An individual has various domestic and foreign gold coins for investment. Some of the coins have legal tender status in the countries concerned, but are not usually used as such. This is because the market value of the gold coins is (much) higher than the nominal value. Does the Box 3 legislation include cash? Knowledge group position The investment gold coins do not qualify as cash. The coins belong to the “other assets” asset category for box 3. Why? Cash classified as bank balance As of 1 January 2023, the law distinguishes between three asset classes: bank balances, other assets and debts. Under this scheme, cash is regarded as bank balance. The reason for this is that cash does not normally generate returns. For the return on cash, it is therefore better to match the (low) fixed rate of return that applies to the “bank deposits” asset category. Assets that do not qualify as bank balance should be declared as other assets in box 3. Note: By the way, the Box 3 Legal Restoration Act does not regulate that cash is included in the asset category “bank balances”. Definition of cash The law does not include a definition of cash. The word cash refers to physical property. Therefore, cashless money — including virtual coins — does not fall under cash. The word “money” means that it must be a generally accepted method of exchange/payment. Gold coins The question is whether gold coins can be classified as cash and thus bank balance. Cash is currency that is legal tender in the countries concerned. Although gold coins (whether or not in a currency/currency) may be legal tender, in practice they are rarely or not used as a means of payment. This is because the actual value of the gold coins is (many times) higher than the nominal value. However, gold coins cannot be regarded as the physical equivalent of a bank balance. After all, it is not possible to deposit these gold coins directly into a bank account. A commercial bank does not usually accept gold coins. Through a gold exchange office, the gold coins must be converted into regular currency. This applies to all gold coins, but more specifically to gold coins that are not issued in a country's official currency/currency or that have not been assigned a face value. By cash, the legislator means the official currency/currency of a country where the nominal value always equals economic value. In the case of gold coins in the official currency/currency, this value is not the same. Indeed, the value is not determined by the nominal value of the currency, but by the precious metal value (intrinsic value) or the numismatic value (the monetary value). As a result, there is more return to be achieved with these coins than just any price result. With regard to lower-yielding assets such as bank balances, the legislator deliberately opted for a lower fictitious return. Given the historical development of the gold price, this is not the case with gold coins in general, which is why cash cannot be involved either. Note: This position also applies to other currencies, whether or not in the official currency of a country, whose economic value is (much) higher than the nominal value, such as a commemorative coin or a misprint.