Bullion silver coins are more than the every man’s precious metal investment. Every portfolio should have both gold and silver coins or bars. The smaller your investment, the higher percentage you should hold in silver. But even the largest portfolios with over hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in precious metals should have a mix of gold and silver bullion, despite the challenge of storing that much silver. Silver has a higher growth potential than gold and it’s easily obtainable.
The single most important thing you need to know about buying silver as an investment is this: pay the lowest possible price. There are a number factors that go into the price you wind up paying for silver coins.
#1 The Spot Price of Silver
The spot price is also the current price of silver today as it’s being traded. You can check spot silver prices on any chart with most gold and silver dealers online to find the most up-to-date information. Always check silver spot prices before you buy.
#2 Premiums
Premiums are the price over spot that you pay for gold and silver coins. It costs money to produce precious metal products and for dealers to sell it to retail customers and investors. You can usually reduce this cost by going online with dealers like Silver Gold Bull in Canada.
#3 Sales Tax
When you buy silver coins, many jurisdictions charge a sales tax on top of the spot price and premiums. If you pay zero sales tax on silver, you’re investing in silver coins the right way.
In Europe, sales tax is called VAT, and European countries have some of the highest sales taxes on silver coins. In some countries, gold bullion is exempt but silver coins are not. Switzerland has one of the lowest VATs at only 8%, while that number goes up to 19% in Germany (still one of the lowest in the EU). In the UK and Austria, the VAT is 20%, while Finland is at the top with 24%.
However, if you want to buy silver coins in Europe without any VAT at all, Norway and Estonia are your only options.
If you live in Canada, you’re in luck. Pure bullion gold and silver coins are exempt from HST. Most other goods and services in Canada are taxed 5% federally plus a provincial tax rate. Other types of silver coins, such as collectibles that aren’t .999 pure silver will have HST applied. Gold and silver dealers like Silver Gold Bull will either add the HST to your checkout or let you handle the taxes yourself.
In the United States, sales tax gets complicated and often it depends on how much you’re buying. In about half of all states, there are no sales taxes on bullion silver coins, while in several states, silver coins are exempt on purchases of over $1,000 or $1,500, such as New York, California, Massachusetts, and Maryland.
Wherever you can save on the cost of buying silver coins, you’re improving your bottom line.
