Legal Ways To Reduce Taxes On Precious Metals

Above, 1964 Kennedy Half dollars. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

With silver rising in the spot price market, collectors and investors have to be mindful of what the Internal Revenue Service wants during tax reporting time.

Economic Times posted an article how to reduce one's tax burden on precious metals.

They posted:

IRS tax rules for silver and gold: 

Silver’s surge past $90 an ounce has grabbed attention as gold climbed toward $5,300 in 2025 and 2026. Demand tied to the green economy, including heavy silver use in high-efficiency solar panels and the fact that EVs require roughly twice as much silver as gas-powered cars, has helped drive the rally, as per a report. 

How the IRS Taxes Silver and Other Precious Metals: The 28% Collectible Tax Rule Explained

But taxes can take a large share of those profits. The IRS treats physical precious metals differently from stocks, and profits may be taxed at rates of up to 28% or more.

Silver is a capital asset, meaning any profit from selling it must be reported on Schedule D of your federal tax return, as per the Yahoo Finance report.

Many investors assume holding silver for more than a year qualifies for the same long-term capital gains rates as stocks. However, the IRS classifies physical metals such as silver bars, rounds, and coins as collectibles.

If silver is held for one year or less, profits are taxed as ordinary income, which can be as high as 37% depending on your tax bracket.

If it’s held longer than a year, the gain is still taxed at your ordinary income rate but capped at 28%.

The article then goes on to tell how the tax burden can be reduced.

To read the full article, go here. 

Does the IRS Know If You Sell Silver?

Above, 2023 Canadian silver Maple Leaf coins. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is tempting to sell one's silver while the price of the metal is high. 

But, doing so may attract the attention of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It depends upon HOW one sells their silver.

CBS News posted an article on, "Does the IRS know of you sell silver?"

It begins with:

The precious metals market is capturing renewed investor attention thanks, in large part, to economic uncertainty driving heightened demand for tangible assets, which is helping to push up the price of these assets. And, while gold tends to dominate headlines with its record-breaking prices, it's certainly not the only precious metal that investors have been flocking to. Silver prices have also been climbing rapidly, especially over the past few months, leading silver to hit new record highs along the way. But at just over $88 per ounce, silver is still substantially more affordable than gold, making it a popular alternative for those who want to capitalize on today's precious metals market movement while diversifying their portfolios. 

But whether you own silver in bars, coins or other formats, a question often emerges when it comes time to sell: What does the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) know about your transactions? After all, the precious metals market operates in a complex regulatory landscape, and the rules governing reporting requirements vary significantly based on the type of silver you're selling and the quantity involved. So, it makes sense to understand both the IRS reporting obligations and whether the federal agency knows about your silver transactions before you sell your assets. 

To read more, go here. 

Kamala Harris Voted To Allow IRS To Track Tips

Earlier in this campaign, former President Donald Trump came out with a campaign promise to eliminate taxes on tips.

Now, all of a sudden, Kamala Harris is copying Trump's promise.

We should all take that with the proverbial grain of salt. She was the one who cast the tie-breaking vote on a bill to allow the Internal Revenue Service to track service industry workers' tips.

From Breitbart:

Vice President Kamala Harris — who on Saturday copied a campaign promise first announced by former President Donald Trump to eliminate taxes on tips — voted in 2022 to pass legislation that allowed the IRS to track down workers’ tips so that they could be taxed.

On August 7, 2022, Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act that provided $80 billion in additional funding to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which then got to work cracking down on the service industry’s reporting of tips so that they could be taxed.

This is all a bunch of B.S. on her part. She is not to be trusted.

To read more, go here.

Tax Season 2024

Tax season is close to ending. April 15 (the Democrats' favorite day of the calendar) is fast approaching.

I sent my tax documents to my tax preparer already. It is easy to do in this day and age through emails and online reporting.

I have been getting tax refunds these past few years. So it isn't like the old days when I was working. This is definitely a benefit of being retired. 

Coins and Capital Gains Tax

Above, 2023 American Silver Eagle coin proof set. "Investors wanting to avoid reportable
 sales should buy American Eagles," says Fisher Precious Metals. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Gold and silver as investments are long-term propositions. Don't expect to make huge profits from any sales of them in the short-term.

But, eventually one will decide to sell their coins or bullion, hopefully at a profit. However, that opens another can of worms: capital gains taxes. 

Sales of gold and silver coins are subject to capital gains taxes. But there are thresholds that are favorable to sellers, provided they aren't exceeded.

One of the big coin and bullion dealers, APMEX, has posted this on the subject of capital gains taxes on silver:

Individual taxpayers who sell silver for a profit may be obligated to report a capital gain when filing their return. This is true for most types of collectibles such as coins, stamps, antiques, and comics. When selling silver coins in consideration of reporting to the IRS, you must report the sales of any combination of 90 percent silver US coins with a face value of over $1000 and 0.9999 fine silver bars totaling over 1000 troy ounces. Other items like silver bars and collectibles, need to be reported if the sales result in a capital gain. If you experience a significant loss when you sell your silver, you may benefit from reporting the loss. 

According to Fisher Precious Metals:

Reportable Sales

Customer sales to dealers of certain precious metals exceeding specific quantities call for reporting to the IRS on 1099B forms. The 1099B forms are similar to other 1099 forms taxpayers commonly receive; the “B” means they have been issued by a business other than a financial entity.

Reportable sales (again, customer sales to dealers) apply to 1-oz Gold Maple Leafs, 1-oz Krugerrands, and 1-oz Mexican Onzas in quantities of twenty-five or more in one transaction. Reporting requirements do not apply to American Gold Eagles, no matter the quantities. Furthermore, reporting requirements do not apply to any fractional ounce gold coins.

Only one common silver product is reportable when sold: pre-1965 U.S. coins. The quantity that causes the filing of a 1099B, however, is not clear. The IRS bases its authority to require reporting on CFTC-approved contracts that call for the delivery of $10,000 face value. Consequently, many dealers do not report sales of pre-1965 U.S. coins unless the sale totals $10,000 face value; others report $1,000 sales.

Sales of American Silver Eagles, privately-minted Silver Eagles, and 100-oz silver bars are not reportable, no matter the quantity. Other precious metals products are reportable, but they are not covered here because the average investor does not trade them.

The best thing to do is to thoroughly check the IRS rules before making a sizable (over $1,000) sale. 

To read more, go here.

IRS Seeks Armed Accountants

 

Above, from the IRS website, now removed. Why?

Notice how the Democrats want to hire 87,000 IRS agents, but refuse to place the same amount of security officers at our schools to protect students from mass killers?

After former President Trump's Mar-A-Lago estate was raided by the FBI seeking "classified documents" that were already declassified by Trump before he left office, can we really trust more Gestapo agents under the control of Joe Biden's Administration?

No wonder the Second Amendment is so important to people.

According to the Washington Examiner:

Even before Congress and President Joe Biden give the final OK for the IRS to hire 87,000 more agents in an $80 billion package, the tax agency is revealing a priority job category that could get first dibs on the huge budget expansion.

On its jobs page is a listing of vacancies for special agents to be placed around the country to root out financial fraud.

But these are opening for more than just financial experts: They will also be armed

Among the job requirements listed: “Carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.”

Special agents, who can be placed around the nation and world, have an interesting  job, according to the IRS description. They are financial analysts and armed officers ready for a shootout.

To read more, go here.

Our democracy is in grave danger. Government institutions - from DOJ, DHS to the IRS - are blatantly being weaponized against political opponents of those in power. Being punished by the state for dissenting or merely asking questions is the hallmark of a dictatorship. - Tulsi Gabbard.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

Well, I finally got my 2021 income tax documents to my tax preparer in California. I am doing it later than usual, mainly because I hadn't thought much about it since I generally don't have to pay anything (I will likely not get anything back either) since I retired.

I just had my Social Security, IRS (for the Economic Impact Payment) statements and 1099 for my investments to send. 

Next year, a new law passed and signed this year eliminates New Mexico taxation on Social Security, saving New Mexico seniors over $84 million next year. The idea is to entice seniors to move to New Mexico, now a more taxation-friendly state for them.

I "inherited" my tax preparer from my mom, who used him when she was alive and I have used him since 2011 or thereabouts.

UPDATE:

I'm shocked! I'm actually getting a tax refund!

Manchin Opposes Democrats’ IRS Snooping Scheme

Above, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin.

The congressional leftist Democrats have hit another dead end by Sen. Joe Manchin. 

The West Virginia Democrat has told His Fraudulency Joe Biden that he strongly opposes the proposed IRS bank account snooping scheme.

From The Epoch Times:

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has come out against a revenue scheme proposed by his party that would have allowed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to gather information on the inflows and outflows of American citizens’ bank accounts.

The measure initially came to light as a part of Democrats’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. In an attempt to head off concerns from moderates, Democratic leaders and rank-and-file lawmakers have desperately marketed the bill as being completely paid for with no substantial effect on the deficit or national debt.

The proposal was met with immediate backlash from Republicans and the private sector.

The original draft of the plan would have allowed the IRS to gather this information from any account with $600 or more in activity per year. Because of the sharp backlash against it, proponents of the measure raised the threshold to $10,000, a change that some hoped would cool the response.

Manchin’s opposition to his party’s snooping scheme effectively leaves the measure dead on arrival. Because of their razor-thin single vote majority in the Senate, Democrats cannot afford anything less than full solidarity from their party behind the final bill.

To read more, go here. 

Biden Wants The IRS To Have Access To Our Bank Accounts

Well, here's another reason why stupid people shouldn't be allowed to vote and voter fraud must be eliminated.

From Fox Business:

The Biden administration is aiming to bolster the Internal Revenue Service by adding bank account reporting requirements to Democrats' massive tax and spending bill, prompting a swift backlash from Republicans who have warned it infringes on customers' privacy.

Under the proposal, banks and other financial institutions would be required to annually report customers' account inflows and outflows of $600 or more to the IRS. The White House has estimated the policy, which would apply to bank, loan and investment accounts, could generate about $463 billion in additional revenue over the next decade.

In a memo to congressional Democrats, the administration defended the plan, saying it requires banks and financial institutions to provide a "little bit of high-level information" to the IRS on account flows in order to give the agency more information about wealthy Americans' earnings from investments and business activity. 

Talk about an invasion of privacy! It is none of their damn business what we have in our bank accounts.

To read more, go here.

IRS Says $600 Stimulus Checks Are On The Way

Above, I'll likely get a new top for the Jeep with my $600. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The second ($600) stimulus checks/payments are supposedly going out now.

If the government has one's bank account information (such as Social Security recipients), the money will be direct deposited faster.

According to CBS News:

Millions of Americans are eagerly awaiting their second stimulus checks of $600 for each eligible adult and child. The IRS on Tuesday said it had started to distribute the checks via direct deposit that evening, a process that will extend into next week. 

The tax agency added that it is mailing paper checks on December 30 to people who don't have their bank account info on file with the IRS. But even so, the timeline leaves many people wondering when exactly the check will land in their accounts — especially as the IRS' website for checking one's payment status is unavailable. 

The second stimulus check follows a rocky rollout this spring for more than 160 million stimulus payments directed by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. That relief effort, which directed $1,200 for each eligible adult and $500 for each eligible child, encountered a number of problems, such as a delay in payment to people who didn't have their bank account information on file with the IRS, as was the case for some Social Security recipients.

With the first stimulus check that came earlier last year, I made good use of it for the Jeep. I got a new gas tank, master cylinder, brake work, fuel pump, points, condenser and spark plugs. 

This time, I'll probably get a new Bestop as the one I have is over 20 years old and the stitching is coming apart in spots. 

To read more, go here.

Well? We're Waiting!

A few minutes ago, I checked the IRS stimulus payment website and this came up:

It should be direct deposited since that's how I receive my Social Security payments.

So far, it hasn't arrived.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: The IRS Should Do Your Taxes For You

The Looney Left Report

Today, I've already posted a Looney Left Report on the tax-crazy Democrats in Commiefornia, but thanks to my "honorary sister" Diane, I've another one for y'all. She sent me an article on a proposal by a member of the tax-loving Democrat Party.

If there should be a picture in dictionaries for the word stupid, it should be the brainless Democrat Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She has come up with one of the dumbest ideas ever!

From Fox Business:

As reform legislation Opens a New Window. advances through Congress Opens a New Window. that may eliminate a future IRS-created free filing software for taxpayers, New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested most Americans shouldn’t be preparing their own taxes. 

In a speech on the House floor, the freshman lawmaker refereced a Vox article which deemed it a “huge scandal” that lawmakers have not yet required the IRS to automatically prepare taxes for most Americans. 

“Long-term, we should be looking at a solution where everyday people do not necessarily have to spend hours every year preparing tax returns, when the majority of Americans have relatively simple and straight-forward returns," she added.

It is nice to see that Ms. AOC fully trusts the IRS, who, under the Obama Administration, became a weaponized tool against political opponents such as various Tea Party organizations. I sure as hell wouldn't trust the "kindly" IRS bureaucrat to prepare my tax return!

No thanks!

To read more, go here.

2106 Back Taxes

First, there were emails from purported "Nigerian Princes", and now it is the "IRS" sending emails concerning delinquent "back taxes".

I received one the other day. It said, "2106 Back Taxes". I didn't bother to open the email.

Obviously, this was bogus as the email address wasn't an official government one. Plus, the year was almost 100 years off.

So, beware of bogus IRS "back taxes" email notices. As for this Bozo, who sent me this one for "back taxes" for the year 2106, I guess they'll have to wait a while.

Changes To U.S. Passports

Condé Nast Traveler has posted a new article on what's in store for the U.S. passport.

They wrote:

A longtime bragging right of frequent fliers is about to disappear: The U.S. government announced that effective January 1, travelers will no longer be able to get extra pages added to their passports. The State Department made the news official earlier this week, citing security concerns, but they did present an alternative: a new 52-page passport, twice the size of the standard 28-pager. Travelers can specify whether they'd like the current 28-pager or the supersized version, and both will cost the same —$110—to obtain or renew, minus any expediting charges you might add on. This is the second major passport-related announcement the government has made in the past few weeks—in addition to the government being able to withhold passports from people who owe significant back taxes to the IRS.

To read more, go here. 

And Without A Paddle...The Lois Lerner/IRS Case

Some good news has come out of Washington, D.C. on the Lois Lerner/IRS abuse of power case conserning Tea Party groups.

Judicial Watch posted:

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced that U.S District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan today threatened to hold the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department attorneys in contempt of court after the IRS failed to produce status reports and newly recovered emails of Lois Lerner, former director of the Exempt Organizations Unit of the IRS, as he had ordered on July 1, 2015. 

During the a status hearing today, Sullivan warned that the failure to follow his order was serious and the IRS and Justice Department’s excuses for not following his July 1 order were “indefensible, ridiculous, and absurd.”  He asked the IRS’ Justice Department lawyer Geoffrey Klimas, “Why didn’t the IRS comply” with his court order and “why shouldn’t the Court hold the Commissioner of the IRS in contempt.”  Judge Sullivan referenced his contempt findings against Justice Department prosecutors in the prosecution of late Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and reminded the Justice Department attorney he had the ability to detain him for contempt.  Warning he would tolerate no further disregard of his orders, Judge Sullivan said, “I will haul into court the IRS Commissioner to hold him personally into contempt.”

As a friend said about this case, "Now the fun begins!"

It would be fun to see some of those IRS and DOJ lawyers in jail for their shenanigans.

To read more, go here. 

IRS Screwing Small Businesses Who Help Employees With Health Insurance Expenses

Tyranny By Regulation

A new regulation became effective July 1 by the Internal Revenue Service that would penalize small businesses with a hefty fine just for helping their employees obtain health insurance.

Rush Limbaugh talked about this yesterday:

Wait until you hear this next story.  It is from Forbes.  Here's the headline: "Small Businesses Threatened with $36,500 IRS Fines For Helping Employees with Health Costs." This was not and is not part of Obamacare.  The IRS just created this, and that's one of the problems with Obamacare.  

Obamacare is open ended.  The secretary of Health and Human Services can invent regulations.  The IRS can invent new tax rules and regulations, and they've just done it.  

This provision was never voted on by anybody in Congress. 

According to Newsmax:

Small businesses can be fined up to $36,500 a year per employee by the Internal Revenue Service under a new regulation that went into effect on July 1 if they assist their workers with their health costs. 

This rule, which does not appear anywhere in the Affordable Care Act, mandates that employers who give their employees additional pay to compensate for medical expenses or health insurance purchases, but who do not offer any group health plan for their employees, will be fined $100 per day per employee, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. That adds up to $36,500 a year per employee up to a total of $500,000 in fines. 

“It’s the biggest penalty that no one is talking about,” said NFIB policy director Kevin Kuhlman. “The penalty for compensating employees for healthcare-related expenses is enough to destroy most small businesses.” 

The penalty will apply whether the reimbursement is a before-tax or after-tax contribution, according to Forbes, and the fine rises to more than 18 times greater than Obamacare’s $2,000 employer-mandate penalty for an employer who does not provide health insurance for his or her employees.

This IRS regulation has been imposed with no legal basis to do so. It is not in the Affordable Care Act or in any other law. This is clearly tyranny by bureaucratic elites.

To read more, go here.

Obamacare Penalty May Come As A Shock At Tax Time

Americans who didn't purchase health insurance last year just may be in for a very rude awakening.

As we are nearing tax reporting season, it is becoming clear that those who didn't buy health insurance, that the Obamacare law requires, may be socked with a penalty much more than the $95 touted when the law was passed.

According to the Washington Times:

The Affordable Care Act requires those who didn’t have insurance last year and didn’t qualify for one of the exemptions to pay a tax penalty, which was widely cited as $95 the first year. But the $95 is actually a minimum, and middle- and upper-income families will actually end up paying 1 percent of their household income as their penalty.

In succeeding years, the penalty will go even higher:

The penalty is designed to prod Americans to buy insurance and the penalty for not having it is scheduled to rise considerably: to a $325 minimum or 2 percent of income in 2015, and to a $695 minimum or 2.5 percent of income in 2016.

If one can afford to "eat" the penalty if their employer doesn't offer a health insurance plan or the plans offered on the state or federal exchanges are too expensive (especially if one doesn't qualify for a subsidy), the penalty may be actually cheaper in the long run. People will just have to figure what 1%, 2% and 2.5% of their incomes are.

To read more, go here.

Christie Gets The Proctocope While Obama Gets A Pass By Media

"Now That Christie Is Denying Everything He Sounds Even More Presidential!" - Jay Leno

I am not a fan of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, but it appears that Jay Leno has a point. Christie seems to be taking a page from President Obama's playbook.

President Obama has denied knowledge about every scandal that has hit his administration. Benghazi, the IRS, NSA spying on Americans, Fast & Furious and so on. Thus far, the media has been going after Christie over a matter that is like "jaywalking" (according to the Wall Street Journal) in comparison to the electronic spying of Americans' phone calls while giving Obama a pass on all of his (and Hillary Clinton's) scandals.

It is plausible that Christie was deceived and didn't know about the bridge closure. Yet the media is going after him with a proctoscope because he is not a Democrat.

It's the usual double-standard by the liberal media. Go after Republicans with gusto and ignore Democrat shenanigans.

Well, there's one good thing, at least. The Amazon Kindle ebook ad for The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan is appearing at The Drudge Report and in other news websites during a time of high traffic (no pun intended).

The Long Arm of The IRS Reaches To Americans Living & Working Abroad

Above, even Americans working in Japan
and paid by yen are subject to U.S. taxes.

Ever wondered if an American living and working in another country still has to pay Uncle Sam?  Well, an article in The Japan Times says they do.

They wrote:

After 20 years of living in Switzerland, Scott Schmith renounced his U.S. citizenship, to escape the obligation to report his income and assets to the U.S. government despite living overseas. 

Schmith is just one of a rising number of Americans giving up their citizenship to avoid the increasing efforts of U.S. authorities to collect taxes on its citizens who keep money offshore, even those who live and work outside the country. 

Americans discovered to be not reporting their offshore accounts, and not paying taxes on them where due, face stiff penalties. 

The U.S. is the only major country that requires its citizens who are residents abroad to report their income to their country’s tax authority, the Internal Revenue Service.

So if you thought that living and working abroad will put you out of reach of the IRS, you're sadly mistaken.

To read more, go here.

DOJ Sets Up Snitch Hotline For The Lynching of George Zimmerman

Eric Holder's Department of "Justice" refuses to investigate the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service, but presses ahead to "investigate" (i.e., railroad) and acquitted man, George Zimmerman.

They have now announced a snitch line for wackos to provide "tips" for their "investigation" of whether or not a federal criminal case can be brought against Zimmerman:

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday afternoon appealed to civil rights groups and community leaders, nationally and in Sanford, for help investigating whether a federal criminal case might be brought against George Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, one advocate said. 

The DOJ has also set up a public email address to take in tips on its civil rights investigation.

This is nothing but a tyrannical un-American lynch mob out to get Zimmerman. It is totalitarian! Remember, the Nazis had the Hitler Youth to snitch on people for their show trials.

Welcome to the People's Republic of Obama!

For details, go here.