How do you make any money on silver given the VAT?

[Bimetallic]

I might move to the UK (from the US) and I'm concerned about this VAT situation (and the gun laws...and the bizarre knife laws...). How can you make money on silver if you're paying a 20% VAT? Are you able to collect VAT when you sell? That would recover the amount you paid, but you'd still be paying VAT on any profit from the sale. Do individuals collect VAT in the UK on interpersonal sales? What if you sell to a dealer? Do you recoup your VAT then?

This page from Bullion By Post implies that VAT is assessed even on Britannias. How can this be? I thought British coins were exempt.

If I bring a bunch of silver with me in moving to Britain, will it be subject to a tax?

Thanks for your feedback.

[Bullionbilly]

Buying from the forum or fellow stackers is vat free. 

Vat is mainly from dealers. 

It would be a long and complicated process to claim anything back and you would have to be a vat registered bussiness i think and then theres tax and blah blah blah....

May i ask why you want to come to the uk ? ( no offence if that sounds funny lol ) 

Gun laws are ALOT stricter than the us, we cant have anywhere near the tackle you guys can. Its mainly shot guns or rifles over here. 

[HawkHybrid]

silver britannias are subject to vat when buying. they are

(like all other uk legal tender coins) cgt free when selling.

 

HH

[Bimetallic]

7 minutes ago, Bullionbilly said:

May i ask why you want to come to the uk ? ( no offence if that sounds funny lol ) 

Gun laws are ALOT stricter than the us, we cant have anywhere near the tackle you guys can. Its mainly shot guns or rifles over here. 

I'd be moving for a job, potentially. London.

I own one firearm, a handgun. I assume I can't bring it. It's strange to me that a nation that was once a world-spanning empire full of hardy men and women seems so...obedient...now. Maybe I just don't know the relevant history and context for all these laws.

[Roy]

1 minute ago, Bimetallic said:

It's strange to me that a nation that was once a world-spanning empire full of hardy men and women seems so...obedient...now.

Me too!

We can have guns here but they have to be deactivated and therefore safer 😀

[Bullionbilly]

8 minutes ago, Bimetallic said:

I'd be moving for a job, potentially. London.

I own one firearm, a handgun. I assume I can't bring it. It's strange to me that a nation that was once a world-spanning empire full of hardy men and women seems so...obedient...now. Maybe I just don't know the relevant history and context for all these laws.

No sorry you cant bring that...

Its no longer the nation you mention ☹️

Is it a definate move or something you are considering ?

[mr-dead]

If your moving to London the firearms would probably come in handy too along with an acid proof hazmat suit.

I have to travel into london every now and then for meetings, hate the place.

This place is about 20 mins from my house, ill take that over big city life any day.

[StackinJack]

and probably one of these

[AppleZippoandMetronome]

If you were only here temporarily you should be able to make a claim to have VAT you've paid for refunded when you leave. Here is a link with info for that:

https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-shopping/taxfree-shopping

The VAT problem is pretty easy to circumvent though by buying direct from other collectors/stackers, eBay or via the group order. I was very put off myself when I first learned about the VAT charged on silver - I am from Canada and just couldn't understand how it made sense for anyone to buy any thing silver here. The more I looked in to it though the more work-arounds I found and most of what I have bought is on par with what I would have paid in Canada. That being said I still look forward to my next trip to see family so I can fill my pockets with cheap silver to bring back here
 

[Roy]

Mumbles @mr-dead?

Gorgeous. 😊

[mr-dead]

1 minute ago, Roy said:

Mumbles @mr-dead?

Gorgeous. 😊

Yes, plenty of beaches down this way.

Swansea bay,  Caswell, oxwich, port eynon, three cliffs

[Roy]

I know 😊

Shhh! They'll all want to visit 😉

[AppleZippoandMetronome]

Just now, mr-dead said:

Yes, plenty of beaches down this way.

Swansea bay,  Caswell, oxwich, port eynon, three cliffs

I have a real love for the Welsh beaches though I've mostly spent time in Pembrokeshire. Love it so much I will soon be house hunting down there. Spent years living in London and I certainly know what is best between the two. I look forward to seeing this view regularly... 

[Roy]

Oh no! Mr Dead, what have you done? Pandora's box is open 😀

[sixgun]

i used to live in Bishopston/Murton - i could literally cross the road to a path which took me through the woods down to Caswell Bay. i miss it dreadfully.

[StackemHigh]

Vat isn't the only problem.  We have CGT too.

 

[AuricGoldfinger]

If your moving to the uk just for a few years for work could you not get a trusted family member in the US to purchase silver and store it for you if you send them the money? Would seem counter productive to buy in this country and then take it back to US. Alhough none of my family even know about my PMs and i do prefer to keep it that way!

As for the gun laws yep pretty strict although you can legally own a Smith & Wesson .44 Russian which I learnt on tele the other day! Thats what everyone else is using to shoot each other! Shotgun license easy to get but i live in the glorious countryside and not in the big smoke!

[Xander]

Guns are for mugs.

[PansPurse]

Also it's worth bearing in mind that we have much much lower rates of gun crime. There's some knife crime but it's mostly gang related.

[Blockhead]

I've not been on this forum long but there is a lot of talk about guns, and some photos of them with bullion. 

Can't see the link to silver and gold to be honest. Might as well be posts about them and rabbits, or planets, or mime artists for all the connections there are to bullion. 

Sorry if I've offended anyone. 

[Clens92]

I think you might be overreacting to the UK's reputation slightly.

We have fewer murders per capita, both by gun or knife... we have fewer school shootings (there are none!)

You won't have to worry about VAT when selling unless you're shifting nearly £90,000 worth per year.  Stacking in the US and UK are wholly different ball games; if you offer someone spot for their silver coins over here you should expect a fairly blunt response!

 

[vand]

Silver IS money.

The rest is just IOUs and taxes.

[Bimetallic]

59 minutes ago, Clens92 said:

I think you might be overreacting to the UK's reputation slightly.

We have fewer murders per capita, both by gun or knife... we have fewer school shootings (there are none!)

You won't have to worry about VAT when selling unless you're shifting nearly £90,000 worth per year.  Stacking in the US and UK are wholly different ball games; if you offer someone spot for their silver coins over here you should expect a fairly blunt response!

 

Oh, they make that graph look more meaningful than it is. If we're talking about 5 deaths per million vs. 3.2 deaths per million, we're already at the floor. I wouldn't worry about knife deaths in either country, or think of them as meaningfully different.