Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay tax from Plus500 earnings?

If your balance at the end of the year is positive, it means you made profit from trading (cool). Then you are usually obligated to pay income tax out of this (not so cool). As we dont know you exact jurisdiction, we can tell you exact tax rate you should apply but usually this rate is somewhere between 10%-20%. But for exact information it is always recommended to seek for tax advisor to be sure all formalities are filled up correctly. If you lose your money, you dont pay any tax usually but you can be entitled to inform your financial authority about your trading activities anyway. But it depends on the country of your residence.

Can I have negative balance on my account?

Plus500 offers negative balance protection so even when there are big moves on markets and it happens your position turns into red numbers, you should be protected that your loss never exceeds your deposit.

How do I deal with taxes from trading?

You really have to visit your tax advisor as taxes is quite important part of life. Basically – if you are in the profit – you have to pay the tax. If you did not make any profit during the year, you dont have to. But there is too many variables and lot of tax rates to give the exact answer. Never try to save money on your tax advices. Basically – paying tax is good problem to have – because it means – you made the money!

Can I trust Plus500 and send them my personal documents?

Sure you can. Plus500 is institution regulated and overviewed as any other financial institution in Great Britain such as banks, insurance companies or other CFD brokers. That means Plus500 are really top notch when dealing with your personal documents.  And yes, your documents are really in safe.

Why is Plus500 asking for my personal documents?

Plus500 is regulated by FCA so they have to verify your identity by checking your personal documents. Process is very easy and you only have to scan or photograph those and send them either via upload feature in trading software or directly to docs@plus500.com. Verification process usually takes no longer than 8 hours  during the business day. After verification, your account is fully verified and you can deposit bigger amounts and withdraw easily.

Is demo version same as live version?

There are no differences between demo and live account in terms of speed, execution, prices, number of instruments, price history etc. So results you are able to achieve on demo account you would be able to achieve on a live account as well and vice versa. Often there are myths about how easy it is to profit on demo account and how difficult it is to earn money on live account but those are only myths. Behavior of platform is same on the demo as it is on the live account. The reason, why it is actually more difficult to profit on the live account is because of psychology that takes a important part in traders decision making. Your emotions are much more escalated on live account than on demo account and this often causes mistakes to be made from traders side.

How fast are withdrawals from Plus500?

Usually, 90% of withdrawals are issued within 24 hours during the work week. More time is spent during the traveling of money. So it really depends if your money is sent over to your bank account or if you use some online financial service as Skrill or so. If you are using your regular bank account and you reside within the Single european payment area – SEPA – then you can expect your money to appear on your bank account usually within 3 business days. If you are using Skrill, you can expect money to land on your account within 24 hours actually.

Do I have to sign any forms and send it via post?

Not really. You have to agree with terms of use and agree with end user agreement but this is all done remotely via internet. You don’t send any physicall document nor you recieve any. Even your personall documents asked for verification purposes are sent via email.

Is closing position the same as opening the counter position?

No, it is not. If you open counter position you basically hedge your position. By hedging, your profit or loss is “locked” so if markets moves you still sit on the same amount of money and market movements don’t influence your balance. So it is the same as you would closed your position only with difference you have blocked 2x the margin amount. It is always better to close your position normal way because that way you also cash in your profits / loses but release all your money so you can use this for opening another positions.

What is overnight swap?

Overnight swap is the amount of money you either receive or pay when holding an opened position during the night. Whether you receive or pay money depends on the position you are in. It all depends on the official interest rate of the base currency. For example New Zaeland Dollar is usually paying relatively high interest rate so if you are long in NZD you usually receive around 0.001% for each NZD you hold. But if you were short on NZD, you would usually pay something like 0.001% per day per each NZD you hold in short position. It is really not much money to be earned or lost here, as charges are really in 0.00X% area but it is good to know this.