Gold IRA Tax Rules

Gold IRA Tax Rules

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Given the economic uncertainty that we're facing, diversifying your investment portfolio with precious metals, such as gold, may be able to offer the stability that you're searching for. While you can purchase gold, silver, and other precious metals as a personal investment at any time, you may have also heard that there are tax benefits to opening a Gold IRA and holding these precious metals in your retirement account.

If you're feeling a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of learning a whole new set of tax rules for your Gold IRA, don't be. The basics rules for Gold IRAs are similar to those for standard IRAs. Keep reading, and we'll lay out more information about how taxes work for Gold IRAs so you can know what to expect.

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What Is a Gold IRA?

Gold IRA Tax Rules

Before we start looking at how taxes for an IRA work, let's step back just a bit and review what a Gold IRA is. With a Gold IRA—a type of Self-Directed IRA—you're able to hold precious metals, rather than the traditional stocks and bonds, in your IRA account. Holding a portion of your portfolio in precious metals diversifies your investments and can off-set stock market dips and crashes.

Precious metals, like gold, are also very rare and easy to liquidate. This means that when you're ready to cash in your investments, or some of them, for your retirement years that you should be able to find a buyer with ease.

What Types of Precious Metals Can You Hold in an IRA?

Not all precious metals can be added to a Gold IRA. The IRS tax rules stipulate the types of coins and bars that are acceptable. Gold coins and bars, for example, must be at least 99.5% pure.

In addition to gold, you can also add silver, platinum, or palladium to your Gold IRA (or Precious Metals IRA in this case). The IRS has set minimum purity levels for these precious metals as well. They are:

  • 99.9% minimum fineness for silver coins and bars.
  • 99.95% minimum fineness for platinum coins and bars.
  • 99.95% minimum fineness for palladium coins and bars.

Below are just some of the different coins and bars that meet these minimum purity requirements. As you can see, there are numerous options to choose from.

Gold Coins

  • Gold American Eagle Coins
  • Gold American Buffalo Coins
  • Gold Australian Kangaroo Coins
  • Gold Australian Saltwater Crocodile Coins
  • Gold Canadian Maple Leaf Coins
  • Gold Canadian Soaring Eagle Coins
  • Gold Canadian Twin Maples Coin
  • Gold Canadian Polar Bear and Cub Coins
  • Gold British Britannia Coins
  • Gold Chinese Panda Coins
  • Gold Austrian Philharmonic Coins

Gold Bars

  • Credit Suisse Gold Bars
  • PAMP Suisse Gold Bars
  • Valcambi Gold CombiBars
  • Johnson Matthey Gold Bars
  • Royal Canadian Mint Gold Bars
  • UBS Gold Bars
  • Sunshine Mint Gold Bars

Silver Coins

  • Silver Canadian Maple Leaf Coins
  • Silver Chinese Panda Coins
  • Silver Australian Kangaroo Coins
  • Silver Mexican Libertad Coins

Silver Bars

  • PAMP Suisse Silver Bars
  • Royal Canadian Mint Silver Bars