{"id":20249,"date":"2026-10-05T05:42:44","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T04:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/glossary\/investment-gold-vat\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T07:45:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T06:45:31","slug":"investment-gold-vat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/glossary\/investment-gold-vat\/","title":{"rendered":"Investment Gold and VAT in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mrf-gl\"><p class=\"gl-def\">In the UK, investment gold (bars of at least 995 fineness and qualifying gold coins) is exempt from VAT under HMRC VAT Notice 701\/21. Silver, platinum and palladium bullion are normally charged VAT at the standard rate of 20%.<\/p><aside class=\"panel gl-live\"><p class=\"gl-live-h\">\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Today in the UK<\/p><div class=\"gl-row\"><span>Gold, 1 troy ounce (spot)<\/span><b>\u00a33,150<\/b><\/div><div class=\"gl-row\"><span>Cheapest 1 oz gold coin: <a href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/product\/1-oz-krugerrand-gold-coin\/\">1 oz Krugerrand Gold Coin<\/a><\/span><b>\u00a33,173.61<\/b> <small>+0.8% premium<\/small><\/div><p class=\"gl-src\">Data as of 05.10.2026, updated daily.<\/p><a class=\"btn primary\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/cheapest-gold-coins\/\">Compare gold coin prices \u203a<\/a><\/aside><div class=\"gl-body\"><h2>What HMRC counts as investment gold<\/h2><p>VAT Notice 701\/21 sets out two groups of gold that are exempt from VAT:<\/p><ul><li><strong>Bars and wafers<\/strong> of a purity of not less than 995 thousandths, in a weight accepted by the bullion markets.<\/li><li><strong>Gold coins<\/strong> minted after 1800, of a purity of at least 900 thousandths, that are or have been legal tender in their country of origin and are normally sold at no more than 180% of the open market value of their gold content.<\/li><\/ul><p>HMRC also publishes a list of coins that meet these rules (VAT Notice 701\/21A). In practice the Sovereign, the gold Britannia, the Krugerrand, the Maple Leaf and the Vienna Philharmonic are bought VAT free from UK dealers. Gold <a href=\"\/gb\/categories\/gold-bars\/\">bars from recognised refiners<\/a> qualify too.<\/p><h2>VAT on silver, platinum and palladium<\/h2><p>There is no investment exemption for other metals. New silver coins and bars carry the standard 20% VAT rate, which means one sixth of a VAT inclusive price is tax. On a silver coin priced at \u00a360 including VAT, \u00a310 is VAT. That gap has to be recovered by a rising silver price before you break even.<\/p><p>Some dealers sell pre-owned silver coins under the VAT Margin Scheme (VAT Notice 718), which applies to second-hand goods and collectors' items. The dealer pays VAT only on its margin, so the price you pay can be lower than for a new coin. Ask the seller whether a listing is sold under the margin scheme. Our <a href=\"\/gb\/cheapest-silver-coins\/\">silver coin price ranking<\/a> shows the delivered price either way.<\/p><h2>Capital Gains Tax: why Royal Mint coins stand out<\/h2><p>HMRC's Capital Gains Manual (CG78305) states that Sovereigns minted in 1837 and later and Britannia gold coins are sterling currency, and sterling currency is exempt from Capital Gains Tax under TCGA 1992 section 21(1)(b). Coins count as currency only if they are legal tender when you acquire or dispose of them.<\/p><p>Foreign coins such as Krugerrands, Maple Leafs and Eagles are currency but not sterling, so HMRC treats them as chargeable assets. Gold bars are chargeable too. Gains on chargeable assets are taxed only above your annual exempt amount, which GOV.UK currently lists as \u00a33,000 for individuals.<\/p><table><thead><tr><th>Product<\/th><th>VAT<\/th><th>CGT for UK individuals<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Gold Britannia, Sovereign<\/td><td>Exempt<\/td><td>Exempt (sterling currency)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Krugerrand, Maple Leaf, Philharmonic<\/td><td>Exempt<\/td><td>Chargeable<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Gold bars (995+)<\/td><td>Exempt<\/td><td>Chargeable<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>New silver Britannia<\/td><td>20%<\/td><td>Exempt (sterling currency)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><p>This is general information, not tax advice. Your own position depends on your circumstances. For VAT free gold with the CGT advantage, start with the <a href=\"\/gb\/categories\/britannia-gold-coin\/\">gold Britannia prices across UK dealers<\/a>, and read about <a href=\"bullion}}\">bullion<\/a> and <a href=\"numismatic}}\">numismatic coins<\/a> before paying a collector price.<\/p><\/div><h2>Related terms<\/h2><p class=\"gl-chips\"><a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/glossary\/bullion\/\">Bullion<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/glossary\/numismatic-coins\/\">Numismatic Coins<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/glossary\/fineness\/\">Fineness<\/a><\/p><section class=\"mrf-faq\"><h2>FAQ<\/h2><div class=\"faq-list\"><details open><summary><h3>Do you pay VAT on gold in the UK?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>No VAT is charged on investment gold, meaning bars of at least 995 fineness and qualifying gold coins such as the Sovereign and Britannia. Gold jewellery is charged VAT as normal.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Is silver VAT free in the UK?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>No. New silver bullion is charged VAT at 20%, although some pre-owned silver coins are sold under the VAT Margin Scheme, which lowers the VAT built into the price.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Are gold Sovereigns free of Capital Gains Tax?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>HMRC treats Sovereigns minted in 1837 or later and Britannia gold coins as sterling currency, which is exempt from Capital Gains Tax.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section><details class=\"gl-src-list\"><summary>Sources<\/summary><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/gold-acquisitions-imports-investments-and-vat-notice-70121\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">HMRC: Gold acquisitions, imports, investments and VAT (VAT Notice 701\/21)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/investment-gold-coins-and-vat-notice-70121a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">HMRC: Investment gold coins (VAT Notice 701\/21A)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/vat-rates\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">GOV.UK: VAT rates<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/the-margin-and-global-accounting-scheme-vat-notice-718\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">HMRC: The Margin and Global Accounting Scheme (VAT Notice 718)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/hmrc-internal-manuals\/capital-gains-manual\/cg78305\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">HMRC Capital Gains Manual CG78305: Foreign currency<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/capital-gains-tax\/allowances\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">GOV.UK: Capital Gains Tax allowances<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/details><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":20233,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_glsr_average":0,"_glsr_ranking":0,"_glsr_reviews":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20249","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/"},"comment_info":0,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20249"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20337,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20249\/revisions\/20337"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}