The first thing I thought when I heard the winners were Scottish and then saw them, was how many battered mars bars £161m would buy! Argentumandcoins, I hate the way I collect and pay 7% (it's only 7% on coins here, zero on gold) VAT for every sale I make, but that I cannot claim 7% back when I buy coins, so in effect I don't pay VAT on the profit, I pay VAT on the whole amount of sale. 20% makes my 7% look like a drop on a hot stone, but do you know how I can claim back on purchases from private individuals? I think I heard there are some VAT rules which are harmonised EU wide. Incidentally the collecting accessories have 19% VAT, which is the standard German rate. Books also attrace 7% VAT, but I get around that by having all books printed outside Germany and stored/dispatched from the UK, where book VAT is 0.