IRS Precious Metals Reporting: 1099-B, Form 8300, and Taxes

The IRS precious metals reporting rules split cleanly in two: what your dealer has to report, and what you have to report. Dealers file Form 1099-B only when you sell specific bullion products in quantities tied to CFTC-approved futures contracts, and they file Form 8300 when a customer pays more than $10,000 in cash. You, on the other hand, owe capital gains tax on every profitable sale of gold, silver, platinum, or palladium, whether or not a form was filed, and the IRS taxes those gains as collectibles at a maximum federal rate of 28 percent.

The gap between those two sets of rules is where investors get into trouble. A dealer’s silence is not the IRS’s silence.

When a Dealer Files a 1099-B on Your Sale

When you sell metal back to a dealer, the dealer may have to file Form 1099-B reporting the gross proceeds and send you a copy. The trigger is not the dollar size of your sale. It is the form and quantity of metal you sold.

A sale is reportable only if the metal is in a form approved for delivery under a CFTC-regulated futures contract and the quantity meets or exceeds that contract’s minimum delivery amount.¹ For gold, the standard COMEX contract is 100 troy ounces. Krugerrands, Maple Leafs, and Mexican Onzas are reportable only when sold in quantities of 25 or more. Silver reporting keys off 1,000-ounce bar contracts. Platinum and palladium follow their own CFTC specifications.

Selling a single gold coin, or a handful of ounces, does not generate a 1099-B.

Aggregation and Structuring

Dealers must combine all sales from one customer within a 24-hour period to test whether the threshold has been crossed.¹ Fifteen 100-ounce silver bars sold in two visits on the same day count as one sale. Splitting a reportable quantity across different days to dodge reporting is structuring, and dealers who know it is happening still have to file.

TIN and Backup Withholding

To complete a reportable sale, the dealer collects your Taxpayer Identification Number. Refuse to provide one and the dealer must withhold a percentage of the gross proceeds as backup withholding and send it to the IRS.¹ You get the withheld amount credited against your tax bill, but only by filing a return.

What Is Not Reportable

Most retail purchases and sales fall outside dealer reporting. American Gold Eagles, American Silver Eagles, fractional coins, numismatics, and small bars or rounds that don’t match a CFTC-approved form are exempt.¹ Purchases, in general, aren’t reported at all when you pay by check, wire, or card, regardless of amount. Cash purchases are the one exception, and they fall under Form 8300 instead.

The absence of a 1099-B is not tax forgiveness. You still owe capital gains tax on any profit. It just means the IRS won’t get a matching document, so your own records are the only record.

Cash Payments Over $10,000 (Form 8300)

Any business receiving more than $10,000 in cash in a single transaction, or in related transactions, must file Form 8300 within 15 days. It applies to precious metals dealers on both sides of the counter. Related transactions include payments made within a 24-hour window from the same person, and installment payments that push the running total past $10,000 within a 12-month period.²

The dealer must collect your name, address, occupation, and TIN, verified against a government-issued ID, and send you a written notice by January 31 of the following year confirming that the report was filed.²

What Counts as Cash

Cash includes paper currency and coins, obviously. The catch is that cashier’s checks, bank drafts, traveler’s checks, and money orders with a face value of $10,000 or less also count as cash when they’re used in a “designated reporting transaction,” which the IRS defines to include the retail sale of any collectible priced above $10,000.³ Precious metals are collectibles. So paying $15,000 for gold with two $7,500 cashier’s checks can trigger Form 8300 even though no currency changed hands. A single cashier’s check with a face value over $10,000 is not treated as cash for this purpose.

Wire transfers, personal checks, and credit or debit card payments are never cash under these rules, regardless of amount.

Structuring Is a Federal Crime

Deliberately splitting a cash transaction to keep each piece under $10,000 is structuring. Under 31 U.S.C. § 5324, it carries up to five years in prison, and up to ten years when it’s part of a broader pattern involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period.⁴ The statute reaches both the customer and any dealer who knowingly plays along.

How Your Gains Are Taxed

Every profitable sale of precious metals is a taxable event. You report it on Form 8949, with totals flowing to Schedule D.⁵ What rate applies depends on how long you held the metal.

The 28 Percent Collectibles Rate

The IRS classifies precious metals as collectibles under IRC Section 408(m), the same category as art, rugs, antiques, and stamps.⁶ IRC Section 1(h) caps the long-term federal rate on collectibles gains at 28 percent.⁷ That is nearly double the 15 percent most investors pay on long-term stock gains, and it applies to gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in any form.

Long-term means holding for more than one year.⁸ Sell within a year and the gain is short-term, taxed at your ordinary income rate, which runs as high as 37 percent.

The 3.8 Percent Net Investment Income Tax

Higher earners owe an additional 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax on top of the collectibles rate, pushing the effective maximum to 31.8 percent. The NIIT applies when modified adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for joint filers.⁹ Precious metals gains count as investment income for this purpose.

Cost Basis

Your basis is what you paid plus commissions, shipping, and other transaction costs. Sale proceeds minus basis equals your gain or loss. When a dealer files a 1099-B, the gross proceeds figure on the form is your reported sale price, but you have to supply the basis yourself. Dealers don’t track what you originally paid.

Inherited metals get a stepped-up basis equal to fair market value on the date of the decedent’s death.¹⁰ Gold your parent bought at $400 an ounce that was worth $2,600 on the date of death has a basis of $2,600 in your hands. Gifted metals, by contrast, carry the donor’s original basis, subject to a special rule when the metal had dropped in value before the gift.¹¹

Losses

Losses go on Form 8949 the same way gains do. They first offset capital gains from any source, including stocks and real estate. Net losses beyond gains can offset up to $3,000 of ordinary income per year ($1,500 if married filing separately), with the remainder carrying forward indefinitely.¹²

One planning note: the wash sale rule under IRC Section 1091 covers stocks and securities, not commodities or collectibles. You can sell physical gold at a loss and buy the same type of gold the next day without disallowance. Metals held through an ETF structured as a security are a different question and warrant more caution.

ETFs and Funds Are Not All the Same

The tax treatment of a precious metals investment depends on the wrapper. Physically backed metal ETFs, those that actually hold bullion in a vault, are typically structured as grantor trusts. The IRS treats your shares as a direct interest in the underlying metal, so long-term gains are taxed at the 28 percent collectibles rate, not the 15 or 20 percent stock rates. Short-term gains are ordinary income.

ETFs that hold mining stocks or track a mining index are taxed like ordinary equities, with long-term gains at the standard rates. Futures-based commodity ETFs follow the 60/40 blended-rate rules. The prospectus will state the fund’s tax classification, and it’s worth checking before buying rather than after selling.

Precious Metals in an IRA

Holding physical metals inside a self-directed IRA defers, or in a Roth eliminates, the collectibles tax. The custodian handles most of the reporting: Form 5498 for the annual fair market value, Form 1099-R for distributions.¹³¹⁴ The compliance rules are strict.

Purity

IRC Section 408(m)(3)(B) allows bullion in an IRA only if its fineness meets the minimum a CFTC-approved contract market requires for delivery.⁶ The COMEX minimums are 99.5 percent for gold, 99.9 percent for silver, and 99.95 percent for platinum and palladium.¹⁵ The statute also specifically approves American Eagle coins, Canadian Maple Leafs, and coins issued under the laws of any state, whether or not they meet the fineness standard.

Storage

The metals must sit with a qualified trustee or an approved third-party depository. Home safes, personal safe deposit boxes, or anywhere within your reach count as a prohibited transaction.⁶ If the IRS decides you took personal possession, the entire value of the metals becomes a distribution on the first day of that tax year.¹⁴ The whole balance is ordinary income in one year, plus a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty if you’re under 59½. Years of tax-deferred growth can vanish in a single mistake.

Metals Held Abroad

Storing metal in a foreign vault, or holding it through a foreign financial account, can pull in additional reporting. Form 8938 under FATCA requires U.S. taxpayers to disclose specified foreign financial assets once their total value exceeds the thresholds. For filers living in the United States, that’s generally $50,000 on the last day of the year or $75,000 at any point during it, with higher thresholds for joint filers and for those living abroad.¹⁶

Physical metal held directly in a foreign vault, outside any financial institution, sits in a gray area. If it’s in an account at a foreign financial institution, it’s clearly within scope. If it’s in a private vault, it may not trigger Form 8938 on its own but can still affect total-asset calculations. The FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) applies to foreign financial accounts aggregating over $10,000 at any point during the year; its definition of “financial account” does not clearly cover physical metals stored outside a financial institution. FBAR penalties reach $10,000 per unreported account for non-willful violations, and substantially more when willful. Investors with metals abroad should get professional advice before filing.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-B (2026) – Section: Specific Instructions
2
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Form 8300 Reference Guide
3
IRS.gov. IRS Form 8300 Reference Guide
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 U.S. Code 5324 – Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirement Prohibited
5
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts – Section: (m) Investment in Collectibles Treated as Distributions
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1 – Tax Imposed
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1222 – Other Terms Relating to Capital Gains and Losses
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1411 – Imposition of Tax
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent
11
Internal Revenue Service. Property (Basis, Sale of Home, etc.)
12
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 409, Capital Gains and Losses
13
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 5498, IRA Contribution Information (Info Copy Only)
14
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-R and 5498 (2025)
15
CME Group. Chapter 113 Gold Futures
16
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8938