On the contrary, tax was dropped for metallic (physical) gold operations in order to provide an alternative to dollar for ordinary people (whatever that means).

On the contrary, tax was dropped for metallic (physical) gold operations in order to provide an alternative to dollar for ordinary people (whatever that means). But, given the current prices and trade rules for metallic gold (keep the documents from purchase, don’t scratch ingot, sell to the same bank you bought it from, otherwise price will be lower), it’s not a great alternative. Besides, price of 1g of gold was around 7500 RUB when tax was dropped, and around 4500 RUB now, so, well, happy investing.