"Gold is cheaper abroad." The claim is stubborn, and in this sweeping form it is wrong. Gold has a world market price; an ounce costs the same to buy in Zurich as in London or Vienna, give or take the dealer's margin. Anyone simply hunting for bargains rarely finds them abroad.
And yet experienced investors from the UK, Ireland, the Nordics and Benelux deliberately buy their gold abroad. Not for a few pounds or euros of price difference, but for structural reasons: higher anonymity limits, no VAT issues with silver and platinum through free port vaults, professional storage outside their home state, and a legal environment with a long tradition of protecting property.
The price: where is gold cheapest in Europe?
The final price of investment gold is made up the same way everywhere: spot price plus minting premium plus dealer margin. Investment gold is exempt from VAT throughout the EU, in the UK and in Switzerland, so buying gold abroad brings no tax saving.
The real price differences come from competition and lot size:
- Germany has some of the toughest online price competition in Europe; for standard coins and small bars, German mail-order dealers are often simply the cheapest.
- Switzerland (Zurich, Geneva): minimal margins on larger bars (from 250 g) and bank products.
- Austria (Vienna): the Austrian Mint direct from the mint, Philharmonics at very tight premiums, plus one of the most generous anonymity limits in the EU.
- Liechtenstein: priced like Switzerland, interesting above all in combination with the storage solutions there.
And worldwide: Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore
As soon as you look beyond Europe, the same three names come up every time, and the usual answers are either too optimistic or right for the wrong reason. So, one at a time.
The spot price is the same worldwide. Gold is traded globally, in dollars, around the clock. An ounce is worth exactly as much in Dubai at any given second as in London. Anyone who sees a markedly lower gold price somewhere is not looking at cheaper gold but at a different product: lower fineness, jewellery instead of investment gold, or a price that does not yet include the premiums.
What actually varies are three items: consumption taxes, import charges and premiums.
- United Arab Emirates. Investment metals of 99 per cent purity or more in tradable form are zero rated. On top of that comes fierce competition, which is why premiums on standard products are low.
- Hong Kong. A free port: no customs tariff on imports or exports, no VAT, and for gold in your luggage neither customs duty nor import or export controls.
- Singapore. Investment metals are exempt from Goods and Services Tax, but only if they meet narrowly drawn criteria. The details are on storing precious metals in Singapore.
The mistake that gets repeated everywhere
At this point you regularly read that buying abroad does not pay for UK buyers because customs duty and import VAT are charged on import. For investment gold, that is simply wrong.
HMRC's VAT Notice 701/21 exempts the supply and the import of investment gold from VAT. Investment gold means bars and wafers of a weight accepted by the bullion markets and at least 995 thousandths fineness, and gold coins of at least 900 thousandths, minted after 1800, that are or have been legal tender in their country of origin and are normally sold at no more than 180 per cent of the open market value of their gold. Gold bars and coins carry no customs duty under the UK Global Tariff. Anyone bringing such gold into the UK pays no import VAT on it. In the EU, Article 346 of the VAT Directive exempts the import of investment gold in the same way.
The objection is right about something else: gold jewellery. It is not investment gold, falls under the personal allowance and above it is charged duty and VAT. Anyone who buys jewellery in a bazaar and takes it for an investment is making exactly the mistake the warning is really meant to prevent. What applies on import in detail is on our page bringing gold home: customs, allowances and the 10,000 rule.
What eats up the saving after all
Even so, the honest answer for a typical private gold position is: a trip to Dubai does not pay off.
Subtract the flight, the hotel and the day it costs from the margin you save. Add that at the EU's external border, from a total value of €10,000, you must make a written cash declaration in both directions, and that arriving in Great Britain the gold must be declared as goods above your £390 allowance. And bear in mind that a product that is unusual in your home market fetches a worse buyback price when you sell later than a standard product. On small and medium positions, nothing is left after that.
With silver, the calculation looks completely different, and there it is not about price but about tax. In the UK, silver bears VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent when you buy it, which you do not get back when you sell. That is exactly what can be avoided by buying outside the tax territory and storing there. It is the only case in which buying abroad gives a private investor an immediately measurable, double-digit advantage, and it has nothing to do with the world market price. How that works is covered in buying silver abroad and in free port vaults in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
The short answer to the original question is therefore: for gold, no country is noticeably cheaper once you factor in the journey. For silver, the difference is large, and it arises not from the price but from tax and the storage location. Which storage location fits is weighed up in the overview where to store precious metals.
The real reasons for buying abroad
1. Anonymity. In the UK, a dealer must identify you from a cash transaction of £10,000; in Austria anonymous cash purchases are possible up to €9,999.99, in Switzerland up to CHF 15,000, while in the Netherlands dealers may not take cash of €3,000 or more for goods at all. The details are on our page buying gold anonymously.
2. Purchase and storage from one source. The most important reason strategically: anyone buying from a dealer with an affiliated high-security or free port vault in Zurich, Vaduz or Singapore never has to move the gold. Why that is the core of any precious metals protection strategy is explained in storing gold abroad; which location suits which situation is weighed up in where to store precious metals, with the details on Switzerland and Liechtenstein and on Singapore.
3. Silver and platinum. For metals subject to VAT, buying abroad through free port vaults is not a matter of taste but a matter of arithmetic: 0 instead of 20 per cent upfront cost. Covered in full in buying silver abroad.
4. Legal environment. Switzerland and Liechtenstein have a centuries-old tradition of protecting property, no asset registers for precious metals and a political culture in which owning gold is considered normal.
Location profiles in brief
Switzerland. The complete location: refiners, dealers, banks, high-security vaults and free port vaults in one place, anonymous purchases up to CHF 15,000, outside the EU and therefore outside the reach of EU regulation.
Liechtenstein. The same advantages in a smaller format, with very discreet, specialised storage providers and short distances.
Austria. For readers in the EU, the simplest entry point: within the EU (no customs formalities on the way home), the Austrian Mint as state mint, anonymous purchases up to just under €10,000. What applies when you take gold across borders is on our page bringing gold home and customs.
Singapore. The Asian counterweight: politically stable, no tax on investment metals, world-class storage infrastructure, maximum geographical diversification from a home base in Europe. Anyone wishing to extend this diversification beyond metal to liquid funds can also open an account in Singapore.
Dubai, Turkey and other bazaar locations. Dispensable for investment gold: the price advantages on reputable products are minimal, the product risks real, and on import the rules of your home country apply anyway. The special case of Turkey is covered on our page bringing gold from Turkey.
Tax when buying and selling gold
For private investors in the UK, gold keeps a few tax privileges:
- Buying: investment gold is VAT free in the UK, the EU and Switzerland; where you buy changes nothing.
- Selling: UK residents pay capital gains tax on gains from gold bars and foreign coins such as the Krugerrand, above the annual exempt amount of £3,000 at 18 or 24 per cent, with no holding period after which gains become tax free. Sovereigns minted from 1837 and Britannia gold coins are sterling currency and, according to HMRC, exempt. In Switzerland, private capital gains are generally tax free.
- Proof: what matters is evidence of what you paid and when. Keep the invoice, also when buying abroad.
The five classic mistakes when buying abroad
- Bargain hunting. A price well below spot is not an offer, it is a warning.
- Buying unknown brands. Anyone wanting to sell internationally buys LBMA-accredited bars and world-famous coins.
- Buying without a receipt where a receipt would be possible. Anonymity is a deliberate decision with a price.
- Hauling the gold home. Anyone who buys abroad only to put everything in a safe deposit box at home has thrown away the strategic advantage.
- Separating purchase and structure. Choice of location, form of storage and later route to selling belong in one decision.
Frequently asked questions
Where is gold cheapest in Europe?
For standard products, the reputable markets differ little: Germany scores through online competition on small denominations, Switzerland on large bars. There is no systematically 'cheap' gold country, because investment gold is VAT free everywhere in the EU, in the UK and in Switzerland.
Is buying gold abroad legal?
Entirely legal. All you need to observe are the declaration rules at the border, from €10,000 at the EU's external border and above your allowance on arrival in Great Britain, and the tax rules of your country of residence when you sell later.
Is it worth buying gold in Dubai or Turkey?
For investment gold, as a rule not: the price advantages are minimal, the product risks higher, and on import the rules of your home country apply.
Can I simply leave gold I bought abroad where it is?
Yes, and that is usually the best solution: professional storage where you bought it instead of transport. High-security and free port vaults in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Singapore are designed for exactly that.