Somero Enterprise Share Discussion Threads

[smegster] 03/5/2019 12:11

Just spoken with Iweb, was told that there was nothing they could do about the 30% deduction as they get paid the dividend via a cheque through CREST (and as they are a execution only dealer, who don't get involved with tax!!). I was then told I could get in touch with a financial advisor or HMRC about reclaiming the tax.

As it is obvious that there is something that Iweb could do, if their process is not working properly, then they need to change the process (it can't be impossible to do if all the other dealer are doing it, including a execution only dealer like selftrade).

I've raised a complaint. It might be useful if other iweb customers also complain, otherwise they will do nothing

[greyingsurfer] 03/5/2019 11:40

Selftrade paid yesterday, 4 working days, 1 better than the last div. 15% withheld, as expected.

[grahamburn] 02/5/2019 18:06

In the light of the information in post 1846 (changing the payment currency from dollars to sterling), I wonder whether this will also avoid the need for the US Withholding Tax. I am aware of another foreign based UK listed company which has effectively set up a UK entity solely for the purpose of paying its dividend. This arrangement may allow Somero to transfer a lump sum to this entity which can then be used to distribute dividends as if the they were being paid by a UK company.

Any international taxation experts have a view on this?

[shanklin] 02/5/2019 15:42

Glaws2

I chased HL re the dividend this morning, so good to see it has now been credited.

Also good that, unlike my ISA holding, there is no 15% deduction, so 19.2812p/share

[glawsiain] 02/5/2019 13:45

Got 16.4p in my HL isa account. I moved my SOM holding from iweb to hl so the extra 15% wasn't taken

[glaws2] 02/5/2019 13:10

Dividend arrived in my HL SIPP account - 19.28p

[3800] 01/5/2019 16:08

The difference between 16.42583p and 13.393p certainly mounts up if I had an account with iweb I would be feeling rather agrieved last time selftrade came in close to ii and may just have been the difference in the exchange rate that day rather than a higher percentage "take" on the rates we will soon know

[greyingsurfer] 01/5/2019 14:57

I'm just wondering who gets to pocket the extra 15%.The US treasury presumably. It's withheld tax that doesn't get reclaimed.

[mfhmfh] 01/5/2019 12:42

I received mine from iweb yesterday.

happy to reinvest at this 'low price'.

[smegster] 01/5/2019 11:39

I've got small holdings of Somero shares in 3 IWEB accounts (normal account, ISA and SIPP), the dividend received in all 3 accounts was 13.393p.

You can add me to the list of those who are not very happy with IWEB, it seem ridiculous that the 30% deduction has been applied despite lodging a W8-BEN (especially when other share-dealer only apply the 15% deduction).

I'm just wondering who gets to pocket the extra 15%.

[stepone68] 01/5/2019 10:05

Well, mine has turned up, dated yesterday, so only 4 days late which is way better than previous years.

But the amount I received was 13.393p per share, so I have had 30% deducted despite having lodged a W8-BEN. Exchange rate just under 1.32.

djabel - can you confirm what pence per share you received from iWeb?

Thanks,
StepOne

[p49b] 30/4/2019 16:31

Have just been on the phone to HL who told me they hadnt received any funds from Somero and didnt know when they will. HL have usually been on time so its a bit concerning.

[jimbox1] 30/4/2019 15:39

In my case, the sterling dividend received was 16.2117 pence per share.

[jimbox1] 30/4/2019 15:36

I received the dividends into my SIPP and ISA accounts at the Share Centre today. It looks like 15% withholding tax has been deducted and the exchange rate was just over 1.32

[stepone68] 30/4/2019 15:23

Hi djabel - can you tell us what pence per share you ended up with from iWeb for the current dividend (when it arrives!)?

Thanks

[amencorner] 30/4/2019 14:33

I have held SOM within an iWeb ISA and dealing account for a few years and have not seen this 30% tax deduction until I went online today. Discussed it with them but their version is that that a 30% withholding tax and that's despite having my W-8ben on file. Not very happy with iWeb!

[djabel666] 30/4/2019 14:17

I hold shares in my ISA with iWeb and also hold a spreadbet position with IG. Both deduct 15% following the completion of a W8-BEN initially. Never had any problems or variations to this

[harris tweed] 30/4/2019 13:26

It seems that some brokers make up their own rules regarding what level of tax to withold.

Apologies for clogging up the board with this peripheral stuff but I thought this info from poster johnsmith68 over on Stockopedia was illuminating and may be intersting to others who hold SOM via Halifax:

"I used to hold Somero Enterprises Inc (LON:SOM) in a Halifax ISA and I noticed that I only received 70% of the expected dividend payments despite having completed a W8-BEN.

Halifax told me that this was because "The dividend for Somero is not eligible to receive the reduction in withholding tax which is covered by the W8-Ben, as this stock pays its dividends via the UK settlement market,(CREST)"
Other readers have stated in the past that Hargreaves Lansdown and TD Direct only deduct the 15% withholding tax on Somero when a W8-BEN has been submitted.
When I put this to Halifax, they said that it was a business decision "..not to offer the facility to register the W8 Ben forms on US stocks held through CREST".
It seems pretty outrageous to make such a decision which effectively prevents their customers receiving dividends on shares that Halifax allow their customers to trade in.

Not satisfied with Halifax's answer, I contacted CREST, who informed me that ".. as the security is a depository interest, Halifax will need to contact the registrar, Computershare who collects and distributes all cash in the same way as they do for a UK security."

When I put this to Halifax, they informed me that I would need to contact Computershare regarding the reclaim.
I never got as far as doing that since I subsequently sold out of Somero, however I would be interested to know if any other readers have had similar experiences or indeed, if anybody has ever contacted Computershare to claim their missing dividend payments?"

[stepone68] 30/4/2019 12:58

I think it's a combination of things. Crest vs. Intessa as a settlement system. iWeb use Crest, and so I get 30% deducted, even with a W8-BEN filled in. I don't know whether it's the broker or the company that decide the settlement route, but no one seems able to fix it.

[harris tweed] 30/4/2019 12:33

Is that an iWeb issue rather than a Somero issue?

If you hold in an ISA you'll still get 15% tax deducted even with a W8-BEN - which is why I recently moved my SOM holding from ISA to a SIPP where no tax should be payable. No sign of the div in my HL SIPP yet though.

[stepone68] 30/4/2019 11:40

Great news, but will they also be sorting the issue which means iWeb deduct 30% withholding tax even when a W8-BEN has been filled out? Still no sign of mine, but I'm not expecting it until next week.

[harris tweed] 30/4/2019 09:07

It looks like SOM will be paying dividends in GBP rather than USD in future, so these delays should become a thing of the past.

A post from Welshborderer on Stockopedia:
"Somero Enterprises Inc (LON:SOM) Dividend, having not received the dividends paid on 26th April contacted Halifax who confirmed the dividend was indeed received by them on Friday but unfortunately was denominated in USD and paid by cheque. The issue then compounded by having well in excess of 400 accounts to distribute the funds and then only when cleared. Commenting on chatter I had seen concerning conversions indicating others had already received theirs was informed that would be a factor of holding shares directly against held in a Nominee account.

Fearing that something else might be going on here then made contact with Somero Enterprises and received a very swift response from Jennifer Oliver, Director of Legal & Corporate Affairs, Investor Relations & HR who confirmed the overall issue and stated "We are in process of establishing the necessary elements to pay dividends in GBP. The specific mechanisms to accomplish this were not previously available to us which is why we always have historically paid in USD. Future dividend payments to UK-based shareholders should be in GBP and thus eliminate the delays you’ve experienced."