IRS-approved gold IRA custodians are rare: the IRS approves only nonbank trustees, and its list of 73 names as of April 1, 2026 includes just 1 precious metals business. So who approves the custodians you have heard of, and how do you check one? A custodian is the licensed company that legally holds your IRA. A nonbank trustee is a company that is not a bank and that the IRS has approved to hold IRAs.
Most gold IRA custodians are trust companies licensed by a state banking regulator, which the tax code treats as banks. A trust company is a business licensed to hold assets for other people. This page covers who may be a custodian, what the IRS list contains, a 5-step charter check, a lookup table of 20 names and what no custodian checks for you.
No company can pay to change what this page says about it. Every rule below links to the statute, the regulation or the regulator's own list.
Are Gold IRA Custodians IRS-Approved?#
Most gold IRA custodians are not IRS-approved, and they do not need to be. The tax code lets a bank or a state-supervised trust company hold an IRA without any IRS approval (26 U.S.C. 408(n)). A charter is a state license to act as a trust company. To supervise and examine means the regulator inspects the company's books.
We searched the IRS list dated April 1, 2026 for the 19 custodians in our lookup table. None of the 19 custodians appears. Each relies on a state trust charter or on a bank. Does that make them unlawful? No. It means the IRS is the wrong place to look.
Why "IRS-approved custodian" is usually the wrong phrase#
"IRS-approved custodian" is usually wrong because the only custodians the IRS approves are nonbank trustees, and gold IRA custodians almost never use that route.
The phrase is common on sales pages. On September 29, 2026, IRA Financial's website used "IRS-approved" for itself. Its trust company is on the South Dakota roster of September 2026, not on the IRS list. The accurate words are: a bank, a state-chartered trust company, or an IRS-approved nonbank trustee.
What the IRS does not approve: coins, dealers and depositories#
The IRS approves no coin, bar, dealer, refinery or depository, and it says so: "there is no list of approved investments for retirement plans." The quote is from the IRS Retirement plan investments FAQs, read September 29, 2026.
The 4 things sellers call "IRS-approved" that the IRS does not approve are listed below.
- Coins and bars. Eligibility comes from the statute's own tests, not from a list (26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)).
- Dealers. No federal license exists for selling IRA metal.
- Depositories. A depository is the vault that stores the metal for the custodian. Gold IRA depositories act for the custodian, because the statute requires the trustee's "physical possession" (26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(B)).
- Refiners and mints. The test for bullion is fineness, meaning purity, not the maker's name.
Which precious metals the tax code allows depends on the statute, not on an approved list.
Who May Be an IRA Custodian? A Bank, a Credit Union, a State-Supervised Trust Company or an IRS-Approved Nonbank Trustee#
As of October 2026, only 4 kinds of institution may hold an IRA: a bank, an insured credit union, a state-supervised trust company, or an IRS-approved nonbank trustee. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-406), signed September 2, 1974, created IRAs and required a bank or an approved person as trustee. Today the test sits in 26 U.S.C. 408(a)(2) and 408(n).
The 4 legal routes under 26 U.S.C. 408(a)(2) and 408(n)#
The 4 legal routes are a bank, an insured credit union, a state-supervised corporation and an IRS-approved nonbank person, and only the fourth needs the IRS to say yes. The table shows who licenses each route and where you check it.
| Route | Statute | Who licenses or approves it | Where you verify it | Gold IRA examples, October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Bank | 408(n)(1), a bank as defined in section 581 | A federal or state bank regulator | FDIC BankFind or the bank's regulator | GoldStar Trust Company, a division of Centennial Bank (company statement) |
| 2. Insured credit union | 408(n)(2) | NCUA or a state regulator | NCUA credit union lookup | None in our table |
| 3. State-supervised corporation (state-chartered trust company) | 408(n)(3) | A state banking regulator | The state's trust-company roster | Equity Trust Company (South Dakota), Digital Trust (Nevada), STRATA Trust Company (Texas, company statement) and the other state trust company rows in the lookup table |
| 4. Nonbank trustee | 408(a)(2) and Treas. Reg. 1.408-2(e) | The IRS, by written notice of approval | The IRS nonbank trustee list | Lone Star Tangible Assets, LP |
FDIC BankFind is the federal search tool for insured banks. NCUA is the federal credit union regulator.
Counting as a bank does not insure your metal. FDIC insurance covers only uninvested cash at an insured bank, up to $250,000 per depositor, and never the metal. SIPC, the brokerage-account protection fund, does not cover physical metal either.
Route 3 is the one almost every gold IRA custodian uses. It is why the IRS list looks empty when you search it for a metals custodian. The 4 routes are different licenses, not quality grades.
Can you be your own gold IRA custodian?#
No. An individual can never be an IRA custodian, because the regulation on nonbank trustees says the applicant "cannot be an individual" (Treas. Reg. 1.408-2(e)(2)(i)(A)).
Bullion must be "in the physical possession of a trustee" (26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(B)). A home storage gold IRA fails for the same reason: you are not a trustee. The Tax Court treated coins kept at home as a taxable distribution in McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 (November 18, 2021). A distribution means the IRS treats the metal as paid out to you and taxes it. An LLC owned by the IRA does not turn its manager into a trustee, so a checkbook IRA still needs a custodian for the metal.
Does the same rule apply to a 401(k)?#
Not in the same way: the bank-or-approved-person test is an IRA rule, and for employer plans it appears only where a custodial account is used (26 U.S.C. 401(f)(2)). There, the assets must be "held by a bank (as defined in section 408(n)) or another person" who satisfies the Secretary (26 U.S.C. 401(f)(2)).
So the common claim that IRAs and 401(k)s both need an IRS-qualified custodian is too broad. A plan trustee is the person or company that holds a plan's assets under a trust. For metals the practical rule is the same, because the bullion exception needs a trustee described in section 408(a). There is no IRS ruling on a solo 401(k) owner who acts as plan trustee and stores bullion personally. Custody rules for a solo 401(k) for gold are covered separately.
The IRS Nonbank Trustee List: 73 Approved Entities as of April 1, 2026#
The IRS list of approved nonbank trustees and custodians names 73 entities as of April 1, 2026, and 1 of them is a precious metals business. The IRS publishes the list under Treasury Regulation 1.408-2(e) on its page Approved nonbank trustees and custodians, last reviewed June 28, 2026. The names are in the PDF Nonbank Trustees Approved as of April 1, 2026. The IRS does not print a total. The count of 73 is SafeOunce's count of the names and approval dates in that PDF, made on October 2, 2026.
Who is on the IRS list: 73 names by type#
Almost half of the 73 names are brokerages and clearing firms, such as Charles Schwab & Co., Pershing, Robinhood Securities and Interactive Brokers. The table below sorts all 73 names into 8 types.
| Type | Names | Share | Examples from the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brokerages and clearing firms | 33 | 45.2% | Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.; Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.; Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P.; Apex Clearing Corporation |
| Health-account and benefits administrators | 12 | 16.4% | HealthEquity, Inc.; Lively, Inc.; WEX Inc. |
| Church and ministry funds | 10 | 13.7% | GuideStone Trust Services; The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago |
| Fraternal benefit societies | 9 | 12.3% | Polish Falcons of America; Croatian Fraternal Union Of America |
| Insurers | 5 | 6.8% | Principal Life Insurance Company; Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company |
| Trust companies | 2 | 2.7% | AB Trust Company, LLC; Perkins Coie Trust Company LLC |
| State government | 1 | 1.4% | Commonwealth of Kentucky |
| Precious metals business | 1 | 1.4% | Lone Star Tangible Assets, LP |
| Total | 73 | 100% |
SafeOunce classification of the IRS list dated April 1, 2026, made October 2, 2026. The IRS does not sort the list.
Why are brokerages here? A broker-dealer is a firm that buys and sells securities for customers. A clearing firm settles those trades and holds the accounts. Neither is a bank, so each needs IRS approval to hold IRAs. The SEC and NASAA investor alert of September 2011 adds: "Most IRA custodians are banks and broker-dealers that limit the holdings in IRA accounts to firm-approved stocks, bonds, mutual funds and CDs."
A fraternal benefit society is a member-owned insurer. The health-account firms run health savings accounts, which are tax-favored accounts for medical costs. Inspira appears only as Inspira Financial Health, Inc., the health-account affiliate, not as the trust company that holds IRAs.
When the 73 were approved: 1981 to 2026#
The oldest approval still on the list is dated September 9, 1981, and the newest is dated January 30, 2026. The oldest belongs to Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. and the newest to Anabaptist Financial. The table below counts the 73 approval dates by decade.
| Approval decade | Names | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 13 | 17.8% |
| 1990s | 4 | 5.5% |
| 2000s | 20 | 27.4% |
| 2010s | 17 | 23.3% |
| 2020s (through January 30, 2026) | 19 | 26.0% |
| Total | 73 | 100% |
SafeOunce count of the approval dates printed on the IRS list dated April 1, 2026.
5 of the 73 approvals are dated between October 1, 2025 and January 30, 2026, so the list is still growing.
The 1 precious metals business on the list: Lone Star Tangible Assets, LP#
Lone Star Tangible Assets, LP of Leander, Texas, approved on November 30, 2023, is the only business on the IRS list whose core activity is precious metals. It operates the Texas Bullion Depository for the Texas Comptroller, the state's finance office. The depository has stored IRA metal since June 12, 2025. Equity Trust was the custodian it named as of September 29, 2026.
According to its own portfolio page, Lone Star Tangible Assets also owns the dealers United States Gold Bureau and Wholesale Coins Direct. That is lawful. It means one company family can sit on three sides of an IRA purchase: seller, vault operator and approved trustee. Ask who fills each role in your account. IRS approval of the operator is not IRS approval of the depository.
What a nonbank trustee must prove: $250,000 of net worth and 5 other tests#
A nonbank trustee must show the IRS a net worth of at least $250,000 before it applies, and it must pass 5 other tests in Treasury Regulation 1.408-2(e). Net worth is what the company owns minus what it owes. The table below quotes each test from the regulation, read October 2, 2026.
| Test | What the regulation says | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| Not a person | "the applicant cannot be an individual" | (e)(2)(i)(A) |
| A real office | "an established place of business in the United States where it is accessible during every business day" | (e)(2)(ii) |
| Experience | "experience and competence with respect to accounting for the interests of a large number of individuals" | (e)(3) |
| Net worth to apply | "a net worth of not less than $250,000", for applications received after January 5, 1995 | (e)(5)(ii)(A) |
| Net worth to take new accounts | Above the greater of $100,000 or 4% of the assets in fiduciary accounts (2% for a passive trustee) | (e)(5)(ii)(B) |
| Yearly audit | "At least once during each period of 12 months", by a qualified public accountant | (e)(5)(iii) |
| Safekeeping | Assets "will be deposited in an adequate vault" and "a permanent record will be kept" | (e)(5)(v) |
Fiduciary accounts are the customer accounts a company holds in trust. A passive trustee is one with "no discretion to direct the investment" of the account.
In dollars, a passive trustee with exactly $250,000 of net worth can hold at most $12.5 million for customers ($250,000 divided by 2%). At the 4% rate, the same net worth supports $6.25 million. To hold $1 billion as a passive trustee, it needs more than $20 million. (SafeOunce computation from Treas. Reg. 1.408-2(e)(5)(ii)(B).)
The approval is not permanent. It "will be revoked if the Commissioner determines that the applicant is unwilling or unable to administer fiduciary accounts" by these rules (Treas. Reg. 1.408-2(e)(7)(iv)).
What changed in 2026: IRS Notice 2026-32#
IRS Notice 2026-32, which applies as of May 21, 2026, lets brokerages that hold customer assets meet two SEC rules instead of the IRS net worth test. The notice covers "carrying broker-dealers". A carrying broker-dealer is a brokerage that holds its customers' cash and securities itself. The two rules are SEC Rule 15c3-1 on net capital, the cash cushion a brokerage must keep, and Rule 15c3-3 on customer protection. The IRS asked for public comments by July 20, 2026.
How to Verify a Gold IRA Custodian's Charter in 5 Steps#
You can verify a gold IRA custodian's charter in 5 steps, using only the custodian's legal name, the IRS list and one state regulator's website. The roster search takes about two minutes. The 5 steps are listed below in the order you do them.
- Get the custodian's exact legal name.
- Search the IRS nonbank trustee list.
- Find the regulator the custodian names.
- Look the name up on the regulator's roster.
- Match the roster name to your account agreement.
One example runs through all 5 steps: Equity Trust Company, a data row and not a recommendation.
Step 1: Get the custodian's exact legal name#
Find the legal name on the account application or fee schedule, not the brand in the advertisement. "The Entrust Group" is an administrator, a service company that handles paperwork but is not the legal custodian. Its custodian is The Entrust Trust Company.
Step 2: Search the IRS nonbank trustee list#
Open the IRS list and search for the legal name; for a gold IRA custodian you should expect to find nothing. Example: "Equity Trust" returns no match on the list dated April 1, 2026. A match means route 4. No match is normal for a metals custodian: go to step 3.
Step 3: Find the regulator the custodian names#
Read the custodian's "About" or regulatory page and write down the state and the regulator it names. Two examples, read September 29, 2026, are below.
- Equity Trust calls itself "a state-chartered non-depository trust company regulated by the South Dakota Division of Banking".
- STRATA calls itself a "Texas-chartered trust company - Regulated by the Texas Department of Banking".
If the page names no regulator, ask in writing: "Which regulator examines the custodian, and under what charter?"
Step 4: Look the name up on the regulator's roster#
Open that regulator's public list of trust companies and find the same legal name. A roster is the regulator's official list of the companies it licenses. Example: the South Dakota Division of Banking roster "as of September 2026" shows "TC.022-2 Equity Trust Company". The class is "TC.2 - Public" and the first issuance date is "03/01/2003". The state roster table below lists 5 regulators and their search tools.
Step 5: Match the roster name to your account agreement#
Check that the name on the roster is the name on your custodial agreement and on the payee line for your transfer. If the names differ, you may be dealing with an administrator or a former brand.
What does a failed check look like? "Kingdom Trust" is not on the South Dakota roster of September 2026. The account notice names Digital Trust, the custodian since January 24, 2024, which is on the Nevada list dated April 20, 2026. Run the check on that name.
Keep a dated copy of the roster page with your account papers. After funding, the next check is the metal itself: is your gold really in your IRA?
Charter Lookup Table: 20 Gold IRA Custodians and Who Regulates Each (October 2026)#
Of the 20 names in the table, 19 are custodians that are not on the IRS list, and 1, Lone Star Tangible Assets, is an IRS-approved nonbank trustee. A row marked "company statement" means we read the custodian's own page and have not yet read the regulator's roster.
A public trust company and a retail trust company are state license classes for trust companies that serve the public. A successor custodian is the company that takes over accounts when the old custodian stops. The table is a charter record, not a ranking. Mainstar's site carried no metals content on September 29, 2026, and Inspira's self-directed IRA pages did not market metals when read in October 2025.
| Custodian (legal name) | Legal route | State and regulator | Roster entry or source | On the IRS nonbank list? | Review page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equity Trust Company | State trust company, 408(n)(3) | South Dakota Division of Banking | Roster: TC.022-2, public trust company, first issued 03/01/2003 | No | Equity Trust |
| Madison Trust Company, Inc. | State trust company | South Dakota Division of Banking | Roster: TC.085-2, public trust company, first issued 01/29/2014 | No | Madison Trust |
| IRA Financial Trust Company | State trust company | South Dakota Division of Banking | Roster: TC.110-2, first issued 11/02/2015 | No | IRA Financial |
| Forge Trust Co. (formerly IRA Services Trust) | State trust company | South Dakota Division of Banking | Roster: TC.037-2, first issued 06/06/2008 | No | Forge Trust |
| New Vision Trust Company (custodian for American IRA) | State trust company | South Dakota Division of Banking | Roster: TC.122-2, first issued 10/31/2017 | No | American IRA |
| Digital Trust (successor custodian for Kingdom Trust accounts since January 24, 2024) | State trust company | Nevada Financial Institutions Division | Nevada retail trust company list, April 20, 2026. Kingdom Trust is not on the South Dakota roster of September 2026 | No | Kingdom Trust (now Digital Trust) |
| Provident Trust Group LLC | State trust company | Nevada Financial Institutions Division | Nevada retail trust company list, April 20, 2026 | No | Provident Trust Group |
| American Estate & Trust Inc (custodian for uDirect IRA) | State trust company | Nevada Financial Institutions Division | Nevada retail trust company list, April 20, 2026 | No | uDirect IRA |
| American Estate & Trust Inc (custodian for Accuplan) | State trust company | Nevada Financial Institutions Division | Same entry as above | No | Accuplan |
| Advanta Trust Company Inc (custodian for Advanta IRA) | State trust company | Nevada Financial Institutions Division | Nevada retail trust company list, April 20, 2026 | No | Advanta IRA |
| Preferred Trust Co LLC | State trust company | Nevada Financial Institutions Division | Nevada retail trust company list, April 20, 2026 | No | Preferred Trust Company |
| STRATA Trust Company | State trust company | Texas Department of Banking | Company statement: "Texas-chartered trust company - Regulated by the Texas Department of Banking". Roster entry not read by SafeOunce | No | STRATA Trust |
| The Entrust Trust Company (custodian for The Entrust Group) | State trust company | Tennessee (agency not named in the company statement) | Company statement: "regulated by the State of Tennessee". Roster entry not read by SafeOunce | No | The Entrust Group |
| New Direction Trust Company (NDTCO) | State trust company | Kansas (agency not named in the company statement) | Company statement: "a Kansas-regulated non-depository trust company". Roster entry not read by SafeOunce | No | New Direction Trust Company |
| Mainstar Trust | State trust company | Kansas | Company statement: "limited purpose trust company chartered in Kansas". Roster entry not read by SafeOunce | No | Mainstar Trust |
| GoldStar Trust Company | Bank, 408(n)(1) | A division of Centennial Bank | Company statement (site footer). Bank's regulators not verified by SafeOunce | No | GoldStar Trust |
| Directed Trust Company (Directed IRA) | State trust company (company statement) | Arizona | Company statement: "an Arizona Corporation". Regulator not verified by SafeOunce | No | Directed IRA |
| Inspira Financial Trust, LLC (formerly Millennium Trust) | Not verified by SafeOunce | Illinois (address and governing law in its agreement) | Only "Inspira Financial Health, Inc." appears on the IRS list. Charter record not read by SafeOunce | No (the trust company); Yes (the health affiliate) | Inspira Financial |
| Horizon Trust Company | Not verified by SafeOunce | Charter state not stated on the pages we read | Charter record not read by SafeOunce | No | Horizon Trust |
| Lone Star Tangible Assets, LP | IRS-approved nonbank trustee, 408(a)(2) | IRS approval dated 11/30/2023 | IRS list, April 1, 2026: "203 Heritage Grove Road, Leander, TX 78641" | Yes | Texas Bullion Depository (linked above) |
IRS list dated April 1, 2026. South Dakota roster as of September 2026. Nevada list dated April 20, 2026. Company pages read September 29, 2026. Rosters re-read by SafeOunce on October 2, 2026 where a roster entry is shown.
State rosters: South Dakota, Nevada, Texas, Tennessee and Kansas#
Five states cover most gold IRA custodians in our table, and each state's regulator publishes a list or a search tool you can use for free. The table below names each tool and what we found in it.
| State | Regulator | Public list or search | What we found |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | Division of Banking | Roster PDF, "Trust Companies Chartered to Do Business in South Dakota as of September 2026" | 118 charters, 44 private and 74 public (SafeOunce count). Equity Trust, Madison Trust, IRA Financial Trust, Forge Trust Co. and New Vision Trust are listed. Kingdom Trust is not |
| Nevada | Financial Institutions Division | Retail Trust Companies as of 4.20.26 (PDF) | 34 names (SafeOunce count), including Advanta Trust Company Inc, American Estate & Trust Inc, Digital Trust, Preferred Trust Co LLC and Provident Trust Group LLC |
| Texas | Department of Banking | Entity search on dob.texas.gov | STRATA Trust Company states it is Texas-chartered. Roster entry not read by SafeOunce as of October 2, 2026 |
| Tennessee | Department of Financial Institutions | Regulated-entity search on tn.gov/tdfi | The Entrust Trust Company states it is "regulated by the State of Tennessee". Roster entry not read by SafeOunce as of October 2, 2026 |
| Kansas | Office of the State Bank Commissioner | License lookup on online.osbckansas.gov | New Direction Trust Company and Mainstar Trust state Kansas charters. Roster entries not read by SafeOunce as of October 2, 2026 |
A custodian in another state has its own regulator. The check is the same: the regulator's list, the exact legal name. Arizona and Illinois appear in the lookup table as company statements only.
Administrators are not custodians#
Six gold IRA brands in our records are administrators, which hold no trust charter of their own and work through a separate custodian. The 5 entries below cover those 6 brands.
- Advanta IRA Services: the custodian is Advanta Trust Company, Inc. (Nevada).
- uDirect IRA Services and Accuplan: the custodian is American Estate & Trust, Inc. (Nevada).
- American IRA: the custodian is New Vision Trust Company (South Dakota).
- The Entrust Group: the custodian is The Entrust Trust Company (Tennessee).
- Mountain West IRA: an administrator; the legal custodian is not named on the pages we read on September 29, 2026.
Ask an administrator one question: which trust company is the custodian on my account agreement?
Brand age is not charter age#
A custodian's "founded" year can be decades older than its trust charter. Equity Trust's brand says "Founded in 1974". The South Dakota roster shows its trust charter first issued on March 1, 2003. The SEC's 2016 decision, cited in the next section, says the company "came into being in 2003 when it assumed the SDIRA accounts of a predecessor". Neither date is wrong. They answer different questions.
What IRA Custodians Do Not Check: The Dealer, the Price and the Quality of the Investment#
Since September 2011, the SEC and state regulators have warned that self-directed IRA custodians "generally do not evaluate the quality or legitimacy of any investment" or its promoters. The warning comes from Investor Alert: Self-Directed IRAs and the Risk of Fraud. The SEC issued it with NASAA, the association of state securities regulators. The alert adds that custodians "are responsible only for holding and administering the assets in a self-directed IRA".
A self-directed IRA is an IRA whose custodian lets you hold assets such as metal. A promoter is the person or firm selling the investment. A custodian's charter, or an IRS approval, tells you who may hold the account. It says nothing about the dealer's price.
A fiduciary is someone legally bound to put your interest first. A gold dealer is not your fiduciary either.
The SEC case against Equity Trust, dismissed on June 27, 2016#
On June 27, 2016, an SEC administrative law judge dismissed all charges against Equity Trust Company for its role as custodian of accounts used by two promoters who defrauded investors. The case is In the Matter of Equity Trust Company, SEC Administrative Proceeding File No. 3-16594, Initial Decision Release No. 1030. An administrative law judge is a judge who hears cases inside a federal agency.
In June 2015 the SEC had alleged that the promoters "defrauded more than 100 investors out of $5 million invested through accounts at Equity Trust" (SEC press release 2015-121). The judge concluded that Equity Trust "was not a cause" of the promoters' violations. The decision ends: "this proceeding will be dismissed."
The same agreement adds: "We have no duty or obligation to notify you with respect to any information, knowledge, irregularities or our concerns relating to your investment or your ... promoter". The judge also noted that a higher standard "would require custodians to charge much higher fees than did Equity Trust".
The case was about securities sold by promoters, not about gold. It matters for gold because metals custodians use the same kind of agreement. Two dated examples: GoldStar's fee schedule (GTC Rev. 01/2026) says "GoldStar is not a 'fiduciary' with respect to your IRA", and Directed IRA's metals direction form (08/2025) says it "may send funds to the dealer ... before metals physically arrive at the depository".
5 things your custodian does not check, and who does#
Your custodian does not check the dealer, the price, the buyback offer, the sales advice or whether a gold IRA suits you. What does it do? It opens the account, pays the dealer on your signed direction and matches the depository receipt to the invoice. It also values the metal at the spot or bid price and files Forms 5498 and 1099-R. The table below pairs each gap with the person who can close it.
| What | Does the custodian check it? | Who can | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the dealer is honest or solvent | No | You, using regulator and court records | SEC and NASAA investor alert (September 2011) |
| The price and the markup over spot | No | You, with a written quote before you sign | SEC Initial Decision Release No. 1030 (2016) |
| The dealer's buyback promise | No | You, in the dealer's contract | SEC Initial Decision Release No. 1030 (2016) |
| Whether the advice you got was sound | No. Custodians give no investment or tax advice | A fee-only adviser or tax professional you hire | SEC Initial Decision Release No. 1030 (2016) |
| That the metal is IRA-eligible and reached the vault | Partly. The custodian applies its own acceptance list and matches the depository receipt to the invoice | You, on your statement | Custodial agreements and fee schedules read September 29, 2026 |
The spot price is the market price of raw metal, and the markup is what the dealer adds. A buyback is the dealer's offer to purchase the metal later.
No single agency licenses gold dealers, which is why the question of who regulates gold IRA companies has a long answer.
A common description says custodians help clients understand the prohibited transaction rules. The agreement in the 2016 decision points the other way: "It is not our responsibility to review the prudence, merits, viability, or suitability of any investment".
The dealer needs its own check: how to check a gold IRA company step by step.
What Does It Cost If the Holder Is Not a Qualified Custodian?#
If IRA metal is held by anyone other than a qualified trustee, the tax code treats the purchase as a withdrawal of what the metal cost. The IRS read the statute that way in Private Letter Ruling 200217059 (January 31, 2002), on bullion kept by two safekeeping companies.
A private letter ruling is the IRS's written answer to one taxpayer. It binds only that taxpayer, but it shows how the IRS reads 26 U.S.C. 408(m). A collectible is the tax code's word for metal, coins, art and similar items an IRA may not buy.
| $100,000 of bullion treated as distributed | Income tax | 10% additional tax | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under age 59 1/2, 22% bracket | $22,000 | $10,000 | $32,000 |
| Under age 59 1/2, 24% bracket | $24,000 | $10,000 | $34,000 |
| Age 59 1/2 or older, 22% bracket | $22,000 | $0 | $22,000 |
SafeOunce illustration. Federal tax only, traditional IRA, example rates. The additional tax is the 10% early-withdrawal penalty in 26 U.S.C. 72(t).
A vault that holds metal for your custodian is fine: it acts for the trustee. The problem is a storage company, an LLC or a person holding IRA metal with no qualified trustee behind it.
Does the charter route change what you pay?#
No. The legal route does not set the price: custodians with the same kind of state charter publish yearly totals from $235 to $656 on a $50,000 metals account. With the bank-division custodian added, the range starts at $215, all as of September 29, 2026.
| Custodian (schedule) | Legal route | Yearly custodian and storage cost at $50,000, shared storage |
|---|---|---|
| GoldStar Trust (GTC Rev. 01/2026) | Bank division | $215 |
| Equity Trust, metals-only schedule (FS-0004-05 Rev. 081726) | South Dakota trust company | $235 |
| STRATA Trust (fee page modified August 31, 2026) | Texas trust company (company statement) | $265 |
| Madison Trust (effective January 1, 2026) | South Dakota trust company | $656 |
Schedules read September 29, 2026. Shared storage means commingled or non-segregated: your metal is stored with other customers' metal of the same kind and is still recorded as yours. Named as dated data sources, not recommendations.
Two South Dakota trust companies sit $421 apart. Every schedule behind these totals is in the table of gold IRA custodian fees.
Which Check Fits Your Situation?#
The right check depends on what you were told: "IRS-approved", a brand name, or nothing at all. The table below matches 6 situations to the check and to the rule or record that decides it.
| Your situation | What to do | The rule or record that decides it |
|---|---|---|
| A salesperson says the custodian is "IRS-approved" | Ask whether it is on the IRS nonbank list or holds a state charter, and which regulator examines it | 26 U.S.C. 408(n)(3); IRS list dated April 1, 2026 |
| The custodian's name is not on the IRS list | Normal for a metals custodian. Go to the state roster | 26 U.S.C. 408(n)(3) |
| The brand is an administrator | Get the custodian's legal name from the account agreement and check that name | 26 U.S.C. 408(h) |
| Your old custodian was Kingdom Trust or Midland | Your account moved: Digital Trust since January 24, 2024; Equity Trust since July 15, 2024. Check the new name | Company notices to account holders (2024) |
| Someone offers to store IRA metal at home, or with a company that is not acting for a custodian | Do not accept. The IRS can treat the cost as a taxable withdrawal | PLR 200217059; McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 (2021) |
| The charter checks out | Good, but it says nothing about the dealer's price. Get the quote in writing | SEC Initial Decision Release No. 1030 (2016) |
The table describes situations, not advice for your household.
What Else Should You Check Before You Pick a Gold IRA Custodian?#
A valid charter is the first check on a gold IRA custodian; fees, storage, exit costs and the account type are the next four. The table below lists the 4 next checks and the page that covers each.
| Next check | Why it matters | Page |
|---|---|---|
| What the custodian charges each year | Flat fees take a bigger share of a small account | Cost and terms: best gold IRA custodians compared |
| Where the metal is stored | The vault acts for the custodian | The vault: where IRA metals are stored |
| What it costs to leave | Exit and transfer fees differ by custodian | Leaving: switching gold IRA custodians |
| What the account type is | A gold IRA is a self-directed IRA | The account: self-directed IRA for gold |
Questions readers ask about IRS-approved custodians#
The 5 questions below come up most often.
Who are the top custodians for gold IRAs?#
No regulator ranks gold IRA custodians, and being on the IRS list or a state roster is a license, not a rating. Our custodian comparison sorts custodians by those dated costs and terms.
Who is the trustee for an IRA?#
The trustee of an IRA is the bank, credit union, trust company or IRS-approved nonbank trustee named in your account agreement. For a custodial IRA, the custodian is treated as the trustee (26 U.S.C. 408(h)). The short definition of a nonbank trustee is in the glossary.
Can the IRS track gold purchases?#
Inside an IRA, yes: the custodian reports the account's year-end value to the IRS on Form 5498 and any withdrawal on Form 1099-R (26 U.S.C. 408(i)). Form 5498 is the yearly report of what the IRA holds and what went in. Form 1099-R is the report of money or metal that came out. Each box on Forms 1099-R, 5498 is explained separately.
What happens if a custodian quits or is sold?#
Your IRA usually moves to a successor custodian, and that move is a transfer, not a rollover, so it is not taxed (IRS Publication 590-A). A transfer goes straight from one trustee to another. A rollover passes through your hands and has a 60-day deadline.
Do not ignore a resignation letter. The Directed and Inspira agreements give 30 days' written notice. If you do nothing, the custodian picks a successor or distributes the account, and a distribution is generally taxable.
Two dated examples: Kingdom Trust accounts went to Digital Trust on January 24, 2024, and Midland accounts went to Equity Trust on July 15, 2024. What to do if your custodian quits, is sold or fails is covered step by step.
What is the downside of a gold IRA?#
The main downsides of a gold IRA are the dealer's markup, flat yearly fees that weigh on small accounts, and metal that pays no interest or dividends. A $215 yearly fee (the lowest published total, GoldStar GTC Rev. 01/2026, as of September 29, 2026) is 0.43% of a $50,000 account and 2.15% of a $10,000 account. The pros, cons and real downsides are weighed with data.