Though Tastytrade is a U.S. π½ based broker, it’s perfectly possible for European/U.K. residents to open an account as well. Tastytrade offers many advantages over European alternatives, such as $0 fees for buying and selling stocks and ETFs, a unique π» trading platform, andβmost importantβone can use Tastytrade to access US domiciled ETFs, otherwise unavailable to Europeans.
On our homepage π you will find a quick guide on how to buy such ETFs. This blog post, however, will provide more detailed steps on how to open a Tastytrade account while residing in Europe.
Already have an account? Continue on to the next blog post to register a CurrencyFair account and deposit your funds.
Registering an account
Currently, you can open an account from most European countries, including e.g. the U.K, Germany, France, Netherlands… To be sure, check the up to date list of supported countries here. Alternatively, check out the guide on using eToro for unsupported countries.
Some U.S. citizens have experienced trouble opening an account from Europe, though it isn’t clear whether this applies to all European countries. If you are a U.S. citizen and want to be sure, you can contact Tastytrade beforehand to confirm.
First of all, head over to the Tastytrade account registration page by clicking this link. Fill in your email address, username, and desired password. π
After clicking ‘Continue’, an email π§ will be sent. Be sure to open the email in a new tab, and click the link to verify your email address within 72 hours β²οΈ or the link will expire. For me, the email ended up in the spam folder, so be sure to check there as well!
Head back over to the registration tab, choose your account type, and whether you want margin access or not. Click on the account types to read a description of what they offer.
Margin will allow you to borrow cash to buy equities. If you are unfamiliar with this concept, you could opt for a cash π° account, which does not offer this feature. For this guide we’ll choose an individual cash account.
Personal details
Click to continue and provide your contact details in the form that follows.
A warning β οΈ will also pop up, explaining that additional documentation will be required for π international clients. This is fine; we’ll address this step later on.
In step 3, a tax number will requested. This numberβalso known as a TIN or Taxpayer Identification Numberβwill look different depending on your country of citizenship. π For an easy guide on where to obtain it per country, take a look here.
Step 4 will ask whether you are subject to backup withholding.
As long as your tax number is correctly provided in the earlier step, the answer will almost always be ‘No’. Note that this website does not provide tax advice so check elsewhere if you aren’t sure.
Step 5 will ask some questions regarding any affiliations you might have. It has no bearing on the ability to open an account, but depending on the answers, some more information might be requested.
Security
Provide a trusted π± contact, who would be contacted in cases where fraud would be suspected (to verify your identity). For example, your spouse or a good friend. They will not be notified of being a trusted contact, and wouldn’t be contacted under any normal circumstances. Also, trusted contacts have no ability to place orders or request withdrawals.
In the next step, put in an estimate of your first deposit amount. Because we will be using CurrencyFair to make the deposit (more on this here), list the Primary Bank Name as being CurrencyFair. Note: you will be using your own bank for the deposits, we only use π± CurrencyFair to process the wire transfers for us, as this is the best and cheapest way of transferring funds to Tastytrade.
If you want to make use of the β¬50 free bonus π from CurrencyFair (explained in the next blog post), you’ll have to transfer at least β¬2,000.
Continue on to the next tab and provide your trading experience, objectives, and financial information. π΅
On the next tab you are offered to enable two factor authentication (2FA), should you like to do so. Additionally, you can provide a security question and answer.
Verification
On the final tab, we need to upload some documents. Upload a scan or photograph of your passport’s photo page. For the proof of address, Tastytrade accepts the following π documents:
- Government-issued photo ID (with the address listed)
- Utility bill
- Bank statement
- Credit card bill π³
Note that the full document has to be provided and it cannot be more than a year old when submitted.
If you ordinarily do not receive bank statements via mail, many banks offer to to provide just one for verification purposes when asked. Alternatively, you can request a ‘balance letter’ to be mailed, proving ownership of the account.
Only landline bills are considered a utility bill in this instance, mobile phone bills are not. Gas, π electricity, or water bills are fine as well.
Scroll down to confirm that you have read the listed documents and click ‘Review your application’ to continue.
Sign the box using your mouse or screen, click to βοΈ sign, and submit your application.
Because international account require a manual π review, it typically takes 3-5 business days for your account to be approved.
In the meanwhile, feel free to leave a comment below if you got any more questions or suggestions!
Fund the account and use Tastytrade to access US domiciled ETFs
Once you have created your account, the next step will be to fund it, before you can use Tastytrade to access US domiciled ETFs. Funding an account from Europe is possible via a specific method to save costs: CurrencyFair. Click here to read the next blog post for detailed instructions on how to open such an account, including a free β¬50 bonus. πΆ Should you already have an account, click here for funding instructions.
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I am from Slovenia, an EU country and it is not listed among registration countries!?
Hi Peter, that is really unfortunate. Quite some countries are accepted, but unfortunately not all… Perhaps you can try one of the other methods as listed on the homepage? I wish you good luck!
I live in Holland. Is Holland listed among registration countries? And are fractional ETF’s accepted at TastyWorks? What’s the minimum amount to trade ETF’s with TastyWorks?
Hi Stewart, yes it is! Here you can find an up to date list of supported countries, which includes the Netherlands. Fractional shares are not supported currently. There is no minimum to trade, though due to transfer fees I suggest starting out with at least β¬2,000 which will also earn you a free bonus with CurrencyFair (see guide for instructions).
Good luck, let me know if you got any more questions.
Hello
Thank you for this. I noticed an earlier post referred to a restriction for US citizens in the EU which you deleted after an update. It seems Tasty Works allows US citizens to open an account while residing in the EU or U.K. (in my case). I find this puzzling as Schwab, IB and TDAmeritrade all block this owing to securitiesβ and EU regs. Any idea as to how Tasty is able to circumvent this? Thanks.
Hi JP, yes that was a mistake I made earlier on which I’ve corrected thanks to feedback. π
I have both Schwab and TDA accounts myself, and the inability to buy U.S. ETFs with them was actually the reason for me to look into alternatives. To answer your question; Schwab, TDA (now owned by Schwab), and especially IBKR all operate within the E.U. to some degree. So basically they operate within the E.U. market and are thus subject to rules covering E.U. residents. On the other hand, Tastyworks operates only from and within the U.S., and so when E.U. residents open an account with them, they enter the U.S. market, not the other way around (Tastyworks entering the E.U. market). At least this is how I understand the whole construction to work. Hope this makes any sense and good luck!
Note: This was especially the case back when the U.K. was still in the E.U., as Schwab operates out of London. If they indeed aren’t present on the mainland, it might actually be the case that they may now offer E.U. citizens access to U.S. domiciled ETFs. Should the U.K. drop the relevant MiFID II rules, that isβbecause despite leaving the E.U., much of MiFID II remains in force for now. But who knows, it might actually happen at some point in the future…
Thanks so much. Regarding Schwab, I raised the fact the U.K. is now out of the EU in a recent telephone call, but they maintained thereβs been no update to their regulatory questions during account opening so US citizens in the the U.K. and EU would not be able to buy/trade ETFs or index funds just individual bonds and stocks. Thanks again.
Hi, im from the UK and I’ve been waiting over 5 working days for my account to be approved. It’s been 9 working days now and my account isn’t open. I haven’t received any email or anything and I have tried to email them but no reply.
Thanks
J
Hi Jr., International accounts can take a little while to open, especially during certain periods of sudden popularity. Longest I heard someone waiting was about a month. 9 days should not be reason for concern; I’m sure they’ll process your application any day now. Let me know how it went. π
On the face of it, it would seem they’ve stopped international registrations as on the second page of sign up called “trader” you can no longer select a county, its fixed to United States.
Hi Dan, if it’s fixed to United States, that means that on the previous page you selected the U.S. as being the country of your residence. If this is incorrect, go back to the account page (previous page) and select your country instead. Hope this helps!
Hello. Do you know where I can find a list of ETFs that I can buy by Tastyworks?
Hi Marcin, Tastyworks offers access to any U.S. listed ETF without any restrictions whatsoever. Hope it works out for you!
Hi, thanks a lot for this great blog to open account to tatsyworks from EU.
When I want to withdraw, waht will be the fastest and less-expensive way ?
Thanks
Great that you help the registration with guidance all in one place. I am going to open an account because I got positive feedback from a reliable source.
Can I buy inverse ETF’s on Tastyworks? Such as SDS, SOXS, SQQQ etc
Hi Zoe, sure, you can buy anything you like pretty much. Inverse ETFs are definitely available.
Kind regards