Do you pay tax when you sell gold?
The short version: if you sell your own jewellery or coins as a private individual, the proceeds themselves are not taxed income in the Netherlands. The longer version has a few edges.
The Netherlands: the sale itself is not a taxed source
Dutch income tax has three boxes. For most private individuals the rule is this: gold you own belongs in box 3 – the levy on wealth. That levy concerns what you own on the reference date of 1 January, not what you sell during the year.
So if you sell your gold necklace in March, the proceeds are not a separate taxable event. What changes is the composition of your wealth: the gold is gone and money stands in its place. On the next reference date that money counts instead of the gold.
Jewellery you wear moreover usually falls under movable property for personal use, and then it does not belong in box 3 at all. A safe full of investment coins is a different story from the ring you have on every day.
This is not tax advice. We are a precious metal dealer, not a tax adviser. If a large sum, an inheritance or a trading activity is involved, put it to your accountant or to the Dutch tax authorities themselves.
When it does lie differently
There are situations in which the proceeds do not stay untaxed. The most important:
- You are trading. If you buy and sell systematically with a view to profit, the tax authorities may see that as income from other activities or as a business – box 1, in other words.
- You are selling from a company. Then the rules for the company simply apply, including questions of VAT.
- An inheritance or a gift is involved. The sale itself remains untaxed, but inheritance or gift tax may be due on the acquisition.
Belgium: no capital gains tax under normal management
In Belgium there is no general capital gains tax for private individuals on the sale of precious metal, as long as it concerns normal management of private assets. If you sell the jewellery from your mother’s estate, that falls under it.
If it becomes speculative – buying and selling in quick succession, borrowed money, a volume that looks like trading – the tax authorities may treat it as miscellaneous income. Here too the rule holds: an accountant when in doubt.
What we do and do not record
As a precious metal dealer we are obliged to register every transaction and to establish your identity. You therefore always receive a purchase receipt stating the date, the weight, the fineness, the rate applied and the amount paid out.
That receipt is your proof of provenance and of the proceeds. Keep it – if a question comes from the tax authorities, or when an estate is divided, that is the document it turns on.
- Troy ounce, gram and carat: the units side by sideThe world market reckons in troy ounces, your scales in grams and your jewellery in carats. With these three conversions you can check any offer yourself.Read on
- Krugerrand, Maple Leaf or Philharmonic: which one sells fastest?All three contain exactly one troy ounce of fine gold. What you get for them still differs – that lies in how well known they are, the fineness and how easily they scratch.Read on
- How does a buyer check whether gold is real?Magnet, acid test, specific gravity and X-ray. What each method does and does not prove – and why a stamp alone is never enough.Read on
Questions about do you pay tax when you sell gold
Do I have to declare the sale of my gold to the Dutch tax authorities?
The sale itself is not a separate taxable event for a private individual in the Netherlands. What you do declare is your wealth on the reference date of 1 January, and there the money in your account counts instead of the gold. If in doubt, ask your accountant.
Do I receive proof of the sale?
Yes. You always receive a purchase receipt stating the date, the weight, the fineness, the rate used and the amount paid out. We are legally obliged to register every transaction and to establish your identity, so that receipt is made out for every purchase without exception.
Does this apply to silver, platinum and diamond as well?
Broadly speaking it does: what matters is whether normal management of private assets is involved, not which material it concerns. The exceptions – trading, running a business – apply there just as much. As always, put a large or unusual case to your accountant.
I do not have identification with me. Can I still sell?
No. Identification is legally required when precious metal is bought in, so we cannot buy anything without it. Bring a valid passport, identity card or driving licence with you. Without one we have to send you away, however straightforward the sale would otherwise be.
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