The glitter of gold goes beyond all borders, but you still need to be careful while crossing one! Most travellers and tourists have questions when taking gold on a journey. If you ask is it legal to cross international borders with good amount of gold? Will you need to declare the gold to the airport officials? We would answer ‘Yes’! You can travel with gold and precious metals, but if it exceeds a certain amount, you have to declare it to the customs. Here’s all what you need to know.
Customs duty on gold when travelling to India
According to Indian rules and regulations, in India you do not pay customs duty on gold ornaments but duty applies to gold biscuits, bars, and coins. A duty-free allowance of up to Rs 50,000 for men and Rs 1 lakh for women is applicable. For Indians who have lived abroad for six months or longer, carrying up to 1kg of gold to India is allowed but a customs gold duty of 10% will be applicable. This percentage is usually dependant on the allowable limit of gold that a passenger can carry.
If you are carrying more than 1kg of gold then you will have to pay a duty of 36.05% on the excess amount. Customs officials do not seize gold without any reason. To be on the safer side always make the correct and in detailed declaration to the customs officials. Once you do this, carrying gold in or out of the country will not be a problem at all.
Rules when carrying gold out of India
While travelling abroad, if you buy gold jewellery in India and carry it to a foreign country, then you will not have to pay customs duty on it. The jewellery that is taken out of India must be only for personal use and not commercial purposes, as the jewellery you are carrying cannot be taken in your luggage. Though there is no upper limit on the amount of gold that can be taken out of the country, if you plan to bring it back later, then you will have to pay customs duty. You can also avoid this situation, by getting an export certificate from the customs department that contain all details of the amount of gold you carried out of India. So, when you come back to India with the same valuables, you will not be charged any duty on it. While travelling out of India, it is a wise idea to have the receipt of the gold jewellery bought in India in case customs officials ask.
