Category: Blog

Dear Valued Clients,

As announced in Budget 2022 by the Minister of Finance, the GST rate will be increased from 7% to 8% with effect from 1 January 2023 and from 8% to 9% with effect from 1 January 2024.

Starting on 1 Jan 2023, GoldSilver Central will begin collecting GST at this new rate of 8% on our products (except for those defined under Investment Precious Metals which are GST exempted in the GST Act) and services to clients. Examples of services which will be subject to 8% with effect from 1 Jan 2023 are:

1) Storage charges under GSC Bullion Storage Program

2) Handling and Transfer fees under GSC Bullion Storage Program

2) Storage fees under GSC Savings Accumulation Program (“GSAP”)

Please note that for purchases of goods and services with us on or after 1 Jan 2023, GST will be chargeable at 8% unless full payment is received by 31 December 2022.

For more information, please refer to the following Government announcements below:

GST Rate Change (consumer):
GST Rate Change for Consumers (iras.gov.sg)

rate-change-flowchart-for-consumers.pdf (iras.gov.sg)

GST Rate Change (business):
IRAS | Overview of GST Rate Change

etaxguide_2023-gst-rate-change—a-guide-for-gst-registered-businesses_1st-edition.pdf (iras.gov.sg)

 

Thank you.

 

 

What are the Retail Gold Investment Principles (RGIPs)… and more importantly, how does it impact investors?

Retail Gold is global — with private investors holding approximately 45,000 tonnes of Gold in bars and coins (that’s around 22% of all the Gold mined throughout history). In fact, bar and coin demand accounts for 25% of annual global Gold demand — representing over 1,000t of retail Gold investment each year. But, beyond bars, coins, and collectibles, Gold ownership has long transcended the need for physical storage. As technology continues to pervade many aspects in our modern lifestyles, investors have also now begun to own Gold in digital formats vaulted on investor’s behalf and operated via mobile apps and websites.

Although retail Gold markets generally operate under local regulation in different jurisdictions, more initiatives were mooted on ways to enhance transparency and build further trust in the retail Gold marketplace. Subsequently, after conducting in-depth research globally, the World Gold Council developed the Retail Gold Investment Principles (RGIPs) as a set of guidelines to steer deeper trust and build relationship between Gold investors and their service providers for a sustainable healthier retail Gold marketplace.

Determined to benefit both retail investors and industry practitioners, the RGIPs was first established by The World Gold Council in August 2020. A recommended checklist of seven listed principles form the basis of how service providers should operate and how investors can identify trustworthy providers fulfilling these guidelines in the diverse retail Gold market.

Since its release, the World Gold Council’s guides have made quite the global impact with adoption in key markets like Singapore, India, China, Germany and North America. Subsequently, the World Gold Council continues to advocate adherence to the Retail Gold Investment Principles by engaging providers and stakeholders worldwide.

These efforts include:

• Tailoring and detailing the principles and guidance to local market requirements
• Establishing industry working groups
• Evaluating ways providers can independently demonstrate that they conform to the principles, and more

So this is just our first snippet of RGIPs and we hope that you have a better understanding of why this topic will feature regularly in our upcoming articles. We will be covering each principle area in the coming weeks so please stay tuned to our blog. Feel free to reach out to us at +65 62229703 or [email protected] if you have any feedback or comments to add. Meanwhile, stay safe.

 

We understand authenticity is one of the greatest concerns when comes to buying pre-loved jewellery. Other than buying from a legitimate or reputable gold dealer to lower counterfeit risks, what else can we do to ensure the authenticity of the jewellery to avoid disappointment and losses? Here are some general guides which may be useful for consumers.

Hallmark: Gold jewellery is usually stamped with markings indicating its purity in terms of karat. For example, a “916”stamp means that the piece is 91.6% of it is gold, which corresponds to 22 karats. However, there is no guarantee that the stamp is accurate especially for hallmarks not done in Singapore and for jewellery bought long ago.

 

Magnetic test:

Pure Gold will not be attracted to a magnet. At Kim Gold, we have a Magnetic Bullion Tester to measure the attraction of the Gold pieces to the strong magnet in the device. At home, you can simply test it with magnet. If your gold was attracted to a magnet, you know for sure it is not pure gold and the Gold content of the item might be low.

 

 

 

Gold Testing Machine:

Kim Gold uses a XRF Analyzer to authenticate all pre-loved jewellery. The machines can analyze the exact composition of metals within the jewellery for example the percentage of Gold, Silver, Copper, Zinc content it contains just to name a few. Clients can have full confidence in the authenticity of the jewellery bought from Kim Gold.

 

 

 

We hope that you have learnt something from our guide to buying pre-loved jewellery. If you have doubt in your gold jewellery, feel free to send us a message! At Kim Gold, we are proud to have a team of in house jewellery experts to resolve your concerns!