) live in China. Would it be best to have the club organized in my home state? Most of the prospective members are citizens of other states or of other countries. What do you suggest. Surely this has been done before, if not often.

There are several possible scenarios. Let's take a simple one first. If you are all citizens of United States, then there is no problem. All income will be reported on a federal partnership return, and each member will report his/her share on the individual 1040 return.

If one of the members is not a U.S. citizen, the situation becomes more murky. As I read the regulations, the partnership will be charged with withholding on all income allocable to such foreign members. To me, this would make the entire venture undesirable. If this is your situation, I would advise you to seek counsel from someone familiar with this facet of the law.

I apologize for not being more knowledgeable in this area. Thank you for the question and for using bivio.

Rip West
Saint Paul, MN
trez_talk@bivio.com

Disclaimer: the statements above are opinions of the author and are not official statements from either bivio or the IRS. These statements are not intended to replace professional tax or accounting advice. When in doubt, follow the advice of your local tax advisor or accountant who is familiar with your particular circumstances.

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