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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;afantiques, post: 2078723, member: 71234&quot;]<i>If the business is not registered for VAT then they pay for the item + VAT and then absorb that charge until they sell the item to you. You still pay the VAT but it is in effect hidden and not split down on your receipt</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Your description is somewhat idealised. In practice I buy PM at a fraction under spot and sell for as much over as I can wheedle out of the buyer. The implication is that all PM deals involve a 20% tax burden, but the fact is that they simply do not</p><p><br /></p><p>If I see a 30 ozt. sterling silver tray at an auction I will work out the amount I can get for it as metal, subtract the auction costs (usually only the buyers premium and VAT on the amount of the premium) and subtract that from my bid, so if I get the item at my top bid, I buy that nice heavy tray for the same money I can sell it for instantly to the bullion dealer. </p><p>If I am lucky, others have been less careful with their scales and calculator, or just don&#039;t have the money available, and I get the item for less than the amount I can immediately cash it in for. Happy day. </p><p>I can then take my tray to an antiques fair and maybe sell it on to someone who wants an antique silver tray for use around the home, and I make maybe 30% profit on it. If it turns out no one within miles wants a silver tray, I can cash it in, so to speak, at the refinery, get my stake money back, if prices for metal have remained the same, and buy something else. </p><p>No tax is involved at any stage of the process.</p><p><br /></p><p>The coins Davey mentions are not much of a deal based on actual PM value, but they were sold without VAT being charged and not by any small, unregistered business, but from the Royal Mint, because legal tender coins are &#039;zero rated&#039; for VAT. Paying a purely notional tax with a rate of 0% is not a burden to anyone.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is related to the OP, both poster and post, as it discusses reasonable premiums to pay for precious metals, and my point is to refute the allegation that in Britain we are invariably stuck with a 20% tax burden.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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