Owning gold is entirely legal in the United States and the United Kingdom, with no current law prohibiting private citizens from purchasing, holding, or storing physical gold bullion, coins, or bars. Gold functions as a recognized store of value and legitimate investment asset protected by settled property rights under domestic law in both countries.
This freedom has not always existed without condition. The US famously banned private gold ownership from 1933 to 1974 under Executive Order 6102, a Depression-era measure that required citizens to hand their gold to the Federal Reserve at a fixed price. The UK maintained its own restrictions under exchange control regulations throughout the post-war decades, and full liberalization didn’t arrive until Margaret Thatcher’s government abolished those controls in October 1979. That history matters, because it explains why myths about gold ownership limits continue to circulate today, even when the current law is clear, settled, and explicitly permissive.
Private gold ownership today is not merely tolerated. It is a legal right backed by decades of established law.
Is It Legal to Own Gold in the UK?
Owning gold in the UK is entirely legal under current legislation, with no statutory limit on the quantity of physical gold any private individual may purchase or hold. Exchange controls were formally abolished in 1979, removing the last government restriction on private gold ownership.
The legal foundation for gold ownership sits within general property law, which grants individuals the right to own tangible assets including precious metals without restriction. There is no specific “gold ownership act” because none is needed. Gold is treated as personal property, and the government holds no claim over it simply because you choose to keep it in a vault or a home safe.
This is a genuinely important distinction to understand clearly.
The absence of legislation restricting gold ownership is itself the permission to hold it. You do not need a license to buy gold. You are not required to register holdings with any government body. And you have no obligation to disclose a purchase to anyone at the point of buying.
That said, there is one compliance area that catches buyers who deal in larger volumes. Under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017, registered gold dealers in the UK must carry out customer due diligence on transactions above certain thresholds, typically around £10,000 or its equivalent. This doesn’t restrict your right to own gold in any way. It simply means reputable dealers will request proof of identity and source of funds for substantial purchases, as standard anti-money laundering compliance.
The UK’s legal framework for gold also intersects with VAT legislation. Investment-grade gold, meaning bars at 99.5% purity or above, or qualifying coins minted after 1800 with at least 90% purity, qualifies for VAT exemption under HMRC’s investment gold guidance. Buying a gold Sovereign? No VAT. Buying a gold necklace as an investment vehicle? That falls entirely outside the exemption.
The answer, plainly: owning gold in the UK is completely legal, and the law gives you wide latitude to buy, hold, gift, or sell it as you see fit.
Do You Have to Tell HMRC When You Buy Gold?
Buying gold does not require notification to HMRC, but any profit from selling gold above the annual Capital Gains Tax allowance of £3,000 must be reported via a self-assessment tax return. HMRC treats physical gold and gold funds as chargeable assets subject to Capital Gains Tax.
The distinction matters more than most buyers initially realize. Purchasing gold is a private transaction. No forms, no disclosures, and no government notification required at the point of buying.
The obligation only arises when you sell, gift, or otherwise dispose of gold for a gain. At that point, HMRC treats any profit as a chargeable gain. For the 2024/25 tax year, the annual Capital Gains Tax exempt amount stands at £3,000 per individual. Keep total gains across all assets below that threshold and there is nothing to report. Exceed it, and you will need to file a self-assessment tax return disclosing the gain by January 31 following the tax year end.
Capital Gains Tax rates on gold currently stand at 18% for basic rate taxpayers and 24% for higher and additional rate taxpayers.
Those are meaningful numbers. Which is precisely why understanding the tax status of different gold products before you buy is one of the most valuable things you can do as an investor.
Not all gold is treated equally under UK tax law. Physical gold bars and foreign gold coins are standard chargeable assets, meaning any gains above the exempt amount are taxable. British gold coins including Sovereigns and Britannias are different. Because those coins are legal tender in the UK, they are classified as “currency” under the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992 and are therefore entirely exempt from Capital Gains Tax. You can accumulate, hold, and sell as many Sovereigns or Britannias as you like without ever needing to report a gain to HMRC. That is a genuinely significant tax advantage that a surprising number of investors overlook entirely.
For investors holding gold through a stocks and shares ISA, the position is even cleaner. Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) held inside an ISA grow and can be sold completely free of Capital Gains Tax, because gains within an ISA are sheltered from all UK tax. The full HMRC breakdown of how Capital Gains Tax is calculated covers the mechanics of different disposal types in detail.
The table below summarizes how different types of gold investment are treated for VAT and Capital Gains Tax purposes in the UK.
UK Gold Investment Types: VAT and Capital Gains Tax Treatment
| Gold Type | VAT Status | CGT Status | Must Report to HMRC? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold bullion bars (99.5%+ purity) | Zero-rated | Taxable above £3,000/year | Yes, if gains exceed £3,000 |
| British Sovereign coins | Zero-rated | CGT-exempt (legal tender) | No |
| British Britannia coins | Zero-rated | CGT-exempt (legal tender) | No |
| Gold ETFs (outside ISA) | Not applicable | Taxable above £3,000/year | Yes, if gains exceed £3,000 |
| Gold ETFs (inside ISA) | Not applicable | Fully tax-free | No |
| Gold jewelry | 20% VAT | Taxable above £3,000/year | Yes, if gains exceed £3,000 |
| Foreign gold coins | 20% VAT (typically) | Taxable above £3,000/year | Yes, if gains exceed £3,000 |
The practical conclusion from this table is clear. British Sovereign and Britannia coins offer the most tax-efficient route to physical gold ownership available to UK private investors, combining VAT exemption on purchase with complete CGT exemption on disposal. For larger positions, gold ETFs inside a stocks and shares ISA deliver equivalent tax-free growth without the storage and insurance costs that come with physical metal.
One final point on HMRC and inherited gold. If you receive gold as part of an estate, the metal is typically valued at its market price on the date of death for probate purposes, and any subsequent gain on disposal is calculated from that probate valuation rather than the original purchase price paid by the deceased. This can make inherited gold a surprisingly tax-efficient asset if prices have risen significantly since the original acquisition.
How Much Gold Can One Person Legally Hold in the UK?
There is no legal limit on how much gold one person can hold in the UK, and private individuals may own unlimited physical bullion bars and coins. Storage costs and insurance premiums become the real practical ceiling for most investors.
This is perhaps the most persistent misconception in the entire gold investment space. People assume there must be some kind of cap, perhaps linked to old exchange control regulations or triggered by anti-money laundering thresholds. There simply isn’t.
UK law places no ceiling on the quantity of physical gold you are permitted to own. A private individual could theoretically hold ten thousand gold bars without breaching any law relating to the act of ownership itself. The legal considerations for large gold positions relate entirely to the source of funds used to acquire the metal and the tax treatment of any eventual sale, not to the volume held at any given time.
In practice, most private investors hold gold in smaller quantities for very practical reasons.
Storage is the first constraint. A standard one-kilogram gold bar measures approximately 11.5 cm x 5.3 cm x 2.7 cm and is worth roughly £75,000 to £80,000 at current spot prices. Storing meaningful quantities at home requires a serious safe bolted to structural masonry, and most standard home contents insurance policies cap coverage for precious metals at between £1,000 and £2,500 unless you arrange specialist cover separately.
Professional bullion vaults change the economics considerably. A specialist vault service stores gold securely for a fee that typically runs between 0.1% and 0.15% of the gold’s market value per year. On a £100,000 holding, that works out to between £100 and £150 annually, which is a manageable carrying cost by most measures. Specialist insurance arranged through Lloyd’s of London underwriters can cover bullion at full market value, but premiums typically run between 0.5% and 1% of insured value per year, adding between £500 and £1,000 annually on a £100,000 position.
None of that represents a legal restriction on how much gold you can own. Those are simply the financial realities of holding significant physical wealth in metal form. The legal answer remains constant: there is no limit.
How Do You Buy Gold Legally and Store It Safely?
Buying gold legally in the UK requires purchasing from a reputable dealer, retaining purchase records for at least four years after the relevant tax year end, and understanding that gains above £3,000 per tax year trigger Capital Gains Tax reporting obligations.
This checklist outlines the steps for buying gold legally and storing it safely in the UK.
- Choose a gold dealer accredited by the London Bullion Market Association or listed on the Royal Mint’s approved retailer network to ensure product authenticity and regulatory compliance.
- Confirm whether the gold product qualifies for VAT exemption, as investment-grade bullion bars above 99.5% purity and qualifying UK coins minted after 1800 are zero-rated.
- Purchase British Sovereign or Britannia coins as a starting point if Capital Gains Tax minimization is a priority, as legal tender gold coins are fully CGT-exempt.
- Provide valid proof of identity and source of funds for transactions above £10,000, as regulated dealers must complete anti-money laundering verification for high-value purchases.
- Retain every purchase receipt, invoice, and dealer confirmation for at least four years after the end of the tax year in which any future sale or disposal occurs.
- Measure available home storage space before purchasing large bars, as a standard 400-troy-ounce bar measures approximately 25 cm x 7 cm x 4.5 cm and requires a substantial secured safe.
- Select a certified storage solution such as a home safe rated to EN14450 Grade S2 or above, or a professional bullion vault service for holdings valued above £5,000.
- Record the exact purchase date, spot price paid, and quantity of every acquisition to calculate accurate cost basis for future Capital Gains Tax reporting.
- Report any capital gain above £3,000 per tax year to HMRC via a self-assessment tax return by January 31 following the end of that tax year.
- Review gold holdings each April against the current annual Capital Gains Tax exempt amount to plan any disposals in a tax-efficient manner across multiple tax years.
The single most valuable piece of advice I can give any first-time gold buyer is this: start with British Sovereigns rather than bars. They come in fractional sizes including the half-Sovereign and quarter-Sovereign, they carry no VAT, they are fully CGT-exempt, and they are among the most liquid physical gold products available in the UK market.
I’ve watched investors rush into kilogram bars because the unit price per gram looks marginally tighter, only to discover that storage and insurance costs erode that marginal saving within twelve to eighteen months. And when it’s time to sell, a bar means finding a buyer for one large chunk of metal. Twenty Sovereigns can be sold in carefully timed batches to manage a tax position across different years, a flexibility that bars simply cannot offer.
Think of your approach the way you’d think about building a wine cellar. You wouldn’t buy one enormous barrel expecting it to serve every occasion. You’d buy individual bottles at different price points, store them properly, and sell when the time and the price both align.
Why Should You Understand Gold Ownership Laws Before You Invest?
The answer to “is owning gold legal?” is a simple and definitive yes. But the more useful question is “how do I own gold in the most legal, tax-efficient, and practically intelligent way possible?” and answering that requires understanding the complete picture.
The law is on your side.
The UK protects your right to own physical gold without restriction on quantity. The tax system is more nuanced, but entirely navigable once you understand which gold products carry CGT exemptions and how the annual allowance operates. The practical challenges around storage and insurance are real, but they have clear solutions at almost every budget.
Gold has preserved wealth across centuries precisely because it exists outside the banking system, holds intrinsic value, and is universally recognized as a store of worth. Whether you’re holding a handful of Sovereigns in a home safe or maintaining a diversified position across physical bullion, ETFs, and a stocks and shares ISA, the fundamentals are sound, the law is clear, and the path forward is well-defined.
Start small if this is new territory for you. Buy one gold Sovereign, understand what it means to hold physical gold, keep the receipt safely filed, and build from there.
Key Takeaways:
- Owning gold is entirely legal in the UK with no restriction on the quantity any private individual may hold, and no disclosure is required at the point of purchase.
- British Sovereign and Britannia coins are the most tax-efficient way to hold physical gold in the UK, carrying VAT exemption on purchase and full Capital Gains Tax exemption on disposal.
- Capital Gains Tax applies to gold bar and foreign coin disposals above the £3,000 annual exempt amount, and gains must be reported via a self-assessment tax return by January 31 following the relevant tax year.
Frequently Asked Questions: Is Owning Gold Legal?
1. Is owning gold legal in the UK for private individuals? Owning gold in the UK is entirely legal for private individuals, with no government restriction on the quantity purchased or held at any time. According to Wikipedia’s overview of gold as an investment, physical gold has served as a recognized wealth preservation strategy for thousands of years and remains fully legal across virtually all major economies today.
2. Do I need a license or permit to buy gold in the UK? No license or permit is required to purchase gold in the UK as a private individual. Regulated dealers must verify identity for transactions above certain anti-money laundering thresholds, but this is a dealer compliance obligation rather than a personal licensing requirement placed on the buyer.
3. Do I have to tell HMRC when I buy gold? There is no requirement to notify HMRC at the point of purchasing gold in the UK. HMRC’s interest begins only when gold is disposed of for a gain that exceeds the annual Capital Gains Tax exempt amount for that tax year.
4. Do I have to pay tax when I sell gold in the UK? Selling gold for a profit above the £3,000 annual Capital Gains Tax exempt amount for 2024/25 triggers a CGT liability that must be reported. Current CGT rates on gold disposals stand at 18% for basic rate taxpayers and 24% for higher and additional rate taxpayers following October 2024 budget changes.
5. Are British Sovereign coins exempt from Capital Gains Tax? British Sovereign coins are fully exempt from Capital Gains Tax because Sovereign coins hold legal tender status in the United Kingdom. Under the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, currency is excluded from CGT, and Sovereigns qualify as UK legal tender regardless of how many are held.
6. How much gold can I legally hold in the UK? There is no legal maximum on the quantity of physical gold a private individual may hold in the UK at any time. Practical constraints around storage costs and specialist insurance premiums determine how much gold most investors hold in reality, rather than any statutory threshold.
7. How much gold can I buy before HMRC becomes involved? There is no minimum purchase amount that triggers an HMRC notification obligation when buying gold. HMRC becomes relevant only when gold is disposed of and a capital gain above the £3,000 annual exempt amount is realized during that tax year.
8. Is gold jewelry taxed differently from gold bullion in the UK? Gold jewelry does not qualify for investment gold VAT exemption and is subject to 20% VAT at the point of purchase. Any profit realized from selling gold jewelry above the annual CGT exempt amount is also subject to Capital Gains Tax, making jewelry a significantly less tax-efficient holding than investment-grade bullion or UK legal tender coins.
9. Can I store gold at home legally in the UK? Storing gold at home is entirely legal in the UK, with no regulation governing where private individuals must keep physical gold holdings. Standard home contents insurance policies almost universally cap precious metals coverage at between £1,000 and £2,500, so specialist insurance cover is strongly advisable for any holding above that value.
10. Does gold attract inheritance tax in the UK? Physical gold held at death forms part of the deceased’s estate and is subject to inheritance tax at 40% above the nil-rate band threshold of £325,000. Unlike some business assets, physical gold does not qualify for Business Relief, meaning the full market value of a gold holding is assessable for inheritance tax purposes.
11. What is the most tax-efficient way to own gold in the UK? British Sovereign and Britannia coins are the most tax-efficient form of physical gold ownership in the UK, combining VAT exemption on purchase with complete CGT exemption on any gain at disposal. Gold ETFs held inside a stocks and shares ISA provide equivalent tax-free growth for investors who prefer not to manage the storage and insurance costs of physical metal.
12. Is there a risk that gold ownership could become illegal in the UK? There is no current indication that UK law will restrict private gold ownership in the foreseeable future, and the abolition of exchange controls in 1979 represented a deliberate and permanent policy shift toward financial liberalization. The legal right to own gold in the UK is grounded in settled property law and would require significant primary legislation to alter.
