An introduction to estate-tax exposure for non-US holders of US stocks and ETFs, including planning considerations.
A US portfolio can create an estate-tax exposure
For Indian investors who own US securities, investment performance is only one part of the outcome. The episode highlights a commonly missed issue: on death, a non-US person’s direct US-situs holdings can face US estate-tax rules, with rates that can reach 40% in some circumstances.
Structure should be reviewed early
The lesson is not to avoid global investing. It is to consider ownership structure, tax residence, domicile and succession planning before a portfolio becomes large. The right route depends on the investor’s family, residency and assets, so this is a prompt to obtain cross-border tax and legal advice rather than a one-size-fits-all solution.