October 2012 Silver Bullion Newsletter- October Tax Details and S.T.A.R Delivery Requests

Dear Subscriber,

This is a reminder that you can submit your S.T.A.R. Storage delivery request for our bulk Singapore deliveries in early October.

As you know A-Mark bars will not be tax exempt so we are offering SWAP option for these bars. See "Bulk Parcel Delivery Process - October 2012" below for more details.

We have standardized our bullion offering to be IPM compliant bullion Tax Free only. This means that we will no longer sell American Gold Eagles, A-Mark bars and Palladium Credit Suisse bars locally. If you have bought such bars/coins from us at an earlier stage we are happy to buy them back as usual however. Our buyback rates are published on our website.

There will be a website update on September 30th to apply the new GST exemptions. We are also discontinuing the export permit program which allows for tax free exports as the new GST exemptions are making this option redundant.

The first day of October is about a week away but some S.T.A.R. Storage customers are looking forward to the big day. It will be the day (1 October 2012) where Investment Precious Metals (IPM) GST Exemptions come into effect.

Since the beginning of the year, local customers have been purchasing bullion (without GST and at a tier discounted price) from us and storing the bullion at the Singapore FreePort. Taking delivery will be extremely exciting for these customers as many of them have been waiting for months to hold their bullion.

We are equally excited and have been making preparations for a smooth delivery of the bullion parcels. To help customers save on the local delivery cost of $299, Silver Bullion will be arranging for a bulk delivery of the bullion parcels to our office during the first week of October. Customers who submit their delivery orders by Friday September 28th can then pick up their bullion as part of the first bulk delivery on or after 5 October 2012 at our Certis Cisco Location. We will schedule a second bulk delivery by the middle of October for delivery orders that are received after September 28th. If you have not scheduled your pick up date, you may do so by logging in to your account, click on the “STORAGE” link and click on the button ‘Request Singapore Delivery’.

A-Mark bars, upon importation to Singapore, will still be taxable and subject to the 7% GST. To avoid taxation on bullion, we offer A-Mark parcel owners within the month of October the option to swap their parcels for alternative tax free bullion products which you can pick up from our office.

• A single 100 oz t Royal Canadian Mint or Johnson Matthey bar - we would refund you SGD 85.00 per A-Mark bar mini parcel on collection.
• 10 x 10 oz t Perth Mint bars - an additional SGD 60.00 per swapped parcel will be due on collection. - Currently unavailable
• 10 x 10 oz t Perth Mint 2012 Kookaburra coins - an additional SGD 60.00 per swapped parcel will be due on collection.

Please indicate in the comments field that you intend to "swap-deliver" your selected A-Mark parcels and the type of bullion (see list above) you want to swap for.

Any outstanding amount can be settled with cash or cheque when you pick up your bullion in our office. For those who wish to continue enjoying the convenience and security of storing their bullion in the Singapore FreePort, you may do so by extending all your parcel storage to a new date.

If you need further clarification, you may contact us at [email protected].

The following screenshot shows how you can swap and take delivery of your bullion in Singapore in seven easy steps.

The following investment coins are classified as Investment Precious Metals (IPM) in Singapore and will be GST exempt 1 October 2012 onward.

GOLD

1. America Buffalo
2. Australia Kangaroo Nugget
3. Australia Lunar
4. Austria Philharmoniker
5. Canada Maple Leaf
6. China Panda
7. Malaysia Kijang Emas
8. Mexico Libertad
9. Singapore Lion

SILVER

1. America Eagle
2. Australia Kookaburra
3. Australia Koala
4. Australia Lunar
5. Austria Philharmoniker
6. Canada Maple Leaf
7. China Panda
8. Mexico Libertad

PLATINUM

1. America Eagle
2. Australia Koala
3. Australia Platypus
4. Canada Maple Leaf

IPM status and tax exemptions for bars is determined according to the refiner (producer) of the bar as follows:

• For gold and silver, a refiner included in the current or former Good Delivery list of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)
  • See List of Silver LBMA members
  • See List of Gold LBMA members
• For platinum, a refiner included in the current or former Good Delivery . list of the London Platinum & Palladium Market (LPPM)
  • See List of LPPM members

Beside the above list IE Singapore can add additional refiners.

• There are no additional refiners qualified by IE Singapore currently. It is unlikely that any additional refiners will be added by IE until next year at the earliest.

The "Time of Supply" determines the date a transaction has occurred for GST purposes.
Transactions prior to 1 October are not tax exempt and the IRAS Tax Guide re-iterates (paragraphs 6.4 to 6.6) that time of supply is the earlier of:

• Invoice date for the sale of IPM or
• Payment receipt date for the sale of goods.

• Silver Maple Leafs -2012 coins are available in quantity for S.T.A.R. Storage and we will be taking delivery of new shipments post October 1st locally. This is still the most popular bullion coin in Singapore.
   
• Silver American Eagles -The 2012 edition of the coins are available both locally and S.T.A.R. Storage, this silver coin is tax exempt, unlike the gold version.
   
• Johnson Matthey 100 oz Poured Silver Bars - Production of JM bars is constrained due to extensive foundry maintenance. Availability of JM bars is still good locally but on back-order on S.T.A.R. Storage. We expect a partial shipment to fulfill most current pre-orders but availability is unlikely to come back until late October.
   
• .9999 Royal Canadian Mint 100 oz Silver Bars - These RCM bars are a great alternative to JM bars. Purity is extraordinary at .9999 instead of the usual .999 and their format makes for very efficient storage, they also come with a serial number and, like the JM bars, are IPM approved. A large shipment will be arriving under S.T.A.R. Storage soon and we will be taking local delivery from the vault in early October.
   
• A-Mark Bars - Will no longer be sold locally but is still available under Bonded S.T.A.R. Storage. These bars are taxable upon import to Singapore so no new shipments will be requested. A local alternative, although more expensive, are the 10 oz Perth Mint  bars or 10 oz Perth Mint Coins.
   
• Gold - Gold Maple Leafs as well as Credit Suisse and JM bars are tax exempt. A gold shipment has recently arrived under S.T.A.R. Storage and we will be importing more gold post October 1st into Singapore.

• Perth Mint Coins and Bars - Availability of most Coins and Bars is good locally. Stocks might fall quickly post October 1st however. 
   
• Silver Vienna Philharmonics - Availability is good and is likely to start selling well after October 1st.
   
• Libertad Coins - Most of the existing stock has been reserved. A new shipment is expected in early November.
   
• Platinum & Palladium Bullion - Credit Suisse Palladium 1 oz bars are not IPM approved as Palladium is not tax free. We have therefore discontinued sale of Palladium Bars. Credit Suisse Platinum bars are available locally.

See more products and prices at www.SilverBullion.com.sg.

Information provided here should not be considered as advice or as an offer or enticement to buy, sell or trade. The contents of this publication, including any opinions and analysis, are strictly intended for educational use. Opinions expressed in bylined articles are those of the individual author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Silver Bullion Pte Ltd.

Silver Bullion Pte Ltd. makes no warranties, whether expressed or implied, as to the accuracy of the information provided or for eventual results obtained by using the information. In no case shall Silver Bullion Pte Ltd. be liable for direct, indirect, or incidental damages resulting from the use of the information.

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