TFSAs and IRS Dividend Withholding Taxes

This is just a note that if I held a US-based fund/stock in my TFSA, such as a S&P 500 ETF or MSFT that trades in the USA, I, as a Canadian, would still pay IRS withholding taxes on any foreign dividends. This rate should be 15% and not 30%. So, I would lose about 15% of any dividend to the IRS that I wouldn't be able to claim against my Canadian income tax from that holding, since I'm not paying any taxes on that holding because it is in a TFSA. If this holding were in an RRSP, there is a tax treaty that would exclude this IRS withholding.

There is some weirdness with ADRs and non-US/non-Canadian holdings that I'm not even sure of and not going to bother with. If a US-based ETF holds these, I don't have any idea what might happen with withholdings.