New silver in the UK is sold inclusive of 20% VAT. Selected pre-owned and collectible coins fall under the VAT Margin Scheme, which can significantly reduce the effective tax.
UK VAT rules treat investment gold as exempt and silver, platinum and palladium as standard-rated. That means new silver coins and bars are sold at the metal value plus our premium, plus 20% VAT on the lot.
HMRC's VAT Margin Scheme for second-hand goods, antiques and collectors' items lets a registered dealer charge VAT only on the difference between what they paid for a coin and what they sell it for, not on the full sale price.
In practice, on an eligible coin (whether pre-owned or a qualifying collectible) the VAT element you pay is much smaller than 20% of the full price. This is why our margin-scheme silver listings are often more competitive than the new-coin equivalent.
Margin-scheme-eligible products are labelled "VAT Margin Scheme" on the listing. Anything not labelled is sold under the standard VAT regime.
A silver coin we sell for £44.00, that we sourced for £41.36 (6% below the sale price). VAT is charged on our margin, not the full sale value.
| Pricing element | Standard VAT | Margin Scheme |
|---|---|---|
| Coin sale price | £44.00 | £44.00 |
| Our cost price | — | £41.36 |
| Dealer margin | — | £2.64 |
| VAT charged to you | £7.33 (1/6 of £44.00) | £0.44 (1/6 of £2.64) |
| Effective price ex-VAT | £36.67 | £43.56 |
(Illustrative only. Actual figures depend on the specific coin and our cost basis.)
Cannot be reclaimed. Even VAT-registered businesses cannot recover the margin-scheme VAT element on these coins, because the dealer does not issue a standard VAT invoice for them. This is a quirk of the scheme.
Investment-grade gold coins and bars are entirely VAT-free in the UK. Any gold product we list at /gold is sold without VAT.