Question about VAT in the UK and international travel

[SiliconToad]

I'm curious about how VAT on silver coins could be played on a small scale by frequent international travelers. Could a person toss a couple tubes of silver eagles in their carry on and take some profit for pub money after they landed? Or is there some kind of boarder control for precious metals, even at small scale?

[sixgun]

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/individuals/travelling/entering-eu_en

i think you are looking at being able to bring in 430€ or equivalent of goods if you bring them in yourself and they are for your own use or a gift. How the authorities could know if you brought in 430€ of silver and then sold it on is anyone's guess.

[SiliconToad]

22 minutes ago, sixgun said:

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/individuals/travelling/entering-eu_en

i think you are looking at being able to bring in 430€ or equivalent of goods if you bring them in yourself and they are for your own use or a gift. How the authorities could know if you brought in 430€ of silver and then sold it on is anyone's guess.

Ah, that makes sense. If I read the customs requirements correctly, they won't even allow the small amount if the intent is commercial in nature. It's such a clear market distortion I can't imagine it wasn't accounted for in some way. 

[Pete]

You can without question bring silver coins into the UK without declaring anything provided the value is within your personal allowance.
No-one is going to question that but if you are a visitor and get stopped at random, a customs official might ask why you are bringing them into the UK.
As you start to show nervous symptoms and sweat appears on your forehead, you might start to rabble on, get inconsistent and the trained customs official will see right through you.

You might want to train yourself into an answer like - "these coins are for my friend XYZ who is a coin enthusiast, whom I will be meeting on ABC at FZY and are a gift for helping me out on a project I was working on .... blah blah. Provided you sound convincing and the explanation is plausible you will have nothing to fear.

If you exceed this allowance you are running a small risk of getting caught and charged.
Every time I pass through a manned customs hall, even though I am not carrying anything, I do admit to feeling guilty as these people gauge your body language.

You also need to ask yourself if it is worth the hassle as many of us can buy silver coins at good prices from our current EU suppliers avoiding the full 20% VAT.
Just post on this site what you have, how much you want and which pub to find you 😎

 

[sixgun]

22 minutes ago, Pete said:

You also need to ask yourself if it is worth the hassle as many of us can buy silver coins at good prices from our current EU suppliers avoiding the full 20% VAT.

Just post on this site what you have, how much you want and which pub to find you 😎

Things may change after 29th March. i think they will thrash out a no tariff deal but there will still be the issue on VAT on silver from the likes of Goldsilver.be and European Mint. So friends bearing gifts would be nice.

[Pete]

2 minutes ago, sixgun said:

Things may change after 29th March. i think they will thrash out a no tariff deal but there will still be the issue on VAT on silver from the likes of Goldsilver.be and European Mint. So friends bearing gifts would be nice.

Agree absolutely.
Real uncertainty approaching March 29th and as I have an accumulating order with GS.be running I need to ensure there are no delays in requesting shipping especially with their terms stating the entire order will only ship after all coins are received.