Technical article

France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal: How Five Countries Tax a Collection

Tangible movables such as art, jewelry, coins and gold are not on it.

By Neil Solomon · 4 min read

Picture a couple from Texas who retire to Europe with a small collection of paintings, coins and a few gold bars. They have not chosen a country. They want to know what each would ask if they sold, or if their children inherited. Here is what the sources say, country by country.

At a glance

France

The government site says French residents selling art, antiques, jewelry or collectibles above EUR 5,000 pay a flat 6% plus 0.5%. Precious metals pay 11% plus 0.5% at any amount. A seller who can prove the purchase date and price, or who has held the item more than 22 years, may elect another regime at 19% plus 17.2%. For items inherited or given, the acquisition value is the market value used for transfer duties.

Germany

The income tax statute taxes private sales of art, jewelry, coins and gold only if the time between purchase and sale is one year or less. Daily-use items are excluded. If total private-sale gains in a calendar year are under EUR 1,000, none is taxed. At EUR 1,000 or more the whole gain is. For an inheritance or gift, the holding period of the earlier owner counts, so the clock does not restart.

The inheritance tax law exempts household goods up to EUR 41,000 and other movables up to EUR 12,000 for children and spouses, but not coins, precious metals, gems or pearls. Art and archives are 60% exempt, or fully exempt if in the public interest, under protection and in the family 20 years or listed as national cultural property, with a ten-year clawback.

Italy

One Swiss adviser's note says a collector is not taxed on a private art sale, an occasional speculator is, and a habitual seller pays as a business. For inheritance tax, cash, jewelry and furniture are presumed to be 10% of the net taxable estate unless an analytic inventory shows another amount. Cultural goods under protection can be left out of the taxable estate.

News reports differ on gold. One says a 26% flat tax applies to gold sold without proof of purchase. Another says a one-time 12.5% revaluation did not pass in the 2026 finance law. These are news accounts, not statutes.

Spain

The Spanish gazette says no gain is recognized for the deceased on a transfer by reason of death, and the heir's value for later gains is the inheritance tax value. One law firm lists gains in the savings base at 19% to EUR 6,000, then 21%, 23%, 27% and 30% above EUR 300,000. Heirs of items in the Historic Heritage get a 95% reduction in inheritance tax if kept 10 years after the death.

Portugal

The tax portal's closed list of taxable gains names real estate, shares and securities, intellectual property, derivatives, trust rights and crypto. Tangible movables such as art, jewelry, coins and gold are not on it. One accountant's page says free transfers pay 10% stamp tax, with spouse, descendants and ascendants exempt, filed within three months of death.

The objection

You might say a table of rates cannot tell you where to live. It cannot, and it is not meant to. It lets you set the numbers beside everything else you weigh.

Doors you could open

You could list your pieces by type and holding time. You could ask who will inherit, and where they live.

Which of these five rules was new to you? Share it here. Someone else's plan may rest on the same assumption.

Figures are estimates for planning, based on public data. Date read: October 2026.