Gold guide
Physical gold: metal you hold, costs you carry
Jewellery, coins and bars. The only route that gives possession — and the only one where making charges and a resale spread can wipe out years of appreciation.
Formats
Jewellery, coins, bars
Jewellery
Bought for wear and gifting as much as value. Carries making charges over the metal price, 5% GST on separately-billed making charges, and the widest resale haircut — the jeweller's buy-back sits well below what you paid.
Coins
Investment-grade metal without ornament margins, in the widest retail network of the three. Still carries 3% GST, storage, and a dealer spread on resale — thinner than jewellery's, but not zero.
Bars
The thinnest premium over the metal rate of the three physical formats, in larger denominations. Same GST, storage and resale-spread structure as coins; re-assay can apply on sale.
Purity
Karat, fineness, hallmarking
BIS hallmarking certifies tested fineness — look for the BIS mark plus the fineness stamp rather than taking the seller's word. Non-24K rates derive from the 24K rate at the fineness ratio, which is how the trade quotes them and how the jewellery calculator converts them.
| Karat | Fineness | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 24K | 999 | Pure metal — too soft for most jewellery, the reference rate. |
| 22K | 916 | Standard jewellery gold; rates derive from 24K at 916/999. |
| 18K | 750 | Common for studded and designer pieces; 750/999 of the 24K rate. |
| 14K | 585 | Lower-fineness jewellery; 585/999 of the 24K rate. |
Costs
What physical gold costs beyond the metal
- Making charges on jewellery.
- GST: 3% on the metal value, and 5% on making charges when they are billed separately.
- A wide buy-sell spread when you resell.
- Locker and insurance costs while you hold it.
Source: CBIC — CGST rate schedule for goods (gold 7108 / jewellery 7113). Resale means physically carrying the metal to a dealer and possibly re-assaying it — expect a haircut below the retail rate, plus locker and insurance costs while you hold.
FAQs
Physical-gold questions
Frequently asked questions
How much GST do I pay when buying gold jewellery?
Gold metal attracts 3% GST. Making charges attract 5% when they are billed separately. If a jeweller bills a single composite price for ready-made jewellery, the whole bill carries 3%. Buy-sell spreads and making charges usually matter more to your eventual return than the GST rate.
Which gold investment gives the best return?
There is no single answer, and we do not rank gold products. Most gold instruments track the same metal price, so returns differ mainly by the costs you pay to hold them: expense ratios, making charges, storage, spreads and taxes. Use the comparison to filter by what you actually need and the calculators to price the costs, then decide.
Framework facts reviewed 2026-09-20. None of this is live pricing — LetsInvest has no gold price feed. Before buying, confirm the rate, making charges and buy-back terms on the invoice, and see our methodology.