Quick Summary
- Sell a single collectible for £6,000 or less and there's no CGT — the chattels exemption, whatever the profit.
- £6,000–£15,000: "5/3 relief" caps the gain at 5/3 of the proceeds above £6,000, so the tax is far less than you'd expect.
- Cards bought to play with can be exempt as "wasting assets"; cards held as investments are taxable.
- Work out the bill on a single sale with our Chattels CGT Calculator.
If a Pokémon card, a gold coin or grandad's stamp collection has shot up in value and you're cashing in, the tax rules are friendlier than the headlines suggest — but widely misunderstood.
Quick Answer: Selling a single collectible for £6,000 or less is exempt from Capital Gains Tax under the chattels exemption, no matter the gain. Between £6,000 and £15,000, the chargeable gain is capped at 5/3 of the proceeds above £6,000. Cards or items you bought to use (not invest) can be exempt "wasting assets". Anything left is reduced by the £3,000 annual allowance and taxed at 18% or 24%. CGT is UK-wide — Scots pay the same rates against the UK bands.
What counts as a "chattel"
A chattel is tangible, movable property — something you can touch and pick up. Trading cards, coins, stamps, comics, antiques, paintings, jewellery, watches, wine, memorabilia: all chattels. (Land, buildings and shares are not chattels and follow different rules.)
The key reliefs come from HMRC helpsheet HS293 and apply UK-wide.
The £6,000 chattels exemption
Sell a single chattel for £6,000 or less and the gain is completely exempt from CGT — however large the profit. Buy a card for £200, sell it for £5,900, and you owe nothing.
The "sets" trap. Items that form a set — a run of cards, a matching pair of vases, a stamp series — sold to the same or a connected buyer are tested against £6,000 together, not individually. You can't dodge the threshold by splitting a £20,000 set into four £5,000 lots to one buyer.
5/3 marginal relief (£6,000–£15,000)
Just over £6,000 and the tax doesn't jump off a cliff. For proceeds between £6,000 and £15,000, your chargeable gain is capped at 5/3 of the amount over £6,000.
Worked example. You bought a sealed booster box for £2,000 and sell it for £8,000.
- Actual gain: £8,000 − £2,000 = £6,000
- 5/3 cap: 5/3 × (£8,000 − £6,000) = £3,333
- You're charged on the lower of the two → £3,333
- After the £3,000 annual allowance → £333 taxable → about £60 CGT at 18%
Above £15,000 proceeds, the cap falls away and the full gain is chargeable under normal rules.
Try it yourself
Enter what you paid and sold a collectible for to see the £6,000 exemption, 5/3 relief, the £3,000 allowance and your 18%/24% CGT in one go.
Open Chattels CGT CalculatorNo sign-up required.
Wasting assets: the Pokémon card test
An asset with a predictable life of 50 years or less is a "wasting asset" and is exempt from CGT. HMRC's own example is trading cards, and it turns on why you held them:
- Bought to play with → wasting asset → exempt
- Bought or kept as a collectible / investment → non-wasting → chargeable (subject to the £6,000 and 5/3 rules above)
Intent at the time you acquired the item is what matters — and it's a question of fact you'd need to stand behind.
Coins and gold
UK legal-tender coins are exempt from CGT as sterling currency: gold Sovereigns (post-1837), Britannias, and Queen's Beasts. Sell those at any profit and there's no CGT.
Krugerrands, foreign coins and gold bars are not legal tender, so they follow the normal chattel/CGT rules — the £6,000 exemption, 5/3 relief, then 18%/24%.
The £3,000 allowance — don't confuse it with £6,000
These two numbers trip everyone up:
- £6,000 is the chattels proceeds threshold — sell one item for less and it's exempt.
- £3,000 is the annual exempt amount — total gains across everything you can make in a tax year before any CGT. It was £12,300 in 2022/23, cut to £6,000, then £3,000 from 2024/25 onward.
They apply in sequence: chattels exemption/relief first, then the £3,000 allowance against whatever gain is left.
Trading vs investing — the line that changes the tax
If you regularly buy collectibles to sell on at a profit, HMRC may treat that as a trade. Then it's not CGT at all — the profit is income, taxed at your income tax rates, with the £1,000 trading allowance and a Self Assessment obligation above it.
This is the one genuinely Scotland-specific part. A Scottish card-flipper's trading profit is taxed at Scottish income tax rates — so a higher-rate Scottish flipper pays 42% on profit above £43,663, versus 40% elsewhere in the UK. See the side-hustle tax guide and the self-employed tax calculator.
Scotland vs the rest of the UK
| Rule | Scotland-specific? | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| £6,000 chattels exemption | UK-wide (same) | Identical for Scots |
| 5/3 marginal relief | UK-wide (same) | Identical |
| Wasting-asset exemption | UK-wide (same) | Identical |
| CGT rate 18% / 24% | UK-wide (same) | Set against the UK bands, not Scotland's — key myth |
| £3,000 annual exempt amount | UK-wide (same) | Identical |
| Legal-tender coin exemption | UK-wide (same) | Identical |
| Trading profit (flipping) | Scotland-specific | Taxed as income at Scottish rates/bands |
The myth to bust: Capital Gains Tax is not devolved. Scots pay the same 18%/24%, and the rate is decided by your income against the UK income tax bands — not Scotland's six bands. Scotland only changes the maths when you're trading, not when you're selling a personal collectible. Our Scottish CGT guide has the full picture.
Selling on eBay or Vinted? Reporting isn't tax
Since 2024, platforms like eBay, Vinted and Etsy report sellers to HMRC if you make 30+ sales or around €2,000 (~£1,700) in a calendar year. That's a reporting trigger, not a new tax — selling your own used possessions isn't trading and isn't taxed. Read Do You Pay Tax When Selling on eBay or Vinted? before you panic.
Inherited a collection?
There's no CGT on inheriting anything. Your "cost" becomes the probate (market) value at the date of death, and CGT only bites on any gain above that when you later sell — again with the chattels rules in play.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I pay tax on selling my old Pokémon cards?
Often not. A single card or lot sold for £6,000 or less is exempt. Cards you bought to play with can be exempt as wasting assets. You'd only owe CGT on a high-value card/collection held as an investment and sold above the thresholds — and only on the gain after the £3,000 allowance.
Is there VAT on selling collectibles?
Not unless you're trading and your taxable turnover exceeds the £90,000 VAT registration threshold. One-off personal sales don't involve VAT.
How much is CGT on collectibles?
18% if the taxable gain falls within your basic-rate band, 24% above it — the same rates as other assets since 30 October 2024 (the old 10%/20% rates are gone). Many older articles still quote the wrong rates.
Does the £6,000 apply per item or per year?
Per item (per disposal). It's not an annual figure — that's the separate £3,000 annual exempt amount. Each chattel is generally tested on its own (watch the "sets" rule).
I sold at a loss for under £6,000 — can I claim it?
The loss is restricted: your proceeds are deemed to be £6,000 for the calculation, so you can only claim the loss below that deemed figure, not the full drop.
Related Articles
- Scottish Capital Gains Tax Guide — CGT across all assets at 2026/27 rates
- Side-Hustle Tax in Scotland — the £1,000 trading allowance, eBay/Vinted reporting, and when flipping becomes a trade
- Self-Employed Tax in Scotland — how trading profit is taxed at Scottish rates
- Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in Scotland — what changes for sole traders from April 2026
- Inheritance Tax in Scotland — how inherited assets are valued and taxed
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Capital Gains Tax rules are complex and the figures change — always verify with HMRC and speak to a qualified tax adviser before a real disposal.
Sources: HMRC HS293 — Chattels and Capital Gains Tax, GOV.UK — Capital Gains Tax rates, GOV.UK — Capital Gains Tax allowances, GOV.UK — Selling goods or services online