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To start online stock trading you'll need to open an online stock trading account. Once you've opened a trading account you can transfer the amount of money you want to use to trade into the account. You can then use that money to buy and sell shares.

No, only companies that are listed on stock exchanges, like the London Stock Exchange (LSE) or the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Certificated share dealing is when you buy or sell paper share certificates, as opposed to digitally traded shares. You can find certificated share dealing accounts here.

If you plan to make several trades each month a frequent trader account could reduce your cost per trade. Check the terms with each company.

Many people think you need a lot of money to start stock trading, but that's not necessarily true.

You can start with just a few hundred pounds, and increase how much you invest gradually as you get a better sense of the market and also have more money to invest.

Yes, but only if the company offers one. You still need to open an account online and add money before you can make any trades on the app.

When you instruct a broker to carry out a trade, the broker goes to the post where the stock is being traded. If this broker has a buy order of say 100 shares and another broker has a sell order for the same share, the brokers negotiate and settle the deal. 

Otherwise the broker must go to specialist who deals with the kind of shares you want to buy.

By owning shares in a company you become eligible to receive dividend payments up to four times a year. However, you will only be paid if the company has:

If you are paid dividends from your shares, you will likely get the choice to use the money to buy more shares or to be paid in cash.

A stop-loss order is an order placed with a broker to buy or sell once the stock reaches a certain price. The purpose of a stop-loss order is to limit losses.

For example, if the stop loss order is set to 5% below the price you bought the shares, the broker will sell the shares if the price of the stock falls by 5%.

If your shares are held in an ISA, you will not need to pay tax on your profit or purchases.

If they are not in an ISA, you may need to pay stamp duty and capital gains tax.

Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) will be 0.5% of the trade's value if you buy UK shares that are settled through CREST (the UK electronic settlement system).

The amount of capital gains tax you pay when you sell your shares will depend on your income tax bracket and how much money you make from the sale. In the 2021/22 tax year, capital gains tax is 10% for basic rate taxpayers and 20% for higher and additional rate taxpayers.

There is a capital gains tax-free allowance of £12,300 for the 2021/22 tax year. This means your gains would need to exceed £12,300 in order for you to be required to pay capital gains tax.

Using a regulated stock trading platform ensures that your trading is safe and secure. But that doesn't take away from the fact that stock trading is an inherently risky activity. This is why you should trade with more money than you are willing to use. At the same, educate yourself about trading by reading books and news articles to increase your knowledge.

Our comparison tables include providers we have commercial arrangements with. The number of listings in our tables can vary depending on the terms of those arrangements, as well as other market developments. They are all from lenders regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

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