Gold Price for Jewellers in Malaysia

Making charges and pricing

Malaysian jewellery is sold mostly by weight: the day's price per gram for the purity, usually 916 or 999, plus a workmanship charge (upah) quoted per gram or per piece. Under the Trade Descriptions (Articles Made of Precious Metals) Regulations 1994, the receipt must be in Bahasa Melayu. It must show the article, its fineness, the gold price per gram, the weight, the price and any making charge, and the seller must keep a copy for a year.

Shops buy back old gold per gram at their own buying price, which is below the selling price. Many deduct a further percentage for wear or for pieces bought elsewhere. Scrap buyers test the purity and pay a percentage of the value of the fine gold content.

Hallmarking and purity marks

Malaysia has no compulsory independent hallmarking, but fineness marking is compulsory. Under the Trade Descriptions (Articles Made of Precious Metals) Regulations 1994, gold articles supplied in trade must carry a clear, indelible fineness mark in Arabic numerals. Only the listed standards may be used: 999, 950, 916.6 (marked 916), 875, 835, 750, 585 and 375. An article that falls between two standards takes the lower one, and gold below 375 may not be called gold. Articles under 1.5 g that are too small or thin to mark are exempt. Plated articles must say "plated" and may not carry a fineness mark. The rules are enforced by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN).

Tax on sales and scrap

Malaysia has no GST; it has Sales and Service Tax (SST). Gold jewellery is not subject to sales tax, and when SST was widened on 1 July 2025 the Treasury confirmed that gold would stay outside it. Customs treats personal jewellery (heading 7113) as outside sales tax, but goldsmiths' wares such as household articles (heading 7114) are taxed at 5%, so check the tariff code with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department. No tax arises when you buy old gold from the public.

A 10% import duty on imported minted gold bars applied from 8 June 2026 and falls to zero from 1 November 2026 under the Customs Duties (Amendment) Order 2026 (P.U. (A) 350). Locally minted bars were not affected.

Customer checks and reporting

Dealing in precious metals or precious stones is a reporting activity under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA), supervised by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). Under BNM's policy document for DNFBPs, in force since 6 February 2024, dealers must carry out customer due diligence on any cash transaction of RM50,000 or more. This includes linked transactions in a day, across branches, and instalments towards one purchase. Due diligence is also needed at any amount when there is suspicion. Dealers must appoint a compliance officer and notify BNM, report suspicious transactions promptly and keep records for at least six years. BNM's DNFBP FAQs say cash threshold reports (RM25,000 and above) are filed only by banks, certain development financial institutions, Tabung Haji and casinos; dealers are not yet required to file them.

The AMLA amendments of 2025 came into force on 1 March 2026 and allow administrative monetary penalties of up to RM1 million. BNM's AML/CFT newsletter of March 2026 reported directive orders issued to reporting institutions in several DNFBP sectors, including dealers in precious metals or stones. In Peninsular Malaysia, buying second-hand goods needs a police licence under the Second-hand Dealers Act 1946, with books recording each seller and buyer. A goldsmith buying back jewellery it sold itself is exempt.