Gold Import Charges from EU to UK

[easyonthebrain]

Hi, I'm wondered if anyone can clarify the situation buying gold coins from EU country, will I get hit with import charges etc or is there a way around it. How can you ensure that you are buying them for investment purposes only. It's not worded great but after reading stuff on govt site left me even more confused. Any advice gratefully accepted.

[stackerp5]

Was wondering the same thing... The GOV website is too vague and confusing! 

[Richym99]

 

 

[easyonthebrain]

Thank you for info 👍

[Allgoldcoins]

I have just written page for my website on the subject, although this is from UK - EU the rules are the same either way. There has been a lot of confusion with EU customs not knowing how to treat collectors Gold Coins so I wrote a page on it :

https://www.allgoldcoins.co.uk/pages/vat-exemption-eu-sales-information

 

[LawrenceChard]

On 02/07/2021 at 19:10, easyonthebrain said:

Hi, I'm wondered if anyone can clarify the situation buying gold coins from EU country, will I get hit with import charges etc or is there a way around it. How can you ensure that you are buying them for investment purposes only. It's not worded great but after reading stuff on govt site left me even more confused. Any advice gratefully accepted.

Most government websites are like Royal Mint Quality Control! 🙂

[Frenchie]

2 hours ago, Allgoldcoins said:

I have just written page for my website on the subject, although this is from UK - EU the rules are the same either way. There has been a lot of confusion with EU customs not knowing how to treat collectors Gold Coins so I wrote a page on it :

https://www.allgoldcoins.co.uk/pages/vat-exemption-eu-sales-information

 

Thanks for the information. But there is confusion for me because  In France there is VAT applied on gold coins if the declared value is higher than 1,8* spot gold.

Is this notice now an exemption to this rule ? With RM collectible coins, prices are way higher than this 1,8*spot threshold)

[Allgoldcoins]

11 hours ago, Frenchie said:

Thanks for the information. But there is confusion for me because  In France there is VAT applied on gold coins if the declared value is higher than 1,8* spot gold.

Is this notice now an exemption to this rule ? With RM collectible coins, prices are way higher than this 1,8*spot threshold)

Yes there has been some confusion but the above exemption is for the coins mentioned, the 180% rules does not apply to the exemption list.

Just to add the 180% rule applies to coins and bars that are considered bullion, investment gold only - This is a separate exemption which does not mention any restriction on value.

[LawrenceChard]

17 hours ago, Frenchie said:

Thanks for the information. But there is confusion for me because  In France there is VAT applied on gold coins if the declared value is higher than 1,8* spot gold.

Is this notice now an exemption to this rule ? With RM collectible coins, prices are way higher than this 1,8*spot threshold)

We have a page explaining concisely What Is Investment Gold?
https://www.chards.co.uk/blog/what-is-investment-gold/428

This was ported over to our new site from one of our heritage sites:

https://taxfreegold.co.uk/whatisinvestmentgold.html I wrote this page in about December 1999 or January 2000.

In this sentence "of a description of coin that is normally sold at a price that does not exceed 180 per cent of the open market value of the gold contained in the coin.", the word "normally" is very important.

A good UK example would be gold proof fifty pence coins, for example:

https://taxfreegold.co.uk/19921993fiftypencegoldproofeu.php

When the Royal Mint first issued these, they were not included in the schedule https://taxfreegold.co.uk/customsexcise701-21a.html...

as they were new and the mint was asking more than 180% premium, a very short-sighted decision in my opinion at the time, and now. As often, in the secondary market, they  (gold fifty pences) normally sell for less than 180% premium, so they now qualify as investment gold, and are exempt. This also includes any new releases which may be issued at more than 180% premium, because gold fifty pences as a whole normally sell for not exceeding 180% premium.

This legal and tax logic is not unique to the UK, it also applies to the entire EU.

What happens in practice is that "Customs" officers worldwide see their job as extracting as much money from everyone as possible, and if in doubt, they interpret rules in their favour, charge tax, collect money, then try to resist giving it back.

I have a feeling that French Customs may be particularly pernicious about this. Do you happen to know whether they work on any kind of commission, bonus, or target system?

I will tag @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer into this post, so that we can think about adding my explanation. It probably already exists on at least one of our heritage sites, but not everything has yet been ported over.

 

[LawrenceChard]

On 02/07/2021 at 19:10, easyonthebrain said:

Hi, I'm wondered if anyone can clarify the situation buying gold coins from EU country, will I get hit with import charges etc or is there a way around it. How can you ensure that you are buying them for investment purposes only. It's not worded great but after reading stuff on govt site left me even more confused. Any advice gratefully accepted.

It does not matter for what purposes you are buying them (for tax purposes).

What matters is whether they are "Investment Gold", and therefore exempt from VAT in the EU and UK.

You might want to look at my very recent post in this same thread:

Most government websites worldwide are very badly written from a user point of view. 

And most dealers sites don't explain it very well either.

Of course, you could save yourself a lot of effort, and just buy from @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer.

I declare a vested interest! 🙂

 

[jessica5090]

Custom duties are a fee placed on gifts or goods sent to the UK from outside the EU. This only becomes payable if your order is over £135. The courier will pay this to HMRC on your behalf but you will likely have to pay this back when receiving your purchase.

Via: Website

[jessica5090]

For more details you can visit official government of UK website


https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gold-acquisitions-imports-investments-and-vat-notice-70121

[Frenchie]

On 05/07/2021 at 19:16, LawrenceChard said:

We have a page explaining concisely What Is Investment Gold?
https://www.chards.co.uk/blog/what-is-investment-gold/428

This was ported over to our new site from one of our heritage sites:

https://taxfreegold.co.uk/whatisinvestmentgold.html I wrote this page in about December 1999 or January 2000.

In this sentence "of a description of coin that is normally sold at a price that does not exceed 180 per cent of the open market value of the gold contained in the coin.", the word "normally" is very important.

A good UK example would be gold proof fifty pence coins, for example:

https://taxfreegold.co.uk/19921993fiftypencegoldproofeu.php

When the Royal Mint first issued these, they were not included in the schedule https://taxfreegold.co.uk/customsexcise701-21a.html...

as they were new and the mint was asking more than 180% premium, a very short-sighted decision in my opinion at the time, and now. As often, in the secondary market, they  (gold fifty pences) normally sell for less than 180% premium, so they now qualify as investment gold, and are exempt. This also includes any new releases which may be issued at more than 180% premium, because gold fifty pences as a whole normally sell for not exceeding 180% premium.

This legal and tax logic is not unique to the UK, it also applies to the entire EU.

What happens in practice is that "Customs" officers worldwide see their job as extracting as much money from everyone as possible, and if in doubt, they interpret rules in their favour, charge tax, collect money, then try to resist giving it back.

I have a feeling that French Customs may be particularly pernicious about this. Do you happen to know whether they work on any kind of commission, bonus, or target system?

I will tag @ChardsCoinandBullionDealer into this post, so that we can think about adding my explanation. It probably already exists on at least one of our heritage sites, but not everything has yet been ported over.

 

Thank you very much Lawrence and @Allgoldcoins for your enlightened explanations !  Really great and useful !