How do I calculate capital gain tax on the sell of precious metals?

 Author: PollyATO(Community Support)Community Support

16 July 2026

Hey there @Stacker_2340,

If you held the gold and silver as an investment, CGT may apply when you sell them. If a capital gain arises, you can use any carried-forward capital losses to reduce that gain.

Seeing as you've held the metals for more than 12 months, you may also be entitled to the 50% CGT discount after applying any available capital losses.

You'll need to work out the cost base. If you no longer have all your purchase records, you should make a reasonable effort to reconstruct them using information such as:

• bank statements
• dealer records
• invoices you still have
• emails
• insurance records
• any other documents that help show what you paid and when you acquired the metals.

Keep records of how you arrived at your estimates.

When you've worked out your best estimate of the cost base, you can compare it with the sale proceeds to calculate any capital gain or capital loss. Any carried-forward capital losses can be applied against your capital gains before applying any CGT discount.

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