A technical question about gold trade

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totoin

New member
Joined
Feb 14, 2020
Messages
2
Good day;

There seems to be a business opportunity where i can buy gold with around 90% purity in bulk at a low price. I am thinking on setting up a trade company where i can import that gold in UK and turn it in to investment grade. The question is, is there a way to import it and then refine it in to investment grade without paying any VAT and/or customs related tax? Say, I import the gold and within a few days, send it to refinery and turn it in to investment grade. Is there some kind of a transition period where i can take such action ?
 
totoin said:
Good day;

There seems to be a business opportunity where i can buy gold with around 90% purity in bulk at a low price. I am thinking on setting up a trade company where i can import that gold in UK and turn it in to investment grade. The question is, is there a way to import it and then refine it in to investment grade without paying any VAT and/or customs related tax? Say, I import the gold and within a few days, send it to refinery and turn it in to investment grade. Is there some kind of a transition period where i can take such action ?

What would you do with the end result?

If you are planning on making "Good for delivery" ingots and storing them with the LBMA, I'd think you'd have to comply with HMG regulations. You'd be better off to check with your CPA or a legal specialist to find out the accurate answers.

If you intend to store or sell the end results elsewhere, you may want to avoid importing it into the UK and having your refining operation offshore. You'll have to find out what the economics are before trying to estimate what savings that might produce.

Either way, you can expect a lot of regulations.

Also, make sure your supplier isn't a scam. Require that every transaction be done through an international escrow service. Remember: it's better to lose a little fee on each transaction than it is to lose your entire investment for that transaction.

-- Thipdar
 
Thank you for your detailed answer.

As you mentioned, i would like to buy cheap and sell at market price. The source is good and yes, all transactions will be made by a trusted third party and no money exchange will happen until full verification at the end of the business.

I am doing research about refining operations offshore but so far, there are no viable options where i manage to get the grade up to investment level and escape taxes at the same time. I better find a specialist that can search for a window of opportunity where i can refine before taxes kick in.

Cheers
 
Respectfully, this is a question you need to have with an accountant that is very familiar with refining. You may be able to ask members like anachronism or nickvc for a good referral, both have worked in the trade.

I would not recommend trusting the advice of members on a legal issue such as this, unless I was overly convinced of their authority on the matter.



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Before I go into what and how this can be done I’m going to say that buying gold cheap is a very large warning that this may well be a scam, no one needs to sell gold cheaply as there is a strong will to buy whatever is available, the possible reason it is cheap is because it comes from an illegal source or from a country that has sanctions imposed, my advice is to do some very thorough checking into the source and whether you will be breaking any UK or international laws.
Think logically not about the amount of money you could make but why you can source gold cheap when there is no shortage of buyers willing to pay 98%+ of spot for gold in volume all over the world :eek:
 
Hi Totoin

The first question screaming through my mind would be exactly the one Nick has posted. Namely why would someone sell it to me at less than they can get elsewhere.

If that's completely answered answered then all well and good you can move on. Sadly most of these import at lower than gold price deals tend to be scams.

Jon
 
totoin said:
Thank you for your detailed answer.

As you mentioned, i would like to buy cheap and sell at market price.

Cheers

Sounds like you want to open a pawn shop, buy old jewelry at 50% of value and sell it to a refiner at 95% of spot. At least that's what most pawn shops around here do, and if it's a cash for cash deal then you can tell the tax man whatever you think you can get away with.
 
This precisely is why this scam never stop.
As long as they will be able to find people who think they can "import gold in bulk for cheap" they will never give up. Easy money for them. Couple hundreds or few thousands can make a difference for these people mainly as it is multiplied and repeated ad nauseum.

If anyone has access to gold which they want to sell no matter where on Earth it is located it can be sold for market price or very close to it. There is no such a thing as cheap gold in quantity.
The only exception is when it is gained illegaly but how easy it is to "import" gold like that?
 
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