Buying gold in Singapore from Malaysia, after the 10% import duty
Malaysia began charging 10% duty on LBMA gold bars in June 2026. The exemption that survives it, and the reason a Singapore-bought bar is the most exposed kind, are both easy to miss.
Last checked 23 September 2026. Rules change — every figure below links to its primary source so you can confirm it yourself. How this site sources figures.
What actually changed
Royal Malaysian Customs introduced a 10% import duty on LBMA-certified physical gold bars, effective 8 June 2026. Malaysia had previously charged no import or export duty on gold bullion at all, so this is a change in kind, not degree. Shipments were reportedly held at customs or diverted once the duty made them uneconomic.
Reported by The Star, Bloomberg and Kitco.
The part most coverage skipped
The duty is not a duty on gold. It targets LBMA-certified bars specifically. Non-LBMA bars and all gold jewellery remain exempt, which has split the Malaysian market in two.
That distinction matters more than the headline rate, because of how Singapore defines the gold worth buying in the first place.
Why a Singapore-bought bar is the most exposed kind
Singapore exempts Investment Precious Metals from GST. To qualify, per Singapore Customs and the IRAS e-Tax Guide, a bar must:
- be at least 99.5% pure for gold (99.9% silver, 99% platinum);
- be capable of being traded on the international bullion market, in bar, wafer, ingot or coin form;
- for bars, wafers and ingots, be produced by an accredited or endorsed refiner;
- bear an internationally accepted quality mark;
- and not be a decorative or collector’s piece.
Read those two rules together. The accredited-refiner requirement that makes a bar GST-exempt in Singapore is the same thing that makes it dutiable entering Malaysia. The cleanest, most liquid, most standard bar you can buy in Singapore is precisely the bar Malaysian customs now charges 10% on. Buying something scruffier to dodge the duty means buying something harder to sell — and possibly something that was never GST-exempt in Singapore either.
What that leaves you
There is no clever answer here, and anyone selling you one is selling you something. The honest options are:
- Buy and leave it in Singapore. Duty is an import charge. Metal that never enters Malaysia never triggers it, which is the whole argument for vaulting where you buy. You then carry the vaulting cost instead — a real, recurring expense, not a free lunch.
- Buy, import, and pay the 10%. Sometimes correct if you genuinely want the metal in your hands at home, but it is a large premium to absorb on an asset bought for its low spread.
- Buy coins rather than bars. The reported duty targets bars. Coin treatment has been less clearly reported, and the Ministry of Finance was said to be engaging with industry on minted gold products — so this is the option most likely to have changed since this was written. Confirm it before you act on it.
Before you rely on any of this
This page describes rules, not a recommendation, and we are a publisher rather than a dealer or an adviser — see our position on that. Duty and customs treatment is being actively revised; the Ministry of Finance was reported to be in discussion with the industry when this was written. Your own obligations depend on your residency and on the specific product, and they are yours to verify with Royal Malaysian Customs and, where the amounts matter, a professional.