Conversion Of Physical Gold To Electronic Gold Receipt Will Not Attract Any Capital Gains: Finance Minister

In order to promote the concept of Electronic Gold, it is proposed to exclude the conversion of physical form of gold into EGR and vice versa by a SEBI registered Vault Manager from the purview of ‘transfer’ for the purposes of Capital gains.

The cost of acquisition of the EGR for the purpose of computing capital gains shall be deemed to be the cost of gold in the hands of the person in whose name Electronic Gold Receipt is issued, and the holding period for the purpose of capital gains, would include the period for which gold was held by the assessee prior to its conversion into EGR. Similarly, provision for conversion from gold to EGR is also proposed.

Any transfer of a capital asset, being physical gold to the Electronic Gold Receipt issued by a Vault Manager or such Electronic Gold Receipt to physical gold shall not be considered as ‘transfer’.

Where an Electronic Gold Receipt issued by a Vault Manager, became the property of the person as consideration of a transfer, as referred in the newly inserted clause in section 47, the cost of acquisition of the asset for the purpose of the said transfer, shall be deemed to be the cost of gold in the hands of the person in whose name Electronic Gold Receipt is issued.

Similarly, where the gold released against an Electronic Gold Receipt, which became the property of the person as consideration for a transfer, as referred in the newly inserted clause in section 47, the cost of acquisition of the asset (being gold) for the purposes of the transfer shall be deemed to be the cost of the Electronic Gold Receipt in the hands of such person.

The amendments will take effect from the 1st day of April, 2024 and shall accordingly, apply in relation to the assessment year 2024-25 and subsequent assessment years.