Do you pay Capital Gains Tax on gold bullion?

Capital Gains Tax or CGT is a tax on the gains or profit you make when you sell, give away, or otherwise dispose of something. It applies to assets that you own, such as bullion, shares or property.

There is an annual tax-free allowance of £6,000 (2023/24) and some additional reliefs that may reduce your Capital Gains Tax bill. Most bullion investors will never have to pay this tax due to the size and value of their investment, but it is important that investors know where they stand.

Capital Gains Tax is only payable if an investor realises over £6,000 of profit in one financial year. Be mindful that the £6,000 limit is not the total value of selling your bullion, but the profit made from your original outlay.

Example: If an investor bought some gold bars in 2013 for £30,000 and sold them in 2014 for £41,000, no Capital Gains Tax would be due, as the CGT exemption rate was £11,000 that year.

This single transaction would constitute nearly all of the investor's full tax-free allowance for the year however, so it is important to consider any other investments you may have that could contribute to the allowance threshold. Any profit made that took the seller over the limit would be taxable at a rate between 20-28%.

Please note: The tax free limit of £,6000 is only set for the financial year of 2023/24 and is reviewed every year.

Learn more about Capital Gains Tax at the HMRC website.

It is the responsibility of the individual investor and not that of BullionByPost to declare any Capital Gains Tax payable. We advise that you speak to your accountant in further detail to ensure your personal financial situation is in working order.

At BullionByPost we keep records of all transactions made for seven years, however we do not voluntarily forward details on to the HMRC unless explicitly requested. All customer data is held securely in keeping with GDPR regulations.

---

CGT-free gold

Are there any CGT-free gold and silver bullion products? The simple answer is yes. Capital Gains Tax is exempt on all British legal currency. This includes gold Britannia coins, silver Britannia coins and gold Sovereigns just to name a few. Any coin produced by The Royal Mint with a face value will benefit from being a CGT-free gold investment, or CGT-free silver investment. This means you can make an unlimited tax-free profit on investments of any size and value on ALL of these British legal currency bullion coins.

CGT is payable on all other gold and silver coins which were not produced by The Royal Mint and have no standing as legal tender in the UK. All gold and silver bullion bars are taxable with CGT, so this can be an important consideration for large investors.

---

How to avoid paying Capital Gains Tax on gold?

Many investors choose to invest in smaller unit gold coins or smaller bars in order to pay no CGT, or as little CGT as possible when selling. This can be avoided or minimised by part-selling bullion over more than one financial year. For example, if an investor bought £60,000 of gold coins in 2012 which by 2014 were worth £80,000, instead of realising the full £20,000 profit right away, the investor could sell half the coins in 2014 for a £11,000 tax-free profit and sell the remaining gold coins in another financial year.

Please take into consideration that the gold price is constantly changing so the remaining gold coins could be worth less (or more) in another financial year. This is a problem that is unlikely to be an issue when realising the value of silver due to the substantially lower unit prices associated with silver bars and coins.

The simpler option of course is to buy British coins, as these are exempt from CGT as mentioned above.

---

Buy CGT-free British gold coins

It is advised that most UK investors buy gold Sovereigns and Half Sovereigns for smaller units, and Gold
Britannia coins for larger 1oz units. Both British gold coins are Capital Gains Tax exempt and offer the ultimate
flexibility for investors.

With wealthy gold investors in mind, anyone planning on spending a substantial amount of money on gold
should look no further than Sovereigns and the Gold Britannia coin. To help highlight the potential benefits of
buying British gold coins, a gold investment of £50,000 in September 2007 would be worth over £150,000 in
November 2011. If this gold investment was made in any way other than British gold coins the gain would
be liable to Capital Gains Tax. Therefore the tax saving to a CGT paying individual looking to realise this
investment would be up to £28,000. Obviously if the gold price continued to increase and the investor chose
to hold on to their gold the tax savings could be even greater.

---

Related Links:

If you have any questions about gold bullion investment, please feel free to contact our knowledgeable and friendly team on 0121 634 8060 who will be happy to talk your through any queries you may have. Alternatively, you can email us at sales@bullionbypost.co.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.