China Scraps Platinum Tax Break for State-Owned Giant (1)

China will phase out a long-standing platinum tax rebate for a state-owned giant, potentially opening up the market to new entrants.

The government will from Nov. 1 start collecting value-added tax on sales of domestically produced and imported platinum, as well imports of platinum jewelry, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement Friday. Currently, China Platinum Co. is the only entity allowed to import the metal without paying a 13% VAT, making it effectively the only player who can do so competitively.

Platinum prices on the Shanghai Gold Exchange jumped to a premium of more than 10% to global ...