How much tax will I have to pay when I sell gold?

The price of gold is currently skyrocketing, with some days reaching record highs.

Some people who own gold may be considering selling it.

One of the topics of concern is how much tax will be charged when selling.

This time I will write about how much tax will be charged when selling gold.

Tax calculation method when selling gold is comprehensive taxation

For income related to salaries, business, pensions, etc., taxes are calculated by adding up the various income amounts.

This is called comprehensive taxation.

In the case of comprehensive taxation, taxes are calculated by multiplying income by a rate between 5% and 45%.

The higher the amount of income, the higher the tax rate will be applied.
(The technical term is called progressive taxation.)

On the other hand, when you sell real estate or stocks, the income is divided and tax is calculated for each category of real estate or stocks.

This is called separate taxation.

In the case of separate taxation, a fixed tax rate is applied regardless of the amount of income.

Sales of gold are subject to comprehensive taxation.

Specific calculation example

The amount of income from selling gold is calculated using the following formula.

Gold capital gain amount = Sales amount – Acquisition costs – Transfer costs such as sales fees – 500,000 yen (special deduction)

If the gold holding period exceeds 5 years, the income amount will be 1/2 of the amount calculated using the above formula.

Here’s specifically calculation in case of the short-term holding of gold (less than 5 years) and the long-term holding (more than 5 years).

1. If the gold holding period is 4 years

Assume that the gold sales amount is 10 million yen, the gold acquisition amount is 3 million yen, and the sales fee is 100,000 yen.

The amount of capital gain on gold is following.

10 million yen – 3 million yen – 100,000 yen – 500,000 yen = 6.4 million yen

2. If the gold holding period is 6 years

As in 1, assume that the gold sales amount is 10 million yen, the gold acquisition amount is 3 million yen, and the sales fee is 100,000 yen.

The amount of capital gain on gold is following.

(10 million yen – 3 million yen – 100,000 yen – 500,000 yen) x 1/2 = 3.2 million yen

The amount of income calculated for each is added up with income from salary, business, pension, etc. to calculate taxes.

Assuming that there is no other income and only gold sale gains, the tax amount in the above example is roughly calculated as follows:

For example 1,

6.4 million yen × 20% – 427,500 = 852,500 yen

For example 2,

3.2 million yen × 10% – 97,500 = 222,500 yen

In addition, resident tax (10%) is also charged in addition to income tax.

In summary, you will pay the following tax amount.

	Short-term holding (5 years or less)	Long-term holding (more than 5 years)
Income tax	852,500 yen	222,500 yen
Resident tax	640,000 yen	320,000 yen
TOTAL	1,492,500 yen	542,500 yen

Even if you sell gold for the same amount, your tax burden will be reduced if you sell it after holding it for more than five years.

In conclusion

This time I wrote about how much tax will be charged when selling gold.

If you hold gold for more than 5 years, the method of calculating your income will change and your tax burden will change significantly.

It’s a good idea to take the five-year period into consideration when selling gold.

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都築太郎税理士事務所/Tsuzuki Taro Tax Accountant Office

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