Yes, APMEX does report to the IRS, but only in two specific situations. The dealer files Form 1099-B when you sell certain bullion products back in quantities that meet IRS thresholds, and it files Form 8300 when you pay more than $10,000 in cash for a purchase. Most retail transactions trigger neither form. That said, any profit you make on a sale is taxable whether or not APMEX files paperwork on it.
When APMEX Files a 1099-B on a Sale
A 1099-B goes to the IRS only when you sell back specific products in quantities tied to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved futures contracts. If the item isn’t deliverable under a CFTC-approved contract, or the quantity is below the contract minimum, no form is filed.1Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Instructions for Form 1099-B
The commonly recognized reporting thresholds include:
- Gold bars of 1 kilo (32.15 troy ounces) or more, minimum fineness .995
- Silver bars of 1,000 troy ounces or more, minimum fineness .999
- Platinum bars of 25 troy ounces or more, minimum fineness .9995
- Palladium bars of 100 troy ounces or more, minimum fineness .9995
- 25 or more one-ounce Gold Krugerrands, Gold Maple Leafs, or Gold Mexican Onzas
Because these thresholds track CFTC contract specifications rather than a fixed IRS list, they can shift when exchanges update their delivery requirements. APMEX and other major dealers post current reportable-items lists on their websites.
One rule catches people off guard: the IRS requires dealers to aggregate multiple sales from the same customer within a 24-hour period and treat them as a single transaction.1Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Instructions for Form 1099-B Splitting a large sale into smaller ones the same day won’t dodge a 1099-B if the combined quantity crosses a threshold.
Products That Don’t Trigger a 1099-B
Many of the most popular bullion products are exempt from dealer reporting no matter how many you sell. The exemption covers American Gold Eagles, American Silver Eagles, fractional gold coins, and most foreign coins that aren’t deliverable under a CFTC-approved contract.
This is where confusion creeps in. Sell 50 American Gold Eagles in a single transaction and no 1099-B gets filed, because American Eagles aren’t on the reportable list. The profit is still fully taxable. Absence of a form is not absence of a tax obligation.
When APMEX Files Form 8300 on a Purchase
Separate from the 1099-B rules, dealers must file IRS Form 8300 when they receive more than $10,000 in cash from a single transaction or related transactions within a 24-hour period.2Internal Revenue Service. IRS Form 8300 Reference Guide This applies to purchases you make, not sales. The dealer has 15 days from the transaction date to file.
“Cash” here is broader than paper currency. Because precious metals qualify as collectibles under the designated reporting transaction rules, cashier’s checks, money orders, bank drafts, and traveler’s checks with a face value of $10,000 or less also count as cash when used to buy metals.2Internal Revenue Service. IRS Form 8300 Reference Guide Paying for a $15,000 gold bar with a $9,000 cashier’s check and $6,000 in currency triggers a Form 8300, even though neither payment alone tops $10,000. Personal checks, wire transfers, and credit card payments are not treated as cash and do not trigger the form.
Form 8300 doesn’t create tax liability by itself. It alerts the IRS to the transaction, which can produce follow-up questions if the cash amount looks inconsistent with your reported income. Structuring purchases to stay just under $10,000 to avoid the filing is a federal crime, so don’t try to split payments across days for that purpose.
Your Tax Bill Doesn’t Depend on Whether a Form Was Filed
The two forms above are dealer-side reporting requirements. Your own tax obligation is separate and applies to any profit you make selling metals, whether APMEX files a 1099-B or not.
The IRS classifies physical precious metals as collectibles. For gold, silver, platinum, or palladium held longer than one year, the maximum federal long-term capital gains rate is 28%.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1 – Tax Imposed That’s higher than the 15% or 20% maximum that applies to most stocks and mutual funds. Hold the metals a year or less and any gain is short-term, taxed at your ordinary income rate. For 2026, ordinary rates range from 10% to 37%.4Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026
Higher-income investors also face a 3.8% net investment income tax on top of the capital gains rate, applied to the lesser of net investment income or the amount by which modified adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for married couples filing jointly.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1411 – Imposition of Tax Gains from metals count as investment income for this purpose, so a high-income investor can face a combined federal rate of 31.8% on long-held gold.
How to Report the Sale
You report each sale on Form 8949, which feeds into Schedule D of your Form 1040.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8949 Each transaction gets its own line showing what you sold, the acquisition date, the sale date, the proceeds, and your cost basis. Totals flow from Form 8949 to Schedule D, which nets your gains and losses for the year.
If a 1099-B was issued, the proceeds are already with the IRS and your Form 8949 needs to match. If no 1099-B was issued, you still report the sale and indicate that on the form. The IRS won’t have an automatic cross-reference in that case, but the income is still taxable and an audit can still reach it, often through Form 8300 filings or bank deposit records.
Keep Your Records
Hold every purchase invoice, receipt, and shipping confirmation for as long as you own the metals and for at least three years after filing the return that reports the sale. For purchases from private sellers, document the transaction in writing with the date, amount paid, and a description of the items. These records are your only proof of cost basis. Without them, the IRS can assign a basis of zero and treat the entire sale proceeds as taxable gain.
Penalties for Skipping the Report
The IRS can assess an accuracy-related penalty of 20% of the underpaid tax when a return shows negligence or a substantial understatement.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6662 – Imposition of Accuracy-Related Penalty This is the penalty most likely to reach investors who leave a metals sale off the return, especially when the IRS learns about the transaction from a Form 8300 filing or bank records even though no 1099-B was issued.
A substantial understatement generally means the tax you reported was off by the greater of 10% of the correct tax or $5,000. Fraud carries a steeper penalty of 75% of the underpayment. Which one applies often turns on whether the IRS believes the omission was an honest mistake or a deliberate one.