OK, heres a bit of info i have to pass on to you.A couple of weeks ago i imported a !oz credit suisse wtc bar.Customs charged me vat and import duty on it! my understanding was gold bullion is vat exempt so with a bit of research i found bullion with a purity of .995 thousandths is indeed exempt,so i tried to claim back the vat (value added tax charged at 17.5%) what a performance, customs kept giving me a tarriff code for jewellery and insisting it was chargable,after numerous calls (two days on and off) i managed to prompt them to their web site to look up what they should allready know and send a letter out for me to sign.
Now i have to go elsewhere to claim back the duty! in a nut shell if you get charged tax FIGHT IT! gold coins and bullion for investmant is vat exempt since 2001 under a EU agreement to make the price uniform.
hope this helps.