info No UK import VAT on Investment gold coins (VAT Notice 701/21A) from the EU

[ChrisSilver]

This post is designed to help those members in the UK who are buying gold from other members, either importing from the EU to the UK or from outside the EU to the UK

There are a lot of gold coins that are considered investment gold and therefore VAT exempt. There may therefore be opportunities for UK members to buy from the EU or other markets.
 

Quote

2.1 Definition of an investment gold coin

An investment gold coin is either:

a. Gold coin minted after 1800 that:

•  is of a purity of not less than 900 thousandths
•  is, or has been, legal tender in its country of origin
• is of a description of coin that is normally sold at a price that does not exceed 180% of the open market value of the gold contained in the coin

b. A gold coin on the lists in section 3.

A coin not on the lists can still be exempt from VAT if it falls within the description at 2.1a. But you must be able to show from your business records that any such coin meets the criteria.

You should treat coins that do not fall within 2.1a. or 2.1b. as subject to VAT at the standard rate.

Using a Sovereign as an example, our understanding of the definition "is of a description of coin that is normally sold at a price that does not exceed 180% of the open market value of the gold contained in the coin" from information taken from UK dealers is that any sovereign, even those that sell for 10's of thousands of pounds do not attract any import VAT as a sovereign in general sells for not more than 180% of the spot price of gold.

The full information on what gold coins and type of other investment gold except can be found from the following link: 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/investment-gold-coins-and-vat-notice-70121a

Please also note that members may have experienced VAT incorrectly being added to gold imports into the UK, due to the description used by the sender. If VAT is incorrectly added you can usually claim back the full VAT (I have done this myself) however the courier admin charge (around £8 Royal Mail, and around £11 for other couriers like UPS, is not always claimable back, this depends on the reason why the incorrect VAT was applied) 

This post is correct as far as our knowledge at the time of writing. It should not be constituted as legal or tax advise, members have the responsibility to do their own research and speak with any necessary advisers. TSF can not be held liable for any incorrect VAT that is applied by HMRC or any other import or taxes that are charged due to any purchases by members whatsoever. 

Please check the government website, or start a topic in the discussion area of the forum if you would like to ask members questions and hopefully the TSF community can help. There are likely a lot of members who have experience of buying gold from abroad and can help   


Items are listed in the regions they are located in. So UK members wishing to see items available internationally please see some of the below sections:

See the items listed in the EU trade section, lots of members will ship to UK

See the items listed in the USA & Canada section, many members are also willing to ship worldwide.

A full list of all trade sections on the forum can be found here