SINGAPORE (Commodity Online): Singapore has revealed that Gold will not be subject to taxes with effect from October 2012, thus seeking to make the country into a gold trading hub. The move is expected to attract investments in the area since the 7% Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been completely removed.
Many companies that operate in the precious metals vault business will now find Singapore an attractive choice of setting up their business. JP Morgan Chase & Co had already built a vault in 2010. Miners had earlier opted to mould and sell gold bars in Hong Kong (which does not tax gold) but with the GST being scrapped, they are expected to become increasingly interested in starting business activities in Singapore.
"We will facilitate the development of gold trading which can draw on Singapore's strengths as a financial and trading hub to meet strong demand for investment-grade gold in Asia. Investment-grade gold and other precious metals are essentially financial assets that are actively traded and are just like other financial instruments that do not attract GST. I will therefore exempt them from GST”, Finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam had said in the parliament last week.
