FedEx charged VAT for importing an "investment" gold coin

kheimon

I imported an "investment" gold coin all the way from Australia (Perth Mint). The coin is priced at a small premium over bullion price.
It is my understanding that "investment" gold coins are VAT-exempt here in the UK, yet FedEx sent me a VAT bill. Are they in error, and/or was the parcel mislabelled? If that's the case, how can I rectify the situation and avoid paying the bill, or alternatively obtain some kind of rebate?
Thanks.

powerful_Rogue

kheimon said:

I imported an "investment" gold coin all the way from Australia (Perth Mint). The coin is priced at a small premium over bullion price.
It is my understanding that "investment" gold coins are VAT-exempt here in the UK, yet FedEx sent me a VAT bill. Are they in error, and/or was the parcel mislabelled? If that's the case, how can I rectify the situation and avoid paying the bill, or alternatively obtain some kind of rebate?
Thanks.

Did you complete the Customs Procedure Code form (CPC) 40 00 073?

kheimon

powerful_Rogue said:

kheimon said:

I imported an "investment" gold coin all the way from Australia (Perth Mint). The coin is priced at a small premium over bullion price.
It is my understanding that "investment" gold coins are VAT-exempt here in the UK, yet FedEx sent me a VAT bill. Are they in error, and/or was the parcel mislabelled? If that's the case, how can I rectify the situation and avoid paying the bill, or alternatively obtain some kind of rebate?
Thanks.

Did you complete the Customs Procedure Code form (CPC) 40 00 073?

Unfortunately, no. It is in fact the first time I hear about that. Before I resort to a "blanket" Google search, do you think you can give me some pointers? Moreover, given that I didn't complete the form before purchasing the coin, can the situation be remedied after the fact?
Thanks.

powerful_Rogue

kheimon said:

powerful_Rogue said:

kheimon said:

I imported an "investment" gold coin all the way from Australia (Perth Mint). The coin is priced at a small premium over bullion price.
It is my understanding that "investment" gold coins are VAT-exempt here in the UK, yet FedEx sent me a VAT bill. Are they in error, and/or was the parcel mislabelled? If that's the case, how can I rectify the situation and avoid paying the bill, or alternatively obtain some kind of rebate?
Thanks.

Did you complete the Customs Procedure Code form (CPC) 40 00 073?

Unfortunately, no. It is in fact the first time I hear about that. Before I resort to a "blanket" Google search, do you think you can give me some pointers? Moreover, given that I didn't complete the form before purchasing the coin, can the situation be remedied after the fact?
Thanks.

Everything you need to know - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gold-acquisitions-imports-investments-and-vat-notice-70121

kheimon

Cheers....

kheimon

I have skimmed through the document, and the jargon is utterly incomprehensible to me: this technical document is probably meant to be consumed by businesses, in particular someone in Legal or Accounting. There doesn't seem to be any readily-actionable instruction to get the money back, which is all I care about, and this CPC form doesn't seem too be downloadable or otherwise available online. Figuring this out would cost me possibly hundreds of £ in opportunity cost, so I'll pay the bill and leave it at that.

But thanks for the link!!

MattMattMattUK

How did you import them and what did the customs declaration for the shipment say? Did they use the correct UNSPC/Harmionisation code? Are you importing for business or personal investment? All of this however is a rather specialised area, you may be better off talking to a specific gold investment group, if one exists. 

kheimon

MattMattMattUK said:

How did you import them and what did the customs declaration for the shipment say? Did they use the correct UNSPC/Harmionisation code? Are you importing for business or personal investment? All of this however is a rather specialised area, you may be better off talking to a specific gold investment group, if one exists. 

Hi, I bought the coin from the Perth Mint website for personal investment (and enjoyment of the item itself), not for business.
The tax code used seems to be B00 (assuming I have read the customs declaration correctly).
Of course, I may try with a gold investment forum / group, I am sure it does exists somewhere.

Lukasgoldandsilver

Hi. I have similar issues with Fedex. From time to time I buy bullion gold bars, and Fedex can't clear goods correctly and I had to pay VAT.
Can someone help and give  some advice how to clear "investment gold bars" correctly. According to the HMRC guideline "Gold Imports and exports (VAT Notice 701/21) I can understand that CPC:40 00 073 need to be used. But my question is what commodity code should I use for gold bars in order to gain exemption??? Please help.

It is much easier for "gold coins" because if you search commodity code: 7118900000 then you will see that VAT 0% rate is available, but this is just for coins - I do not see any commodity code for "gold bars" which give an option for VAT 0%   - there are some codes for bars but only at VAT 20%. So I don't understand how to declare "bars". In the mentioned HMRC guideline - it says clearly that "pure gold bars " are investment products and VAT exemption is possible, but no info about what commodity code to be used?