Value Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 section 90

Investment gold

Section 90 sets out a special VAT scheme for investment gold, providing for exemption from VAT on transactions in investment gold while allowing producers and transformers of investment gold to waive that exemption in certain circumstances.

• Transactions in investment gold are exempt from VAT, but a producer or transformer of investment gold may waive the exemption when supplying to a business customer, triggering a reverse-charge mechanism under which the customer accounts for the VAT
• An intermediary acting in the name and for the account of another person may also waive exemption on intermediary services where the supplier of the gold has waived exemption
• Deductions and refunds of VAT are available on purchases, intra-Community acquisitions and imports of non-investment gold, gold-modification services and associated inputs, where the gold is transformed into investment gold and subsequently supplied exempt
• A trader in investment gold must verify the identity of any customer where the total consideration for a supply or linked series of supplies is €15,000 or more, and must retain copies of identifying documents