Ross87

Just out of interest, does the assay card typically make much difference to the value?

Yes please, happy to take it at this price. I’ll drop you a message.

Thanks for this. I finally cashed out for a small profit after a few months and it worked very well. Got a bit confused between kg and oz at one point but probably my own fault.

Definitely. The BRICS summit is coming up on 22nd August. So something may come out of that. Given the US efforts in Iraq and Libya to preserve the oil dollar, I assume something dramatic would happen if another currency was used! Good news for gold, but some damage to the US economy may find its way to the UK!

Thanks, I've been trying to do this. But I get the error message "There are no tags available" when I try to tag it.

Thanks Kev, unfortunately I've already sorted the tubes. I may be back in touch if I can find some more money..

Yes, really enjoying it so far! I was initially just trying to buy any lump of precious metal to hedge against inflation, but now I seem to be addicted to coin collecting. I guess it’s a slippery slope.

Perfect. I'll send a direct message

Yes that’s good. Could you do a couple of tubes?

Hi Fenlander, ideally around £645 per tube delivered. Thanks.

Hi, I’m looking for a few tubes of 1oz silver Britannias. Ideally some of more recent ones with the hologram. Let me know if you have any going spare. Thanks. Ross

I'm not an accountant. But my impression is VAT is only paid by the end consumer (that isn't VAT registered). My plan was to use my VAT registered company to purchase from the VAT registered dealer. Then I was intending to only sell back to a VAT registered dealer (at spot price). I think if I sold to a person (not VAT registered) that would be a problem. The lady at Chards seemed to suggest what I was doing was fine and happens fairly regularly. (They had a form etc.) Once I have sold it back, the dealer would then end up with "used silver" that has never had the VAT paid. So VAT may need to be paid on it further down the line. I believe this situation comes up when purchasing second hand vans, where you have to ask if the VAT has been paid or not because previous owners may have swerved it. I thought this plan would give me some significant savings. However the best price I can get from a dealer without paying VAT is still about 15% over spot. Which seems to be beatable buying through this forum. The BullionVault option offered some very tight spreads so I thought that made the best financial sense. Although I am sad I don't have loads of bars stacked in my home office like some sort of low rent bond villain.

Thanks for this Spyder. I gave Bullionvault a go today and it was generally a positive experience. It's very easy to trade on there. Playing around on the app, they seem to have quite a serious referral scheme if anyone fancies some affiliate marketing or getting a code from the forum. https://www.bullionvault.co.uk/help/referral_programme.html I haven't actually withdrawn anything yet, so can't 100% guarantee it's not a scam. But seems legit so far.

Even VAT free, I am looking at 15% over spot through a dealer like Chards. So I'm not sure it's worth the risk and complications of buying through a limited company. It would be nice to hold the physical silver, but something like bullionvault looks the way to go. Incidentally who is pocketing all these premiums on silver? I don't see why dealers would need to charge so much more than for gold.

Hi @James32, one of the clear rules is that if the investment income exceeds the companies general income, the company gets classed as a ‘close investment company’, which is bad news. So I guess that would put off casual investors. Since inflation has gone so high, I’m starting to come across more people using limited companies to hold assets (metals, art, wine etc.) and get around the VAT. I’m not a finance professional though. So can’t guarantee this won’t end badly!

Hi honestmoney. Thanks so much for the detailed response. The VAT situation on the silver is an interesting one. My accountant seemed fairly comfortable with it as long as it just sat in storage as a business investment. So art on the office wall would be a no go, but a silver bar in a safe would be ok. As you’ve shown even without paying the VAT it is still almost impossible to get any silver for less than 10% over the spot price!

Hi all, I’m new to precious metals but now looking to invest to hedge against inflation. I am interested in investing around £5k into silver and £5k into gold, and I’m not too picky about coins or bars if it makes financial sense. What may be in my favour is that I operate my own limited company which is registered for VAT. My research has reached the following conclusions, which I wanted to run by the forum: Silver: As I have my own VAT registered company. It makes sense to use company funds to buy new silver and reclaim the VAT. As this is through a company, the silver wouldn’t need to be Capital Gains Tax Free so could be bars or coins. It would then just be a case of what can be bought closest to spot price. Which is probably bars. I am also thinking to purchase from a reputable dealer that could provide the paperwork for the accountant etc. Gold: As gold coins would be VAT and CGT free, it seems to make sense to own this personally. In which case, gold Britannias seem a good place to start and second hand ones probably provide the best value. Conclusion: · Buy 1kg silver bars with company funds from a registered dealer · Buy second hand gold Britannias privately from this forum Any feedback on my conclusions would be very welcome! Thanks Ross

Hi, I'm brand new to the forum. So apologies if this is in the wrong place. I was trying to figure out if you can legally purchase a small amount of silver VAT free in America and fly it back to the UK. Looking at the rules, it seems like there is an allowance of £390 per person per trip: https://www.gov.uk/bringing-goods-into-uk-personal-use/arriving-in-Great-Britain Have I got this right? Or does this not apply to silver? I go to Florida fairly regularly, so could pick up about 15 1oz eagles each time and stay below the limit. However I would obviously want to avoid an airport search after a long flight! Thanks Ross