UK import tax on gold bars and coins from China
Imports of qualifying investment gold are exempt from VAT. Check the bar’s purity and accepted weight, or the coin’s listed status or qualifying criteria, before buying. Send supporting documents to your customs broker and check duty separately. Ask Cambridge China Bridge to help gather supplier evidence.
Start with the object, not your collecting purpose
Buying gold for your personal collection does not itself establish investment-gold status. HMRC’s exemption concerns qualifying bars, wafers and coins. Ask the seller to identify exactly what you are buying, rather than accepting descriptions such as “investment”, “commemorative” or “pure gold” as proof.
This guide focuses on a purchase shipped from China to Great Britain. For the ordinary parcel arrangements, use our personal-purchase import-tax guide. If delivery is to Northern Ireland, ask your broker to confirm the treatment for that destination before paying.
Check a bar’s purity and weight together
A qualifying bar or wafer must have purity of at least 995 thousandths and a weight accepted by the bullion markets. Purity alone does not complete the test. Ask your broker to compare the stated weight with HMRC’s accepted-weight list.
Request an invoice describing the form, weight, purity, maker and any serial number. Ask for an assay report or certificate linked to the actual item, plus photographs of its markings. Check that the certificate, invoice and item identifiers agree. These are practical evidence checks, rather than a claim that every seller’s certificate proves eligibility.
Check the exact coin type
A coin can qualify through HMRC’s recognised investment-gold coin list. Otherwise, it must be minted after 1800, have purity of at least 900 thousandths, be or have been legal tender in its country of origin, and belong to a type normally sold for no more than 180% of its gold’s open-market value.
Ask for the issuing country, denomination, minting year, weight, purity and photographs of both faces. Have the broker check the exact type against the current list. For an unlisted type, gather evidence addressing every criterion. The price test concerns the type’s normal selling price, so your own discounted purchase price is insufficient evidence.
Separate jewellery and non-qualifying collectibles
A gold necklace or decorative object does not qualify merely because its metal is highly pure. Gold and gold coins outside the investment-gold definition are subject to standard-rate import VAT. A collector’s description does not establish an exemption, although a coin bought for collecting can still meet the investment-gold criteria.
If the purchase is jewellery, use our jewellery sourcing guide for the separate product questions. Do not apply its requirements for jewellery sold in the UK automatically to a coin kept in your collection. Ask your broker to identify the goods’ classification and VAT treatment from their actual characteristics.
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Agree the declaration before dispatch
Send the invoice, payment receipt, photographs, purity evidence and coin-list match or qualifying evidence to the customs broker before shipment. Ask for written confirmation of the proposed investment-gold treatment and how it will be claimed on the import declaration. Keep the documents and declaration together.
Check customs duty separately from the VAT exemption. Request a breakdown of duty, VAT, clearance and carrier fees, using our import duty and VAT guide. If a bill appears inconsistent with the agreed treatment, ask for the declaration details and an explanation before pursuing correction.
Frequently asked questions
Do I pay VAT on a gold bar from China?
A qualifying investment-gold import is exempt from VAT. Check both purity and accepted bullion-market weight, and agree the declaration treatment with your broker before dispatch.
Can a gold coin qualify if it is not on HMRC’s list?
Yes, if it meets all the alternative criteria for minting date, purity, legal-tender status and the coin type’s normal selling price. Ask your broker to assess evidence for each.
Does a cheap collectible gold coin become VAT exempt?
Your purchase price alone does not establish eligibility. HMRC’s price test concerns the coin type’s normal selling price. Confirm listed status or all the alternative criteria.
Does investment-gold VAT exemption remove customs duty?
Check duty separately. Ask your broker to confirm the commodity classification and applicable duty, then separate any carrier or clearance fees from the tax.