Gold & Taxation

Gold & Taxation is the first and only dedicated treatise in India on the taxation of gold and silver across all forms of ownership, investment, and trade. Now in its Fifth Edition, the book has been comprehensively revised to incorporate the Income-tax Act 2025 (ITA 2025), the Union Budget 2026, and the latest GST framework applicable to the gold and silver sector.

The book's scope is comprehensive. It covers gold in all its forms—jewellery, ornaments, coins, biscuits, bars, utensils, Gold ETFs, Sovereign Gold Bonds, Gold Mutual Funds, Electronic Gold Receipts, gold futures and options, and gold held in bank lockers. Silver is treated as a co-equal subject, with its own dedicated chapter covering jewellery, coins, bars, silverware, and Silver ETFs. GST is addressed at the retail and trader levels, and through the full apparatus of HSN codes, rates, input tax credit, and compliance forms.

The writing style is a deliberate departure from the impenetrable prose typical of legal reference books. The author deploys anecdote, wit, rhetorical questions, and worked examples alongside hard statutory text, making the book genuinely engaging. The preface itself opens with a conversation between Chitragupta and a wealthy soul who failed to pay income tax on his gold—immediately signalling the register in which the book operates.

The book serves a wide but defined audience, each segment finding something directly actionable:

• Individual Taxpayers and Families who own gold and want to understand what they can legally hold, how to document it, what happens during an income-tax raid, and how to plan capital gains efficiently
• Women and Families Navigating Stridhan Claims—the book provides a definitive and deeply cited treatment of stridhan under Hindu law and income-tax law, supported by High Court and Tribunal rulings, making it essential reading for anyone whose jewellery might face scrutiny
• Jewellers, Bullion Traders, Karigar Operators, and Goldsmith Businesses who need authoritative guidance on books of account, FIFO compliance, GST registration, Input Tax Credit mechanics, reverse charge, job worker provisions, making charges, and the consequences of LIFO adoption
• Chartered Accountants, Tax Advocates, and Consultants representing clients in search and seizure matters, unexplained investment additions, valuation disputes, undisclosed gold cases, and trader compliance audits
• Investors in Gold ETFs, Sovereign Gold Bonds, Gold Mutual Funds, Silver ETFs, Gold Futures and Options, and Electronic Gold Receipts—all of whom need precise and current tax treatment for each instrument
• NRIs who wish to invest in gold in India and need to navigate the TDS/TCS regime, DTAA benefits, repatriation rules, and NRE vs NRO account choices
• Students and Professionals seeking clarity on how the new Income-tax Act 2025 treats gold provisions relative to the Income-tax Act 1961