Do You Know Your State’s Sales Tax Exemption Status?

Above, the National Money Show in Phoenix this year. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One of the things that irritate coin and precious metals collectors and investors is that some states levy sales taxes on those purchases.

A handful of states have enacted exemptions. Unfortunately, my state of New Mexico is not one of them. 

Do you know your state's sale tax exemption status?

That question is posed in an article from Numismatic News.

It begins with:

This past week, a new major coin show debuted in Nashville, Tenn. – the International Money Expo. The impetus to create this convention was the state’s adoption last year of a sales and use tax exemption on retail sales of precious metals, bullion, coins, and currency.

The show was well promoted within the numismatic industry. It included a dealer and early bird-only trading day on Thursday, a public convention on Friday and Saturday, and then another dealer and early bird trading day on Sunday.

The dealer trading room last Thursday (Oct. 26) was crowded and active, although many of the dealers with tables were only set up to buy and not to sell inventory. Dealer set-up in the convention hall began late Thursday, which continued to be busy.

Decent activity on the convention floor continued for much of Friday (Oct. 27). But, as is common at major shows, some dealers began to depart as the day went on. There were even more empty dealer tables on Saturday.

While dealer-to-dealer trading was active, there was relatively limited public attendance at this show. For most of the day Saturday, activity at dealer booths was minimal. In my mind, part of the reason for relatively light public attendance was that a high percentage of Tennessee residents do not yet realize that the state has adopted the sales and use tax exemption for precious metals, bullion, coins, and currency.

Next year, public attendance could be much larger if more promotional efforts make sure to mention the existence of the sales and use tax exemption. 

Earlier this year, I attended the National Money Show in Phoenix, Arizona. Fortunately, I knew ahead of time that Arizona has a tax exemption on coins. 

To read more, go here.