Tax implications selling gold collection

patgc

My late husband collected bits and pieces of gold jewellery, gold scrap etc during his life by going to Boot Fairs and sales etc. This was for our Rainy Day should it come. He has recently passed away and it is now my responsibility to liquidate this collection. It was jointly owned by us both and was our personal possessions,.
I have no idea what he would have paid for any piece as its been collected over a period of 40 plus years. If I start selling this gold online am I going to have to pay tax on the proceeds of any sales I make ?

Keep_pedalling

If no individual item sells for more than £6000 then there no tax implications. Personal items over that value might be subject to capital gains tax.

Thrugelmir

Scrap gold is worth a fraction of jewellry unfortunately. Unless you've some desirable items in the collection. 

patgc

So if I made up some bags of various bits and pieces and sent them off or took them to a jewellers to sell , HMRC is not suddenly going to jump on me and say that as ( hopefully) I am selling the bits at more than husband paid for them I would have to pay tax on the proceeds of each sale. ?

csgohan4

patgc said:

So if I made up some bags of various bits and pieces and sent them off or took them to a jewellers to sell , HMRC is not suddenly going to jump on me and say that as ( hopefully) I am selling the bits at more than husband paid for them I would have to pay tax on the proceeds of each sale. ?

You have to do what you think is correct,  It is difficult to pay tax on something you don't know what the gain is. 

But if we're talking tens of thousands, then HMRC might remotely be interested

Jeremy535897

patgc said:

So if I made up some bags of various bits and pieces and sent them off or took them to a jewellers to sell , HMRC is not suddenly going to jump on me and say that as ( hopefully) I am selling the bits at more than husband paid for them I would have to pay tax on the proceeds of each sale. ?

No. The full explanation is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chattels-and-capital-gains-tax-hs293-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs293-chattels-and-capital-gains-tax-2019

You say you owned all the items jointly. That means that the base cost of each item is half its cost, plus half its value at the date of your husband's death.

csgohan4

Jeremy535897 said:

patgc said:

So if I made up some bags of various bits and pieces and sent them off or took them to a jewellers to sell , HMRC is not suddenly going to jump on me and say that as ( hopefully) I am selling the bits at more than husband paid for them I would have to pay tax on the proceeds of each sale. ?

No. The full explanation is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chattels-and-capital-gains-tax-hs293-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs293-chattels-and-capital-gains-tax-2019

You say you owned all the items jointly. That means that the base cost of each item is half its cost, plus half its value at the date of your husband's death.

Problem is, the OP doesn't know the base cost nor cost at death of partner

theoretica

Assuming that they are sold simply as gold the value at death of partner will be simple to work out from the weight and historic data about gold price. With absolutely no information about what was paid I think you will need to assume - perhaps that he bought at the gold price and on an date for about the middle of his collecting (eg 20 years ago if he acquired about equally over 40 years). 

It would really help to have some idea of how much is in question. 1kg of 18 carat gold or a tangle of gold plated necklaces?  If any of it is British coins I believe they are exempt from capital gains tax.

Jeremy535897

csgohan4 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

patgc said:

So if I made up some bags of various bits and pieces and sent them off or took them to a jewellers to sell , HMRC is not suddenly going to jump on me and say that as ( hopefully) I am selling the bits at more than husband paid for them I would have to pay tax on the proceeds of each sale. ?

No. The full explanation is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chattels-and-capital-gains-tax-hs293-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs293-chattels-and-capital-gains-tax-2019

You say you owned all the items jointly. That means that the base cost of each item is half its cost, plus half its value at the date of your husband's death.

Problem is, the OP doesn't know the base cost nor cost at death of partner

I put that in for completeness. Bits and pieces of gold jewellery bought at a car boot sale are very unlikely to have a value over £6,000 per item (or set).

csgohan4

Jeremy535897 said:

csgohan4 said:

Jeremy535897 said:

patgc said:

So if I made up some bags of various bits and pieces and sent them off or took them to a jewellers to sell , HMRC is not suddenly going to jump on me and say that as ( hopefully) I am selling the bits at more than husband paid for them I would have to pay tax on the proceeds of each sale. ?

No. The full explanation is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chattels-and-capital-gains-tax-hs293-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs293-chattels-and-capital-gains-tax-2019

You say you owned all the items jointly. That means that the base cost of each item is half its cost, plus half its value at the date of your husband's death.

Problem is, the OP doesn't know the base cost nor cost at death of partner

I put that in for completeness. Bits and pieces of gold jewellery bought at a car boot sale are very unlikely to have a value over £6,000 per item (or set).

you never know, some priceless stuff antiques have been found in the past, you never know, might be worth a fair bob

patgc

Ok, thank you everyone, as far as I can make out and read I should be ok. No HMRC people will be breathing down my neck. Would be nice if some was worth over the 6K threshold but its not. So will go ahead and see what his years of collecting will realise. Done in small lots I should be alright I hope.