Buying Silver Bullion from an EU country

[20JMK20]

Right, now that the current dip has got my attention I have been window shopping. I have seen a lovely 5 oz Silver coin but it is being sold in an EU country. So, I was wondering, what has been the experience in regard to ''how much'' one is charged in customs fees?

In line with my question, I have been purchasing supplements from a U.S based company for years and suddenly January of last year the customs fees abruptly stopped. I have used 2 other companies in the U.S to buy things, and again, no customs, so something has changed there.

If someone can give me a % of how much is charged (if anything) then I can see if it is worth it. Cheers.

[LawrenceChard]

1 minute ago, 20JMK20 said:

Right, now that the current dip has got my attention I have been window shopping. I have seen a lovely 5 oz Silver coin but it is being sold in an EU country. So, I was wondering, what has been the experience in regard to ''how much'' one is charged in customs fees?

In line with my question, I have been purchasing supplements from a U.S based company for years and suddenly January of last year the customs fees abruptly stopped. I have used 2 other companies in the U.S to buy things, and again, no customs, so something has changed there.

If someone can give me a % of how much is charged (if anything) then I can see if it is worth it. Cheers.

I seem to remember seeing a very similar topic / theme quite recently.

😎

[20JMK20]

Is that right @LawrenceChard ...

I did have a quick Google search, and found some info (on a gov website, I think), and it said that custom charges on Silver had been reduced from 12.5% to 7.5%. I have gone into the habit of not really believing anything I see or hear unless it is going by anecdotal experiences. 

[sixgun]

13 hours ago, 20JMK20 said:

I did have a quick Google search, and found some info (on a gov website, I think), and it said that custom charges on Silver had been reduced from 12.5% to 7.5%. I have gone into the habit of not really believing anything I see or hear unless it is going by anecdotal experiences. 

Will you provide the link to support your claim which i presumed was about the UK - my research shows the customs charges in India have been reduced from 12.5% to 7.5%.

There was a period post Brexit that imports were just being waved through and this might account for you not receiving a bill for your packages.

Edited July 6, 2022 by sixgun

[chasetyre]

From my experience

Silver BU coins are not classed as numismatics coins so you would be charge 20% VAT plus what ever handing fee the courier charge, normally around £10

Some proofs I have had classed as numismatics coins, which the rate is lower, can't remember the exact figure i think 5% or 7.5% but that was a while ago, but the Inland revenue may not agree with this and charge you the 20% VAT

A silver statue i bought was classed as art, as it was a limited edition and again that was a lower rate

[20JMK20]

4 hours ago, sixgun said:

Will you provide the link to support your claim

Bugger, I've closed the tab now, LOL ... I'll see if I can find that needle in a haystack. I definitely did read something about a reduction from 12.5% to 7.5% for customs, let's see if I can find it again ...

... Several hours since I wrote that last sentence above, in which time I went around in circles looking for the link via my history, and could not find it, argh. All I can find now is what you mentioned about India which is not what I saw before. Will be one of life's mystery's. 

[20JMK20]

Thanks for your input @chasetyre. 

12 hours ago, chasetyre said:

plus what ever handing fee the courier charge

Do you mean the shipping country of origin, or Royal Mail adding their own handling fee?

Seems not worth it if not only would someone be charged VAT, but an import fee on top as well. I did just think I could order to my friends address in Ireland, then get them to send it to me as a ''gift''. From my understanding something sent from Germany to Ireland would have no VAT for example as it is EU to EU country. 

Interesting what you say about ''numismatics'', thanks for that piece of info. 

[chasetyre]

7 hours ago, 20JMK20 said:

Thanks for your input @chasetyre. 

Do you mean the shipping country of origin, or Royal Mail adding their own handling fee?

Seems not worth it if not only would someone be charged VAT, but an import fee on top as well. I did just think I could order to my friends address in Ireland, then get them to send it to me as a ''gift''. From my understanding something sent from Germany to Ireland would have no VAT for example as it is EU to EU country. 

Interesting what you say about ''numismatics'', thanks for that piece of info. 

Royal Mail will add there own handling fee on top of the VAT as will the other carriers such as UPS etc.

No it's not normally worth it on cost as you will pay more than just getting it in the UK.

The only time it's worth it is when you can't find it in the UK and you really really want it.

Yes you could have it sent to your friend, then sent to you as a gift, but there is a maximum value for gifts.

So make sure you look up the what the current limit is, as I don't think its very high.

 

I recently bought a coin box for my slabs (you don't see nice ones in UK very often) from Canada and I paid the VAT through the sellers internet platform which they pass to the Inland Revenue.

This save you the handling fee as the VAT has been paid, so it's just delivered normally. I have also bought through Ebay from Europe and they do the same, again you are not saving any money as you are still paying the VAT

[sixgun]

8 hours ago, 20JMK20 said:

Seems not worth it if not only would someone be charged VAT, but an import fee on top as well. I did just think I could order to my friends address in Ireland, then get them to send it to me as a ''gift''. From my understanding something sent from Germany to Ireland would have no VAT for example as it is EU to EU country. 

Interesting what you say about ''numismatics'', thanks for that piece of info. 

You could have it sent from Germany to your friend's address in the South and that is an intra-EU delivery. If you bought of Goldsilver.be they put that their parcels are inexpensive items - not for customs reasons but for security. Yes he could send then have it sent as a gift. Depends how much you are sending i suppose as to whether it gets looked at.

There is 5% VAT on 'collectors' pieces of numismatic interest' - there is a thread on this subject.

 

[Alex944]

I am based in Republic of Ireland and in April,  I did send over some silver to someone in the UK. Now this was classified as ''collectable numismatics'' (world silver coins, not silver bullion) and as far as I am aware, he did not have to pay any customs charges or VAT. The package went from Dublin, Ireland into Wales.

I will say though that it's likely he didn't get any charges because the value was rather small (talking about 30£ worth, 2 coins), I'd imagine that higher declared values may be treated differently.

Additionally, I think (emphasize think) that the legislation between ROI and NI allows for goods to be sent between them without additional tariffs or custom charges. So I wonder if the sequence of ''Order from EU mainland --> send to Ireland --> send to NI --> send to UK mainland '' would allow for circumventing additional custom charges and or VAT. However, adding an extra step adds time and shipping costs as well, so I'm not sure if that'd make sense in the grand scheme of things.

I can confirm that there are no VAT charges for items shipped from EU mainland to Republic of Ireland other than the sales VAT you pay on check out, at least based on my experience.