Relocating to the EU - What to do with my coin collection?

Would definitely consult a tax accountant with international expertise. I lived in Austria for while, and there was reciprocation with the US on income tax. That was long ago though. It's a complex area; get professional advice.

Cal

 

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Bugles though. Had to have bugles.

 

Poland is on the list of places that I want to visit. How did you come to the conclusion of retiring there? Family or just fell in love? My limited European experience is Barcelona (Briefly) and Paris for 3 weeks. If I had the option and means of moving to Paris, I would be on a plane as fast as I could! I love France. I really do. Wish you the best of luck with your move!

 

It's a job transfer as we're still a few years away from early retirement. If you're ever looking for an inexpensive, but beautiful place to retire, check out Plovdiv, Bulgaria. As far as France goes, I've heard that a lot of people from the UK are retiring there. Obviously, not near Paris, but in other locations further into the countryside. I'm not sure where we'll eventually settle down, but that's part of what this relocation is all about. Right now we can only travel to Europe twice a year due to the distance. Once we relocate, we can take a RyanAir flight to Paris for $10 - $20 roundtrip for lunch!

 

I used Vueling when I was going from Barcelona to Nice. It was a nice airline for what it was. The tickets, like you said, are incredibly cheap however with the taxes, it ends up costing more than that ticket itself. Still cheaper than here!

 

Wherever you end up going, welcome to Europe!

I love the U.S and spend a lot of time there, but I love Europe as well, having lived there most of my adult life, in 4 different countries, almost 38 years now. So many beautiful countries to live in, so much culture and history.

Regarding your coins and other valuable goods, it is possible that you can legally import them to Europe as part of your move and your household. There are also agreements between many EU countries and the U.S to avoid double taxation.

 

See now I would think the US coins in the EU would bring a premium?

Do post a link to the Ebay listings if your selling off the gold, if nothing else I can help someone else spend their money

 

I have found that many coins from the US are over priced here and the grades of the coins are not as important as they are in the US. I’ve considered selling some coins here, but there’s a 19% tax on that and it often takes away the chance of profit.

 

Good information. I didn't realize this. Is it the same with anything sold on Ebay? Here, you can sell up to $20,000 before you receive a 1099 for your taxes.

 

That 19% tax is simply the regular VAT (sort of sales tax; USt in Germany) but the VAT rates vary (within a certain bandwidth) depending on the member state. In DE coins used to have the reduced USt rate of 7% - not any more. In Poland the regular VAT (PTU) rate is 23% but they also have reduced and zero rates. Not sure what applies to coins there. Investment gold, including coins, is usually tax exempt in the EU.

Side note: In the EU and most other European countries, the VAT is - like all other components that influence the price - built into the price tag for consumers. So if you see €10 or 40 zł on a shelf, that is what you pay.

Christian

 

I thought the VAT was a percentage of value, well, added. So wouldn't it be 19% of your profit from the coin, rather than 19% of the total price?

 

If that's the case, then I'm in trouble. I didn't keep my purchase records since I started collecting 20 yrs ago.

 

This. Is a coin discussion thread, guns are not appropriate or related. I moved to Germany and back some years ago. Some of it I left with family, other items I took with me in a carry on briefcase. The value of mine was far less than yours and had no trouble with customs. I did declare it and TSA certainly wanted to verify all the metal I was carrying. The currency limit is established for bullion and hard currency bills to deter criminal activity not to curtail collectors. Another option an earlier post did not mention was a safety deposit box. If you have any idea that you may one day return or leaving it to heirs it may be worth considering and retaining a checking account here gives you a lot of options. Surely you will return for visits and as time goes by you can move more of it as your life plays out. Being in Europe will open lots of doors for collecting all sorts of coins.

 

Nutshell mode: If you have a business and sell a product with a net price of say €500 to a "consumer", you add the 19% and thus get €595 from that buyer. Then you pay the tax (in this case €95) to whichever part of the government collects the taxes.

Having said that, there is also the concept of Difference Taxation (de: Differenzbesteuerung). That usually applies when a private "consumer" sells something s/he owns to a commercial buyer; think used cars or antiquities. The consumer as a seller cannot charge VAT, and the dealer will, when selling the item again, add the 19% only to the difference between what he originally paid and what he now gets. Currently the EU Court of Justice is dealing with this.

Difference Taxation is, to make this even longer and boringer even for the OP, also applied in a somewhat different way by many coin dealers, with coins that are imported from outside the EU. As the import tax is lower than the regular VAT, a dealer can make some kind of mixed calculation. But all this does not apply to private sales of coins ...

Christian

 

I think I’ll wait for the full Brexit and hope for a UK/US “special arrangement” to replace the EU one. My date target is 3 to 4 years out. Whatcha think?

 

Don't ask me. While I have always welcomed the Brexit, I feel sorry for those affected by the negotiation mess. Any arrangement between the American and British governments would not affect me, so why would I care. And further comments would be political, so I will keep my mouth shut, errm, fingers away from the keyboard ...

Christian

 

The difference between you and us. There, EU talk is politics. Here it’s just interesting conversation, so far.

 

I am SO going to miss this.

 

@-jeffB to add to this, most items listed on eBay say something along the lines of "VAT included in price" meaning that 19% from that sale will go to taxes. So the way I see it, selling an item means taking a 19% cut on eBay.

 

Seems more onerous that what I expected -- if I buy something for €1000 (VAT included), then sell it for €1100 (VAT included), I'm €109 in the hole? I figured I'd sell it at €1100 (VAT included), and remit €19 (19% of the "value" I "added" prior to the transaction), not €209 (19% of the €1100 selling price), or would it be €175.63 (since €924.37 + €924.37 * 0.19 = €1100)?

I see some advantages to the VAT system, or thought I did, but there's clearly a lot I don't understand about it.