Quick answer. Zerodha opened US stock investing to resident Indian individuals in October 2026. The segment sits inside Kite, uses your existing Zerodha account, and is currently in beta on Kite web. You can buy about 2,000 US-listed stocks and 1,000 ETFs, including fractional shares. Brokerage is 0.10% of the trade, capped at $10. LRS, TCS and Indian tax rules apply exactly as they do on any other US route.
What Zerodha actually launched
Zerodha calls it the Global stocks segment. Orders are routed through BSE's India INX Global Access at GIFT City IFSC, so the investment stays inside an Indian regulated structure. You do not open a US brokerage account yourself, and you do not need a second demat account.
The shares are not held in your Indian demat. Zerodha says they sit with its US broker partner, ViewTrade, and are covered by SIPC insurance up to $500,000. That protects against the broker failing, not against a stock falling.
The launch is a beta on Kite web, being enabled in batches. If the International tab is visible, your account is in the rollout; if it is not, it has not been enabled yet. Zerodha says the full rollout follows after beta feedback.
Who can use it
- Resident Indian individuals with an existing Zerodha account.
- Joint accounts, HUFs, companies, LLPs and partnership firms are not supported.
- NRIs are not eligible.
- Your Aadhaar must be linked to your mobile number. If it is not, finish re-KYC on account.zerodha.com first.
- No income proof is needed, unlike the F&O segment.
How to enable US investing on Zerodha
There are two ways in. Zerodha lists account.zerodha.com first, and it is the shorter one.
Option 1: from account.zerodha.com
- 1. Log in to account.zerodha.com/account/international_segment_form.
- 2. Click Enable US investing.
- 3. Submit the request. There is no separate demat account to open, no physical form and no eSign.
Option 2: from Kite
- 1. Log in to Kite.
- 2. Open International from Marketwatch, Holdings or Funds.
- 3. Click Enable now, then Enable US investing.
Zerodha says the process is fully online and usually takes about 30 minutes, while its main guide allows up to 48 working hours before the segment is ready. You get an email on your registered address when it is live. Your nominee details on the Zerodha account are verified during activation.
Clear these preconditions first, or the request stalls. A dormant account has to be reactivated with re-KYC on account.zerodha.com. Aadhaar must be linked, your name and date of birth must match Income Tax Department records, and a signature must be mapped to the account. Older accounts without a signature are routed through the Aadhaar re-KYC flow automatically. Income proof is not required, unlike the F&O segment.
What you can buy, and what you cannot
- Stocks: about 2,000 of the largest US-listed companies by market capitalisation.
- ETFs: around 1,000 US-listed ETFs with assets above $250 million. Smaller ETFs are excluded.
- Excluded: Bitcoin ETFs and leveraged ETFs, even when they meet the size test. US IPO applications are also not supported.
- Orders: delivery only. Intraday (MIS), margin trading (MTF) and securities lending are not available.
- Fractional shares: yes. You can enter a dollar amount instead of a whole-share quantity, so a $300 stock does not need $300.
US instruments carry an INTL tag in MarketWatch. Market depth shows open, high, low, close, volume and last traded time, but not bid and offer quotes. Zerodha says it is working on those, along with GTT, stop-loss orders, SIPs, price alerts and basket orders.
Funding the Global wallet
Money moves from your Indian bank account into a USD Global wallet. Only netbanking works: UPI, debit cards and credit cards are not supported. The supported banks are HDFC, ICICI, IDFC FIRST, Axis and Kotak Mahindra.
- Minimum: $50 for the first transfer, $100 for later transfers.
- Maximum per transfer: set by the bank, from $25,000 at IDFC FIRST to $100,000 at ICICI. HDFC, Axis and Kotak sit at $45,000-$50,000.
- Time: transfers before 2:30 PM IST usually reach the wallet in two working days; later transfers take up to three.
- Withdrawal: requests before 1:30 PM IST are processed the same working day, then credited to your bank within one working day.
- Idle cash: you can leave money in the wallet for up to 180 days. After that, quarterly settlement rules apply.
What it costs
- Brokerage: 0.10% per order, minimum $0.01, maximum $10. Charged on buys and sells.
- IGST: 18% on the brokerage amount.
- IFSCA turnover fee: 0.005% of trade value.
- SEC fee: 0.00206% of the sale value, sell side only.
- FINRA TAF: 0.0195% multiplied by the quantity sold. The fee is paused from 1 October to 31 December.
- Forex markup: 0.5% to 1.2% over the RBI reference rate, applied by your bank. Zerodha negotiated the range, but the bank converts the money.
- GST on conversion: ₹45 up to ₹25,000, 0.18% from ₹25,001 to ₹1 lakh, 0.09% from ₹1 lakh to ₹10 lakh, and 0.018% above ₹10 lakh.
- Wire fee: set by your bank for the overseas transfer.
- No US-segment account fee or AMC. Zerodha also charges no custody fee for wallet balances held up to 180 days.
Here is Zerodha's own buy example. You buy 100 shares at $90, a trade value of $9,000. Brokerage is $9.00, IGST is $1.62, and the IFSCA fee is $0.45. Total charges are $11.07, so $9,011.07 leaves your wallet.
Sell the same position at $90 and you pay the same $11.07 plus the SEC fee of $0.19. FINRA's TAF adds nothing while it is paused. The net credit is $8,988.74.
On a smaller trade, the $10 cap does not matter and 0.10% does. On a $1,000 order, brokerage is $1 plus $0.18 IGST and $0.05 IFSCA. The forex markup usually costs more than the brokerage, which is why the all-in number matters more than the headline rate.
TCS is not a fee
Every transfer to the Global wallet is a remittance under the RBI's Liberalised Remittance Scheme. You can remit up to $250,000 per financial year across all LRS purposes, not just US investing.
Once your cumulative LRS remittances cross ₹10 lakh in a financial year, the bank collects TCS at 20% on the amount above the threshold. Remit ₹15 lakh with no other LRS use and TCS is 20% of ₹5 lakh, or ₹1,00,000. It is not an extra tax. You claim it against your income-tax liability, or get a refund if it exceeds what you owe.
The threshold is cumulative and tracked against your PAN across banks. Money sent for travel, education or gifts counts towards the same ₹10 lakh.
Orders, hours and settlement
- You can place orders any time, but they execute only when the US market is open.
- US Standard Time (November to March): 8:00 PM to 2:30 AM IST. US Daylight Saving Time (March to November): 7:00 PM to 1:30 AM IST.
- Market and limit orders are supported, by quantity or by dollar amount.
- Settlement is T+1, one US business day after the trade.
- Same-day buy and sell is allowed, but only as delivery trades.
- Fractional orders cannot be modified once placed. Cancel and re-enter instead. Full-share orders can be modified while pending.
- International orders sit in their own collapsible section of the order book.
Tax on US stocks bought through Zerodha
Buying through an Indian broker does not change the tax treatment. US stocks are foreign assets for Indian tax purposes.
- Long-term capital gains: hold for more than 24 months and the gain is taxed at 12.5%, plus surcharge and 4% cess. The ₹1.25 lakh exemption for Indian-listed shares does not apply, and there is no indexation.
- Short-term capital gains: sell within 24 months and the gain is added to your income and taxed at your slab rate.
- Currency conversion: use the SBI TT buying rate. For the purchase, use the rate on the last day of the month before the purchase; for the sale, the last day of the month before the sale. Your rupee gain can differ from your dollar gain.
- Dividends: the US withholds 25% under the India-US treaty when your W-8BEN is on file, instead of the 30% statutory rate. The dividend is also taxable in India at your slab rate. Claim the US tax as a foreign tax credit by filing Form 67 before your ITR.
- Schedule FA: resident and ordinarily resident taxpayers must disclose US stocks, ETFs and uninvested wallet cash. The schedule follows the calendar year, not the financial year.
- Estate tax: directly held US assets above $60,000 can face US estate tax at 18-40% on death. Indian feeder funds that hold US stocks are not US-situs assets. There is no India-US estate tax treaty.
- Advance tax: if your total tax liability exceeds ₹10,000, pay it in instalments. TCS already collected can be adjusted against it.
The full rules, including ITR schedules and document checklists, are in our US stock taxation guide. You can model the cash-flow cost in the US investing cost calculator.
How the Zerodha route compares
Indians reach US stocks in three ways: a direct US broker, an Indian app that holds through a partner, or an Indian feeder fund or ETF. Zerodha is the second kind.
- Against a direct US broker: less paperwork, no separate KYC, but a smaller universe and no access to markets outside the US. Direct brokers also give you full shares, options and a wider fund list.
- Against other Indian apps: the 0.10% brokerage with a $10 cap is simple to compare. Several Indian routes list 10,000+ US stocks and ETFs, while Zerodha starts at about 2,000 stocks and 1,000 ETFs. The bigger difference today is product depth: no SIP, GTT or stop-loss yet.
- Against feeder funds: feeder funds avoid LRS and TCS and are not US-situs assets, but you pay the fund's expense ratio and do not own the shares directly. Zerodha gives you direct ownership and control of timing.
Brokerage is rarely the largest cost on a US investment. Forex markup, TCS timing and tax treatment usually decide the outcome. Compare the full stack before you remit.
Who it suits
- You already use Zerodha and want a long-term US position without a second onboarding.
- You invest in dollars and plan to hold for years, so the 0.10% trading cost stays small.
- You want fractional shares and a simple Kite order flow.
- You do not need SIP, stop-loss, options, margin or US IPOs yet.
It does not suit NRIs, joint accounts, HUFs or companies, because the segment is closed to them. Anyone who wants the widest US universe or automated monthly investing should compare the other routes on the US investing hub first.
Zerodha US investing FAQs
Is Zerodha US investing live for everyone?
No. It is in beta on Kite web and being enabled in batches. If the International tab does not show the option yet, your account has not been included.
What is the minimum investment?
Zerodha has not published a minimum trade size, and fractional buying works by dollar amount. The funding minimum is $50 for the first transfer and $100 after that.
Can NRIs use Zerodha for US stocks?
No. Only resident Indian individuals are eligible. Joint accounts, HUFs, companies, LLPs and partnership firms are also excluded.
Does Zerodha charge an AMC for the US segment?
No account-opening fee and no annual maintenance charge. Your bank's forex markup, GST and wire fee still apply.
Where are the US shares held?
Not in your Indian demat. Zerodha says they are held through its US broker partner ViewTrade and covered by SIPC up to $500,000.
Can I fund the wallet with UPI?
No. Only netbanking from a linked account at HDFC, ICICI, IDFC FIRST, Axis or Kotak is supported.
Sources
- Zerodha Support: Investing in US stocks through Zerodha, checked 19 October 2026.
- Zerodha Support: Charges for investing in US stocks, checked 19 October 2026.
- Zerodha Support: How to activate the US stocks segment, checked 19 October 2026.
- RBI: Liberalised Remittance Scheme FAQ.
- IRS: India-US income tax treaty, Article 10 and Form W-8BEN instructions.
- Income Tax Department: capital gains, Schedule FA and foreign tax credit rules.
Educational content, not tax or investment advice. Zerodha's beta terms and fees can change; verify them in Kite before you trade.