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Comment by xcdzvyn | Hacker News Reader

I like that Perth Mint considers "Australian legal tender" a feature of a $6,000 coin

The British mint explains that this makes their bullion coins exempt from capital gains tax: https://www.royalmint.com/invest/bullion/uk-coin-ranges/sove...

There are probably similar rules in other countries.

thanks for the info, I hadn't realised that it's so blantant easy to avoid tax like that

It's a 'feature' 49 coins @ $200 each is less than $10,000 in legal tender and doesn't have to be declared as a cash transaction or carry on cash.

Also handy for reducing transfer taxes on house purchases - you can have a higly qualified QC (fancy lawyer) swear affidavits that they witnessed the purchase of a house for an absurdly low amount and therefore the required tax is correct despite being so low.

I don't think I'll be retaining you as my tax advisor.

As a point of law it comes down to jurisdiction and whether the gold loophole has been closed.

If a seller offers a house for $6,000,000 and an offer is made to pay $200,000 in legal tender of that country .. and the seller accepts ... what is the sales tax?

Is it calculated from the $200,000 in legal tender which was witnesed by officers of the highest standing, or is it calculated from the metal value of the coins ($6 million)?

You really don't want a tax advisor on this, you want an authoritive legal opinion.

It is a loophole that has been exploited in various countries at various times - but you'd want to be sure of current laws if you're tempted to go that route.

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