Since mid-2025, gold and silver have seen dramatic spikes in value. Whether the excitement is too much for you, you’re skeptical about the future of precious metals, or you simply want to cash out your gold or silver investment and direct those funds elsewhere, you may wonder how to sell gold and silver—and what tax implications are involved.
Here’s a quick guide on what you need to know about selling gold and silver.
How selling gold and silver works
There are various ways to sell gold depending on the type of precious metals investment you have. If you’ve got digital gold, a gold ETF, or gold stocks, you can instantly sell them on your preferred brokerage platform. If you’ve got physical gold, the process is more clunky.
When you’re ready to sell, present your gold and silver to a dealer such as a local coin shop or online dealer. They’ll check the current trading value of your metals, examine your specific product, and make you an offer. If you’ve got a collectible coin, the dealer will consider its rarity and specific condition (since it’s potentially worth more than its melt value). If you accept the offer, the dealer will typically pay you by cash, check, or bank transfer.
It’s wise to see what multiple dealers are willing to offer for your metals. That’ll give you an idea of which ones are sliding a lowball offer across the table.
What really affects the price you get?
Whatever your precious metals are pricing for, expect to get something else—likely less, but in rare cases more. There are a few reasons for this.
- Spot price: The “spot” price of gold or silver is that ever-changing number you see on trading websites. It’s essentially the price at which they’re currently trading. When selling your metals, keep tabs on this number to give yourself a rough idea of what you’ll get (whether it’s even worth selling right now).
- Dealer “discount”: Frustratingly, the spot price is almost never the price you’ll get when you sell. Real-world offers bake in a dealer’s overhead, risk, and profit. It also accounts for any specials and promos a dealer may be running.
- Demand: On a similar note, the demand for the item you’re selling can have an effect on what you can get for it. If a dealer is flush with the item, it may not get you as much as if they were low. Or, if you’ve got a collectible, a dealer may offer you more than it’s worth if they think the product can be flipped easily.
If you’re not buying physical metals but instead selling digital or paper gold and silver, things work a bit differently. You’ll still be subject to spot price and demand, but you won’t pay dealer premiums. Instead, you’ll pay fees to the fund or broker, and you’ll be subject to the usual bid-ask spread (the gap between the price to buy and the price to sell).
How taxes on profits from gold and silver work
A taxable event when selling gold and silver is, for the most part, pretty self evident. If your precious metals change hands to someone else in exchange for money or some other value, you’ll be taxed according to the profit you made. That includes selling for cash, trading it for another metal, or purchasing something else. The IRS considers any of these moves as a taxable sale.
You can shift your gold and silver around between vaults, custodians, dealers, etc. without paying taxes because you haven’t given up ownership.
It’s worth noting an exception: When you’ve got gold and silver inside an IRA, you can buy other IRA-eligible metals without triggering taxes as long as they stay inside your IRA. If you take delivery of a portion of those metals, you’ll owe taxes on it.
Short‑term vs. long‑term profits
The amount of time you’ve held your gold or silver affects the taxes you’ll pay on them. The IRS categorizes two types of capital gains:
- Short-term. Owning gold or silver for less than one year will result in a tax that’s consistent with your current income tax bracket.
- Long-term. Owning gold or silver for more than one year will result in a potentially higher tax. That’s because they’re treated like collectibles—which can be taxed as high as 28% as of this writing.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both of these options. While selling long-term at first appears to be a raw deal, the difference in taxation may actually be cheaper for you. That’s because the money you make from selling the metal won’t be added on top of your current income. It’s instead taxed separately, which can sometimes work out to a lower effective tax rate.
A simple way to figure out your taxable gain (or loss)
To figure out how much you’ll likely owe taxes for your gold or silver, simply subtract the amount you sold them for from the price you bought them for—premiums and transaction costs included. If the number you’re left with is positive, that’s the amount you’ll owe in capital gains.
However, if the number is negative, that’s money that you can use to offset other capital gains (up to $3,000). Think of it as a write-off that you can use exclusively against your investment profits. You can even apply it to future tax years if it doesn’t benefit you in the current year.
What you should realize at this point is the importance of keeping records on when you purchased your bullion and how much you paid for it, because that will be the number you’ll need for what’s called the cost basis when calculating the taxable profits from the sale.
Ways to mitigate your losses
You can’t avoid taxes entirely, but you can likely lower the bill—or defer it—with a bit of strategy. Minding the way in which you hold your gold and silver, as well as the specific time you sell, can make a lot of difference.
Here are a few popular tactics to consider before selling your precious metals:
- Consider your income for short-term profits: Remember, if you’ve had your gold and silver for less than a year, the profit you get from selling them will be added to your ordinary income. The result may be a bump into a higher tax bracket. Saving your metals sales for a time when you’ve perhaps had a slower year can potentially result in lower taxes.
- Use losses to your advantage: Again, it’s never great to lose on your gold or silver investment, but you can remove some of the sting by selling during a year in which you’ve made solid gains on other investments. Your losses will effectively reduce the taxable income from those other gains.
- Make changes inside your IRA: If you’d like to adjust your precious metals investment, you can do so inside an IRA without being taxed immediately. If you’d like to turn your silver into gold, you can use it to buy IRA-eligible gold products. As long as the trade stays within your account, you won’t owe taxes right away.
- Opt for digital or paper metals instead of physical: Certain investments, such as ETFs and mutual funds, are exempt from the higher “collectible” tax rate that applies to physical gold. These are instead generally taxed at the previously discussed long-term capital gains rate.
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The takeaway
Selling physical gold and silver requires that you find a buyer (online or brick-and-mortar), receive a quote, and then formally make the exchange—an event that will generally trigger a tax bill. If you’ve owned the metals for less than a year, your gains will be added to your ordinary income; if you’ve owned them for more than a year, they’ll fall into a different “collectible” category.
If when selling your gold or silver you don’t make more than you paid for them, there’s still good news; you may be able to use that loss to offset gains from your other investments.
Frequently asked questions
How can I tell if a gold or silver buyer is reputable before I sell?
The best way to tell if a gold or silver buyer is reputable is to check online reviews. Sites like Trustpilot can tell you a lot about whether a dealer is legitimate. Look for high reviews (and lots of them), as well as a long track record.
Do I have to pay taxes if I sell gold or silver at a loss?
No, you don’t have to pay taxes on gold or silver that you sell as a loss. If there’s no gain, then you haven’t made any extra income. But, you’ll still want to report the sale when filing your taxes. You may actually be able to use that loss to offset some of your other investment gains—if you have any.
How do state taxes affect the money I get when I sell gold or silver?
If you live in a state that charges income taxes, your net income from selling precious metals could be lower than if you lived in a state that doesn’t, as a larger chunk will go toward taxes. When you sell gold or silver within a year of purchasing it, your gains will typically be added to your total income.
How are gold and silver held in an IRA taxed when I sell or take distributions?
Gold and silver held in an IRA are taxed like anything else in your IRA; you’re not taxed as long as the metals stay in your IRA, but if you take a distribution, that portion will be taxed as ordinary income. You’ll also get hit with an additional 10% penalty from the IRS if you’re aged 59 ½ or younger (there are exceptions).
Are jewelry sales taxed the same way as bullion and coins?
Jewelry sales are generally taxed as collectibles. However, because you’re often paying considerably beyond the melt value for jewelry due to craftsmanship and branding, many do not sell for what they paid. Therefore, you’ll potentially not owe anything.
