Pricing and fees FAQs
- What is a spread?
- What is the difference between fixed and variable spreads?
- Are there any data exchange fees associated with forex trading?
- What is a financing fee?
- Does FOREX.com charge inactivity fees?
- Does FOREX.com charge commissions?
- Do I need to pay taxes on my trades and transactions?
- Is there a currency conversion charge?
- What are dividend adjustments?
- What are borrowing costs?
What is a spread?
When a price for a market is quoted, you will actually see two prices. The first price, known as the bid, is the sell price and the second price is the buy price, known as the offer, or the ask. The difference between the sell and buy price is called the spread.
What is the difference between fixed and variable spreads?
FOREX.com offers both fixed and variable spreads, depending on the market you wish to trade.
Fixed spreads don’t change according to market conditions such as volatility or liquidity. Depending on the market, fixed spreads may either be offered for a defined period of the day, or throughout trading hours.
Variable spreads may fluctuate throughout the day according to different factors such as underlying liquidity or market volatility. With variable spreads, FOREX.com will quote you the minimum spread it could be, plus an average spread for a defined historical period of time. View our live spreads.
Are there any data exchange fees associated with forex trading?
FOREX.com does not charge data exchange fees. However, you may incur a financing/rollover charge if you hold your positions overnight. Learn more about rollovers.
What is a financing fee?
Financing, also known as rollovers, is a charge that you pay in order to hold a position open overnight. The daily financing fee is automatically applied to your account each day that you hold an open position (including weekends). The financing rates are set at benchmark regional interest rate of +/- 2.5%.Learn more about our rollover rates.
Does FOREX.com charge inactivity fees?
FOREX.com charges an inactivity fee of $15 (15 base currency equivalent, or 1500 JPY) per month if there is no trading activity or no open positions for a period of 12 months or more.
Does FOREX.com charge commissions?
FOREX.com charges commissions on shares CFD trading and on FX trading when trading on a RAW Spread Account. We recommend you reference the Market Information Sheets in the FOREX.com desktop and MetaTrader platforms for complete details.
Do I need to pay taxes on my trades and transactions?
Please contact a tax professional for information on the tax situation in your country.
Is there a currency conversion charge?
Back to Base automatically converts any realized profits and losses, adjustments, fees and charges that are denominated in another currency, back to the base currency of your account before applying them to your account.
When Back to Base charges are applied, we strive to use commercially reasonable rates (which may be up to and including +/- 0.5% away from our quoted prices or rates from time to time). Any conversions and the rates applied will be disclosed on your contract notes and statements.
What are dividend adjustments?
CFDs are subject to corporate actions including dividend adjustments. We may make dividend adjustments if a dividend is scheduled to be paid to the holders of the underlying instrument. These adjustments are normally made on the ex-dividend date. Long positions receive adjustments net of tax, whereas short positions are charged the declared amount of gross adjustment, where applicable.
For more information on US withholding tax on US equity derivative markets, please visit our page on US code section 871(m).
What are borrowing costs?
Borrowing costs are incurred when you short a shares CFD position, and reflect a charge incurred in the underlying market when the underlying asset is borrowed in order to sell and return at a later date. Very few markets will incur a borrowing charge, and to determine whether the market you wish to trade has borrowing costs or not, please check the relevant Market Information Sheet in the FOREX.com desktop or MetaTrader platform.