Vat and import tax question.

[Bigmarc]

Looks like I will be travelling to Canada a couple of times a year for the foreseeable future and was thinking I may buy regularly and leaving it there. 

But

If there becomes a point I would like to bring it home with me would I pay taxes on what I paid for it or at its current value? If it's what I paid for it, how far back can the receipts go? 

Just pondering the idea at the moment. 

[Silverlocks]

Gold is a non-issue. For bullion or investment gold, there is no import duty or VAT.  You have to declare it but it's not taxable.  HMRC's web site has a list of coins that are considered as investment gold, plus a description of the criteria.  Note that unless you're buying UK legal tender you're still going to be eligible for capital gains tax if you sell it in large enough quantities, so you still need to keep a record of the purchase.

For silver, VAT is applicable at the declared value which is what you paid for it.  As long as you have receipts you should be able to declare it at that.  The same conditions with capital gains tax apply.

Note, this is not financial advice.  I am not a customs broker or a financial adviser, nor do I play one on TV.  Do your own homework.

TL;DR: You're fine with gold.  

[Gordy]

4 hours ago, Bigmarc said:

Looks like I will be travelling to Canada a couple of times a year for the foreseeable future and was thinking I may buy regularly and leaving it there. 

But

If there becomes a point I would like to bring it home with me would I pay taxes on what I paid for it or at its current value? If it's what I paid for it, how far back can the receipts go? 

Just pondering the idea at the moment. 

You have an individual personal VAT allowance on silver if you or members of your party are physically bringing it into the uk, currently stands at around £390.00 per person if I remember, so you can bring in this amount of silver without having to pay VAT on it, if you have it shipped into the UK you will pay VAT

anything over that amount needs to be declared so for example is you bring in £500.00 quid worth of silver bullion you will pay VAT on the figure over your allowances

[Bigmarc]

33 minutes ago, Gordy said:

You have an individual personal VAT allowance on silver if you or members of your party are physically bringing it into the uk, currently stands at around £390.00 per person if I remember, so you can bring in this amount of silver without having to pay VAT on it, if you have it shipped into the UK you will pay VAT

anything over that amount needs to be declared so for example is you bring in £500.00 quid worth of silver bullion you will pay VAT on the figure over your allowances

Cheers, that is a game changer for sure. I wonder if my two 4 year olds have that allowance. 

[Gordy]

27 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

Cheers, that is a game changer for sure. I wonder if my two 4 year olds have that allowance. 

dunno about little ones 🤣

[HonestMoneyGoldSilver]

2 hours ago, Bigmarc said:

Cheers, that is a game changer for sure. I wonder if my two 4 year olds have that allowance. 

You need to check and do your own homework as others have said, but yes, AFAIK you could split your silver between your travel companions. If you're travelling with 2 adults and 2 children then your total allowance is 4*£390. The 'personal allowance' I believe applies to individuals regardless of age

[Bigmarc]

12 minutes ago, HonestMoneyGoldSilver said:

You need to check and do your own homework as others have said, but yes, AFAIK you could split your silver between your travel companions. If you're travelling with 2 adults and 2 children then your total allowance is 4*£390. The 'personal allowance' I believe applies to individuals regardless of age

I will have a look into it a bit further. I was more worried about the receipts tying up with the purchase because if I send my mate down the shop on three separate occasions over a period of 6 months and I have receipts with gaps in them, would flags be raised. Essentially I could just leave it there as long as I like but if there is an allowance it's a shame not to use it. 

As for the missus and kids, their allowance will most definitely be used for useless c**p.

[UKDarkMark]

I have thought about this a fair bit, especially since the European VAT changes on buying silver bullion coins.

How about this: The rules on importing cash into the UK are different; at the time of posting up to £10k is permitted without the requirement to declare it. I think (but am not sure) this applies to either UK or foreign currency. 
So if you bought say £9,999 worth of Silver Eagles (which are legal tender in the USA) in America and then carried them back in person, would you have to declare them for VAT purposes?

[KevjustKev]

If I, or anyone else, was to bring back 'junk' silver form the US any tax on that? Silver coins can still be found in circulation, therefore legal tender. So $50 face value is still just change you brought back from holiday?

Edited January 15 by KevjustKev

[Silverlocks]

2 hours ago, KevjustKev said:

If I, or anyone else, was to bring back 'junk' silver form the US any tax on that? Silver coins can still be found in circulation, therefore legal tender. So $50 face value is still just change you brought back from holiday?

Over a certain amount of silver (you can claim at the spot price of the silver but not the face value of the coins) you're eligible for VAT on silver (but not gold).  The legal tender provision applies to capital gains tax, and it's only valid for coins that are still current legal tender in the UK, irrespective of what they're made of.

There is a provision for coins of .900 gold or better to qualify as investment gold, which exempts them from VAT but not capital gains tax, unless they are also UK legal tender such as britannias or sovereigns.  HMRC's web site has a list of coins explicitly recognised as investment gold, but you can make the claim for any coin that meets the criteria (.900 or better gold, legal tender in some country after 1837 and not ordinarily selling at 180% or more of spot).

TL;DR: Any silver, including U.S. junk silver, still attracts VAT if you buy enough of it.

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

Edited January 15 by Silverlocks

[Deus]

Does the £390 allowance mean your total item value is capped at £390 or does it mean item value can be up to £1950 as 20% on £1950 is £390?

[Silverlocks]

The total item value is £390