The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation issued a notice regarding tax policies related to gold

On November 1st, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation issued an announcement regarding the tax policies related to gold. When member units purchase standard gold for investment purposes, the exchange implements immediate VAT refund, while exempting urban maintenance and construction tax and education fee surcharge, and issues a special VAT invoice to the buying member unit based on the actual transaction price. If the buying member unit directly sells the standard gold or processes it into investment gold products (excluding legal gold currency issued with the approval of the People's Bank of China) and sells it, they should pay VAT according to current regulations and issue a regular invoice to the buyer, and cannot issue a special VAT invoice. For member units purchasing standard gold for non-investment purposes, the exchange exempts VAT and issues a regular invoice to the buying member unit based on the actual transaction price. If the buying member unit is a general VAT taxpayer, the input tax amount is calculated based on the amount indicated on the regular invoice and a 6% deduction rate. If the buying member unit processes the standard gold into non-investment gold products and sells them, they should pay VAT according to current regulations and can issue a special VAT invoice to the buyer.

Announcement on Tax Policies Related to Gold

Ministry of Finance State Administration of Taxation No. 11, 2025

The tax policies related to gold are announced as follows:

1. When member units or clients trade standard gold through the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange (hereinafter referred to as the exchange), the seller member unit or client is exempt from VAT when selling standard gold. If there is no physical delivery, the exchange exempts VAT; if physical delivery occurs, the following VAT policies apply:

   (1) When member units purchase standard gold for investment purposes, the exchange implements immediate VAT refund, while exempting urban maintenance and construction tax and education fee surcharge, and issues a special VAT invoice to the buying member unit based on the actual transaction price. If the buying member unit directly sells the standard gold or processes it into investment gold products (excluding legal gold currency issued with the approval of the People's Bank of China) and sells it, they should pay VAT according to current regulations and issue a regular invoice to the buyer, and cannot issue a special VAT invoice.

   Member units approved by the People's Bank of China to produce and issue legal gold currency, when purchasing standard gold from the exchange and producing and selling legal gold currency (excluding panda coins exempt from VAT), should pay VAT according to current regulations and can issue a special VAT invoice to the buyer.

   (2) When member units purchase standard gold for non-investment purposes, the exchange exempts VAT and issues a regular invoice to the buying member unit based on the actual transaction price. If the buying member unit is a general VAT taxpayer, the input tax amount is calculated based on the amount indicated on the regular invoice and a 6% deduction rate. If the buying member unit processes the standard gold into non-investment gold products and sells them, they should pay VAT according to current regulations and can issue a special VAT invoice to the buyer.

   (3) When clients purchase standard gold, the exchange exempts VAT and issues a regular invoice to the buying client based on the actual transaction price. If the client is a general VAT taxpayer, the input tax amount is calculated based on the amount indicated on the regular invoice and a 6% deduction rate. If the buying client directly sells the standard gold or processes it and sells it, they should pay VAT according to current regulations and can issue a special VAT invoice to the buyer

2. Taxpayers who do not sell standard gold through the exchange shall pay value-added tax in accordance with current regulations.

3. The member units referred to in this announcement are those registered as members according to the Articles of Association of the Shanghai Gold Exchange. The scope of applicable member unit policies for the Shanghai Futures Exchange is the same.

The clients referred to in this announcement are those registered and filed according to the Articles of Association of the Shanghai Gold Exchange. Trading entities outside the aforementioned member units of the Shanghai Futures Exchange are subject to the policies regarding clients in this announcement.

1. The standard gold referred to in this announcement is gold raw materials that meet the following standards in both brand and specification:

Brand: AU99.99, AU99.95, AU99.9, AU99.5;

Specification: 50 grams, 100 grams, 1 kilogram, 3 kilograms, 12.5 kilograms.

1. The investment purposes referred to in this announcement include direct sales, as well as the processing and production of gold bars, gold blocks, gold ingots, or gold coins with a gold content of 99.5% or above, or legal gold currency issued with the approval of the People's Bank of China. Non-investment purposes refer to situations other than investment purposes.

2. The physical delivery and withdrawal referred to in this announcement means that the member unit or client will extract gold from the designated vault of the exchange that has been traded or delivered.

3. For member units purchasing standard gold from the exchange for investment purposes and engaging in physical delivery and withdrawal, the unit price, amount, and tax amount of the value-added tax special invoice shall be determined as follows:

(1) For the Shanghai Gold Exchange:

Unit price = Actual transaction unit price ÷ (1 + value-added tax rate)

Amount = Unit price × Quantity

Tax amount = Amount × Value-added tax rate

Actual transaction unit price = Actual transaction amount ÷ (Standard gold transaction quantity + excess/short weight)

Actual transaction amount = Transaction amount + excess/short amount

Transaction amount = Standard gold transaction quantity × Standard gold actual transaction unit price

Excess/short amount = Excess/short weight × Excess/short settlement price (the excess/short settlement price is determined according to trading rules)

(2) For the Shanghai Futures Exchange:

Unit price = Actual delivery price ÷ (1 + value-added tax rate)

Amount = Unit price × Quantity

Tax amount = Amount × Value-added tax rate

Actual delivery price = Actual delivery payment ÷ Pickup quantity

Actual delivery payment = Delivery payment + Excess/short settlement payment

Delivery payment = Number of standard warehouse receipts × Standard quantity per receipt × Delivery settlement price

Excess/short settlement payment = Excess/short weight × Settlement price of the most recent month’s gold futures contract traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange on the trading day prior to the excess/short settlement date

The actual transaction price referred to in this announcement is the actual transaction amount of the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the actual delivery payment of the Shanghai Futures Exchange, determined according to the last in, first out principle, excluding transaction fees, handling fees, storage fees, and other costs.

1. If a member unit purchases standard gold from the exchange and the actual use changes after physical delivery and withdrawal, it shall report the change of use information to the exchange before the change occurs. The member unit shall submit the application for change of use within 6 months from the month of obtaining the corresponding invoice issued by the exchange for the physical delivery and withdrawal of standard gold, and only one application for change of use is allowed; if it exceeds 6 months, the exchange shall not reissue the invoice. Specific handling shall be in accordance with the following regulations:

2. If the purpose changes from investment to non-investment, the exchange will change from immediate VAT refund to exemption from VAT. It should issue a full red-letter VAT special invoice to the purchasing member unit and reissue a full ordinary invoice. The VAT refund already obtained does not need to be returned; the member unit should treat the input tax amount that has been deducted according to the VAT special invoice as a transfer out and calculate the input tax according to the amount indicated on the ordinary invoice and a deduction rate of 6%.

3. If the purpose changes from non-investment to investment, the exchange will change from exemption from VAT to immediate VAT refund. It should issue a full red-letter ordinary invoice to the purchasing member unit and reissue a full VAT special invoice; the member unit should treat the input tax amount that has been deducted according to the amount indicated on the ordinary invoice and a deduction rate of 6% as a transfer out and deduct the input tax according to the VAT amount indicated on the special invoice.

4. Before the implementation of this announcement, if member units purchase standard gold from the exchange and have physical delivery and outbound, after the implementation of this announcement, if they directly sell or process and then sell the standard gold, it should be regarded as the sale of standard gold for investment purposes. VAT should be paid according to the provisions of item (1) of this announcement, and an ordinary invoice should be issued to the buyer, and a VAT special invoice should not be issued. If the member unit needs to issue a VAT special invoice to the buyer, the exchange will change from immediate VAT refund to exemption from VAT, and should issue a full red-letter VAT special invoice to the member unit and reissue a full ordinary invoice. The VAT refund already obtained does not need to be returned; the member unit should treat the input tax amount that has been deducted according to the VAT special invoice as a transfer out and calculate the input tax according to the amount indicated on the ordinary invoice and a deduction rate of 6%.

5. The transaction fees, handling fees, storage fees, and other fees collected by the exchange should be subject to VAT according to current regulations.

Member units purchasing standard gold and applying for physical delivery and outbound should truthfully declare the purpose of purchasing standard gold to the exchange and accurately record the actual use, consumption quantity, and other information of the purchased standard gold.

1. If a member unit fails to report the change of purpose to the exchange before the purpose changes and does not issue VAT special invoices according to the provisions of this announcement, if discovered for the first time, within three months from the month following the discovery, if the member unit has physical delivery and outbound of standard gold purchased through the exchange, the exchange will change from the immediate VAT refund policy to the exemption from VAT policy, and suspend issuing VAT special invoices and ordinary invoices with deduction functions to that member unit; if discovered again and subsequently, within six months from the month following the discovery, if the member unit has physical delivery and outbound of standard gold purchased through the exchange, the exchange will change from the immediate VAT refund policy to the exemption from VAT policy, and suspend issuing VAT special invoices and ordinary invoices with deduction functions to that member unit.

If a member unit or customer engages in significant tax violations such as using gold tax policies to fraudulently obtain export tax refunds or issuing false VAT special invoices, from the month following the issuance of the penalty decision, if they have physical delivery and outbound of standard gold purchased through the exchange, the exchange will change from the immediate VAT refund policy to the exemption from VAT policy, and shall not issue VAT special invoices and ordinary invoices with deduction functions 12. The management measures for the collection of value-added tax on gold traded through exchanges will be formulated separately by the State Administration of Taxation.

1. This announcement will be implemented from November 1, 2025, and will remain in effect until December 31, 2027, with the applicable time based on the date of physical delivery and outflow. Articles 2, 4, and 5 of the "Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation on Tax Policies for Gold" (Cai Shui [2002] No. 142) and the "Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation on Tax Policies Related to Gold Futures Trading" (Cai Shui [2008] No. 5) will be abolished from November 1, 2025.

This is hereby announced.

Ministry of Finance State Administration of Taxation

October 29, 2025