What Is Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme? Should You Invest In It?

Sovereign Gold Bonds or SGBs are issued by Reserve Bank of India on behalf of government of India at the issue price. SGBs are issued in denomination of 1 gram of gold and multiples thereof. They have a maturity period of 8 years with an exit options available at the end of 5th year to be exercised on the interest payment date. They are also tradable on the stock exchange. Investment in SGBs are subject to lock-in until a period of 5 years.

Sovereign Gold Bonds have the backing of government of India. The idea behind introducing Gold Bonds was to assist investors participate in the movement of gold prices without having to buy and sell physical gold, according to Motilal Oswal. Sovereign gold bonds are available with diverse features which are not available with other forms of gold investments. There are several benefits of Sovereign Gold Bonds that can be described below as:

Sovereign gold bonds are cost effective when compared to possessing physical gold. It is ideal to possess gold in the form of sovereign bonds because when you purchase and sell jewellery, you incur the loss of 15-20 towards making charges every time you change gold form. You may possess sovereign gold bonds (SGBs) in the form of physical certificates or in your demat account. You can also escape the worries of maintenance of gold and loss in translation in the form of SGBs, according to Motilal Oswal.

SGBs pay you interest on your gold holdings. When you possess gold in physical form, you do not receive any regular assured income. You tend to gain when the price of gold rises. On the other hand, in the case of SGB, you can receive an annual interest of 2.50%. Earlier, the rate of interest was 2.75%. The SGBs are free from default risk as the interest payments and principal redemptions are guaranteed by government of India.

SGBs are more tax efficient than physical gold. According to Motilal Oswal, "Gold is treated as a non-financial asset and hence the definition of capital gains is a holding period of 3 years in case of gold. If you sell you gold within a period of 3 years then you are liable to pay short term capital gains tax at the peak rate that is applicable to you. If you sell gold after a period of 3 years, then it is classified as long-term capital gains. It will either be taxed at a rate of 10% without the benefit of indexation or at 20% with the benefit of indexation. In case of SGBs, redemption of gold bonds will be entirely tax free in the hands of the investor. (Gold bonds have tenure of 8 years and can be redeemed after a period of 5 years). However, if the SBGs are sold in the secondary market then they will attract capital gains at the extant rates. Interest on SGBs is taxable like normal interest receipts at your applicable tax rate."

Therefore, we may conclude that SGBs are better investment as you do not only earn interest but also strong capital appreciation. An investment in SGB is far better than physical gold as you do not have to face the risk and cost of holding physical gold.