Gold IRA Storage Fees in 2026: What Each Custodian and Depository Charges (11 Fee Schedules Compared)

Gold IRA storage fees run about $70 to $250 a year on a $50,000 account at 11 published custodian fee schedules (September 2026). Your custodian, not the vault, sets that price. The custodian is the trust company or bank that legally holds your IRA, and the depository is the vault that holds the metal.

The same vault can bill $100 or $250 a year for the same $250,000 of coins. Storage is one line of the gold IRA fees you pay each year. This page compares that line across 11 schedules and 6 account sizes, then covers segregated storage, billing traps, unpaid bills and which option fits you. Every fee comes from the custodian's own dated schedule or the source named beside it.

Five figures sum up IRA gold storage, from published schedules read September 29, 2026.

• $100 to $125 a year: flat commingled storage at Entrust (Delaware Depository), Equity Trust, STRATA and GoldStar.
• $150 to $225 a year: flat segregated storage at the same 4 custodians (GoldStar up to $125,000 of metal).
• 0.08% to 0.50% a year: value-based storage (above a minimum at Entrust-A-Mark Global Logistics, Directed, Forge and Madison; from the first dollar, with a floor, at uDirect, Accuplan and Fidelity).
• $215 to $325 a year: flat storage plus the yearly account fee at GoldStar, Equity Trust and STRATA.
• 0: depositories the IRS approves (26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(B)).

Skip to: which storage option costs least for you.

How Much Are Gold IRA Storage Fees in 2026?#

At the main flat-fee custodians, gold IRA owners pay $100 to $125 a year for shared (commingled) storage and $150 to $225 for segregated storage, as of September 2026. Those are the prices at Entrust (Delaware Depository), Equity Trust, STRATA and GoldStar. Commingled means your coins sit with identical coins of other owners and are recorded as yours. Segregated means your exact coins sit on their own shelf.

Four price patterns appear in the 11 published schedules, as listed below.

• Flat fee at any balance: Equity Trust, STRATA, GoldStar (commingled), Entrust at Delaware Depository and Digital Trust. A flat fee is the same dollar amount every year.
• Minimum plus a percentage above a set balance: Entrust at A-Mark Global Logistics, Directed, Forge, Madison, and GoldStar segregated above $125,000. A value-based fee is a percentage of what your metal is worth.
• Percentage from the first dollar: uDirect, Accuplan and Fidelity.
• Unpublished or negotiated price: 9 custodians, such as NDTCO and Provident, publish no storage price (listed under the schedule table), and Texas Bullion Depository IRA storage is negotiated.

Ranking pages quote $100 to $300 or $100 to $400 a year without naming a custodian. The storage line differs among gold IRA custodians more than among vaults: on $50,000 it runs from $70 (Entrust at A-Mark Global Logistics) to $250 (uDirect, Fidelity).

Who sets the storage fee: the custodian, not the depository#

Your custodian sets your storage fee, because federal law requires IRA bullion to be in the physical possession of the IRA's trustee. The vault bills the custodian, and the custodian bills you. The trustee is the bank or trust company that legally holds your IRA; physical possession means it controls the metal.

The IRS approves no depository. Its only approval list covers nonbank trustees, firms that are not banks but may act as IRA trustees. The IRS nonbank trustee list names 73 as of April 1, 2026; its only metals business is Lone Star Tangible Assets, LP, which runs the Texas Bullion Depository.

The table below prices $250,000 of commingled metal at one vault, Delaware Depository.

One vault, 7 IRA prices: yearly commingled storage for $250,000 of metal at Delaware Depository (schedules read September 29, 2026; SafeOunce computation).

No depository publishes IRA storage prices. The Texas Bullion Depository says they are "typically negotiated between the custodian, the gold dealer and the depository contractor." The dealer often picks the vault, too: GoldStar writes that the dealer "usually determines which depository will be used."

Some vaults belong to dealer groups: A-Mark Global Logistics (Gold.com), IDS (Dillon Gage), TPMD (Texas Precious Metals) and SD Depository (SD Bullion). SafeOunce found no dealer parent for Delaware Depository, Brink's or Loomis. Ask which vault, which storage type and who owns it before you buy; the main gold IRA depositories are compared on the vault hub.

What the storage fee pays for, including insurance#

The storage fee pays for vault space, the depository's insurance and its record of your metal. It does not pay for shipping, handling, account administration or the premium you paid. The 5 items below show what is in and out.

• Vault space and security: included.
• Depository insurance: included, within limits. Delaware Depository carries $1 billion of all-risk insurance plus $100 million of contingent coverage (FAQ, read September 29, 2026). All-risk means loss from any cause the policy does not exclude; contingent cover applies only in set conditions. The policy pays metal value, not premiums, and excludes war, terrorism, cyber-attack, radioactive contamination, chemical or biological weapons and government confiscation.
• Holdings record: included. Commingled metal is still allocated, which means a set quantity is recorded in your IRA's name.
• Account fee, shipping and handling: not included (see the account-fee table and trap 5).
• FDIC or SIPC protection: never. FDIC covers only uninvested cash, up to $250,000 per depositor, and SIPC covers securities, not IRA metal.

The metal-value rule matters most for proof coins. Twenty 1/10-oz proof Gold Eagles bought for $11,212.60 would be insured at about $8,312.60 at spot (September 29, 2026) unless a declared value is on file: a gap of about $2,900, or 26% (SafeOunce computation).

Entrust passes depository fees through "at their actual costs and without markup," but its customers sign a release: "Entrust is not and cannot be held responsible for the actions or inactions of these depositories" (Fee Disclosure Rev. 12-4-2025). In plain English: the custodian does not stand behind the vault.

IDS, Brink's, TPMD and the Texas Bullion Depository publish no insurance limit. Limits and payout rules show how gold IRA storage is insured at each vault.

What Each Custodian Charges for Gold IRA Storage: 11 Fee Schedules#

Eleven custodians publish an IRA storage price: on a $10,000 account, their commingled line runs from $50 (Fidelity) to $150 (Digital Trust) a year. Value-based schedules charge 0.08% to 0.50% of value. A basis point is one hundredth of a percent, so 8 basis points is 0.08%. A minimum annual fee is the least you pay in a year, whatever your balance.

The table compares the 11 schedules, the vaults each uses and when each bills.

IRA gold storage fees by custodian, from each custodian's own schedule (read September 29, 2026). Custodians that publish no storage price: NDTCO (passed through from the vault), Provident, IRA Financial, Advanta, American IRA, Horizon, Inspira, Preferred Trust, Mountain West IRA. Texas Bullion Depository IRA storage (Equity Trust only) is negotiated and unpublished.

Flat storage fees: Equity Trust, STRATA, GoldStar, Entrust at Delaware Depository and Digital Trust#

Five schedules charge a flat storage fee that stays the same at any balance: $100 to $150 commingled and $150 to $240 segregated, as of September 2026. The top of each range is Digital Trust, according to its fees page (last updated November 2025). GoldStar's segregated line is flat only up to $125,000.

A flat fee shrinks as a share of a large account: Equity Trust's $110 is 1.10% of $10,000 but 0.04% of $250,000. All five flat schedules offer Delaware Depository, which keeps IRA metal in Wilmington, Delaware, and Boulder City, Nevada.

Flat commingled storage has one trade-off on the way out. Equity Trust warns that owners of non-segregated metal (its word for commingled) "may not receive the same brand, year, or condition." In plain English: you get back the same weight and type of coin, not necessarily the same pieces.

Value-based storage fees: Directed, Forge, Madison, uDirect, Accuplan and Entrust at A-Mark Global Logistics#

Six schedules tie storage to the value of your metal: Directed, Forge, Madison, uDirect, Accuplan and Fidelity. Entrust offers both: value-based at A-Mark Global Logistics, flat at Delaware Depository. The 3 value-based designs are listed below.

• Minimum, then a rate above a threshold: Entrust at A-Mark Global Logistics ($70 allocated, $170 segregated), Directed ($95 / $190), Forge ($100 / $190) and Madison ($100 for the first $100,000). A threshold is the balance at which the percentage starts to count. The rates run 0.08% to 0.16%.
• Falling tiers from the first dollar: uDirect charges 0.50%, 0.25% and 0.10% as your balance grows. Accuplan starts at 0.50% and drops to 0.10% above $500,000, with its middle tiers unpublished. A tier is a band of balance with its own rate.
• A flat quarterly percentage: Fidelity charges 0.125% a quarter (next section).

Madison's schedule (effective January 1, 2026) states the threshold plainly: "The $100 minimum includes your first $100,000 of metal held at Delaware Depository. Beyond that, storage fees are billed at $1 per $1,000 of asset value." In plain English: below $100,000 you pay $100; at $250,000 you pay $250.

Gold.com, Inc. owns A-Mark Global Logistics, which runs vaults in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Irving, Texas.

Fidelity's in-IRA bullion storage#

Fidelity charges 0.125% of your metal's value each quarter, or $3.75 if that is more, for bullion held inside a Fidelity IRA. That works out to 0.50% a year with a $15 minimum (fee schedule FA-FEES-0926, read September 29, 2026).

Fidelity's 0.50% costs less than Equity Trust's $110 storage below $22,000 of metal, and less than a $235 to $285 all-in flat gold IRA below about $47,000 to $57,000 (SafeOunce computation). Fidelity's schedule does not say whether the storage is segregated or commingled.

Fidelity's metal sits at FideliTrade, which Fidelity says carries "$1 billion in 'all risk' insurance coverage at Lloyds of London ... and $300 million in contingent vault coverage." That is Fidelity's figure, not the vault's. Its 2.90% to 0.99% buying commission is not a storage fee; buying costs and eligible coins in a Fidelity gold IRA are covered separately.

What gold IRA companies quote for storage#

Gold IRA companies usually quote the storage line of the custodian they work with, so check the quote against that custodian's own fee schedule. The table below shows what 4 companies' own pages say, as read September 29, 2026.

What gold IRA companies say about storage on their own pages (company claims, not verified quotes).

Augusta's $110 matches Equity Trust's non-segregated line, and Augusta names Equity Trust as its custodian (company claim). Ask Noble in writing which of its two figures applies. Where a company's page and the custodian's schedule differ, the schedule is what bills you.

Are Gold IRA Storage Fees Based on Account Value?#

Gold IRA storage fees are flat at 5 of the 11 published schedules and based on account value at the other 6. The flat five are Equity Trust, STRATA, GoldStar, Entrust at Delaware Depository and Digital Trust. Two routes cross the line: Entrust is value-based at A-Mark Global Logistics, and GoldStar's segregated fee rises above $125,000.

Flat fees favor large accounts, and value-based fees favor small ones up to a crossover balance, the account size at which two fees are equal. A value-based fee also rises when gold rises, even if you buy nothing.

The same flat-or-scaled trade-off for account fees is worked through in flat vs scaled gold IRA fees.

Where value-based storage overtakes a flat fee#

Value-based storage starts costing more than its minimum at $87,500 to $125,000 of metal on the minimum-plus-rate schedules. Fidelity's 0.50% passes Equity Trust's $110 flat fee at just $22,000. The 9 crossover points are listed below.

SafeOunce computation from the 11 custodian schedules above (read September 29, 2026); gold price held flat.

Above these balances, a flat fee costs less every year. At $250,000, Entrust at AMGL segregated costs $400, against $150 to $175 for flat segregated storage at Entrust (Delaware), Equity Trust and STRATA. The same math applies to funds: a flat $250 fee and a gold ETF (a fund that trades like a stock) charging 0.40% cost the same at $62,500. To test your own balance, use the gold IRA fee calculator.

What a rising gold price does to a percentage fee#

A percentage storage fee rises with the gold price, so the same coins cost more to store after a good year even though you added nothing. Gold returned +67.4% in 2025 on the LBMA PM price (the London afternoon benchmark price), year-end to year-end. The table applies that change to $50,000 of gold.

SafeOunce computation; a past price change, not a forecast.

The effect also works in reverse: the LBMA PM gold price fell 26.1% from its record of $5,405.00 on January 29, 2026 to $3,993.55 on July 16, 2026, and value-based bills fell with it.

What Gold IRA Storage Costs at 6 Account Sizes#

On a $10,000 gold IRA, storage costs $50 to $225 a year (0.50% to 2.25%); on $250,000 it costs $100 to $1,250 (0.04% to 0.50%), as of September 2026. At $50,000, the cheapest and the dearest route are $180 a year apart ($70 vs $250). The table gives storage only, with the gold price held flat.

Yearly storage fee only, by account size (published schedules, September 29, 2026; gold price flat). Digital Trust ($150 / $240 flat, single source) and Accuplan (up to $500 at $100,000; middle tiers unpublished) are left out of the grid. SafeOunce computation.

Why storage fees hit small accounts hardest#

Flat storage fees take a bigger bite from a small account. At STRATA, $10,000 with segregated storage pays $150 + $175 = $325 a year. That is 3.25% of the account, or $3,250 over 10 years. Fee drag is the share of your balance that fees take each year.

Below about $21,500, even the cheapest flat all-in cost ($215 at GoldStar) takes 1% of the balance a year. At $10,000 the flat routes take 3% or more, before the dealer's spread. Only Fidelity costs less at these sizes: its 0.50% storage, with no account fee added, beats a $235 flat gold IRA below $47,000. Directed's storage line alone is $95, but its $495 account fee makes it $590 a year. Company minimums and how much money you need to start a gold IRA are compared by company.

Storage plus the custodian's account fee#

Storage never comes alone: with the yearly account fee added, the flat routes at GoldStar, Equity Trust and STRATA cost $215 to $325 a year, as of September 2026. Value-based schedules cost $650 to $1,150 a year at $250,000. The table adds each custodian's account fee to its storage line.

Yearly account fee plus storage (published schedules, September 29, 2026). Entrust rows use the single-asset $219 recordkeeping tier; two or more asset types add $110 a year. Accuplan's $10,000 figure uses its $144 minimum; its middle tiers are unpublished, so larger balances show upper bounds. Setup, trade, shipping and exit fees are extra. SafeOunce computation.

Setup, trade and exit charges come on top and are compared in gold IRA custodian fees.

10 years of storage at $100,000 and $250,000#

Over 10 years, storing $100,000 of metal costs $800 to $5,000 depending on the schedule, and storing $250,000 costs $1,000 to $12,500. Both hold the gold price and fees at September 2026 levels.

10-year storage only (SafeOunce computation; fees and gold price held at September 29, 2026 levels).

Fees can also rise: Directed's yearly account fee went from $295 (2021 to 2023) to $395 (September 2024) to $495 (2026).

With account fees, setup, one purchase and the exit fee added, 10 years on $100,000 costs $2,410 (GoldStar commingled) to $3,650 (STRATA segregated) at the 4 metals specialists. The dealer's spread usually costs more than all 10 years of storage: a Gold Eagle lost 5.39% round trip at SD Bullion on September 29, 2026, or $5,390 on $100,000. How dealers set gold IRA markups decides more of the 10-year cost than storage does.

How Much More Does Segregated Storage Cost?#

Segregated storage costs $50 to $100 a year more than commingled storage on the published schedules, which adds up to $1,000 to $2,000 over 20 years (September 2026 schedules). The table below gives the extra cost for 6 routes.

Segregated premium per year and over 20 years (fees held at 2026 levels; SafeOunce computation).

Commingled metal is still allocated to you on the vault's books. Delaware Depository calls it "allocated on our system and physically separated by product." Unallocated metal is only a claim on a vault's pool, and IRA metal is never held that way. Segregated storage returns your exact pieces, which matters mainly for proof, graded or unusual coins (decision table, row 10).

Segregation is not a safety guarantee. It did not stop the theft at First State Depository, where 2,102 accounts, 90% of them IRAs, were affected. What you get back under segregated vs commingled gold IRA storage is explained with each vault's terms.

Segregated storage for silver: where it is offered#

Segregated storage for silver coins is not offered on 4 common custodian routes, so a silver IRA owner who wants segregation usually needs IDS, TPMD, AMGL or a custodian exception. The 4 routes, per their own documents, are listed below.

• Entrust at Delaware Depository: segregated storage is "Gold/Platinum/Palladium Only."
• STRATA: segregated storage "applies to gold, platinum, and palladium" ("depository exceptions may apply"), even though its only segregated vault is TPMD.
• Forge at Delaware Depository: "Segregated storage is available for gold, platinum and palladium only (no silver)." Forge's BlueVault line offers segregated silver bullion.
• GoldStar at Delaware Depository: "Segregated storage is not available for Silver products smaller than 1000 oz. bars." A 1,000-oz bar is a large exchange bar, not a coin.

Silver also takes far more room per dollar, as the table shows for $50,000 of each metal.

Prices: spot snapshot of September 29, 2026; 1 troy ounce = 31.1034768 g. SafeOunce computation.

Flat-fee custodians charge the same for silver as for gold, even though a dollar buys about 68 times as much silver as gold by weight. Eligible bars and coins for a silver IRA are listed on the silver hub.

5 Storage Billing Traps That Cost Gold IRA Owners Money#

Five billing rules turn a $100 to $225 storage fee into a bigger bill. Two are about timing (the billing date and no proration), and 3 are about what you are billed. Each rule below is quoted from the custodian's own document.

1. The December double bill: why you were charged storage fees twice#

Equity Trust bills storage when your metal arrives and again every January, so metal that arrives in December is billed twice within a few weeks.

The December double bill at Equity Trust (SafeOunce computation from FS-0004-05 Rev. 081726).

Directed also bills storage "at Account opening and annually, each January," so its $95 minimum can come twice within weeks. GoldStar and STRATA bill on an anniversary date, and Entrust at Delaware on the anniversary of the purchase, which avoids this trap. GoldStar's own pages disagree on which date: the account anniversary (schedule) or "the month the depository first received the metals" (metals page).

NDTCO bills its yearly fee in each asset's anniversary month, and Madison bills its account fee quarterly. Ask for the billing date in writing before you fund.

2. Storage fees are not prorated when you leave#

The schedules that state a rule neither prorate nor refund storage, so closing just after the billing date pays for a year, or a quarter, you do not use. Prorated means charged only for the part of the period you used. Three examples are listed below.

• Equity Trust: closing in early January still pays the $235 to $285 billed that month, plus exit fees. Its schedule says "Account maintenance fees are not prorated" and prints no storage refund rule.
• Entrust at AMGL and Directed: storage is "neither prorated nor refundable."
• Forge: fees bill on the first day of each quarter and are "not pro-rated." A Better Business Bureau complainant who closed on October 6 was billed the full fourth quarter.

Termination and transfer-out fees come on top, at $150 to $500 on published schedules (read September 29, 2026). Exit charges are compared in gold IRA termination and transfer-out fees.

3. Value-based storage billed in advance#

Value-based storage is billed in advance on the value at billing time, so a high gold price on the billing date sets your fee for the whole period. Billed in advance means you pay at the start of the period.

Entrust's AMGL form says "Fees are billed in advance at the time Assets are first stored, and each anniversary date," and "Fees are neither prorated nor refundable." Fidelity's storage is "pre-billed based on the value of the precious metals in the marketplace at the time of billing." uDirect bills each month on current value, so its bill moves month by month.

4. Personal vault rates quoted as IRA storage fees#

Fee guides that quote Delaware Depository's personal-account rates of 0.50% and 1.5% as gold IRA storage fees overstate IRA storage on $100,000 by about 4 to 10 times. The table shows the gap, with a second vault's non-IRA price for comparison.

Personal and non-IRA vault rates vs IRA storage (read September 29, 2026). The Texas Bullion Depository IRA price is negotiated and unpublished.

The personal rates are real prices, but only for metal you own outside an IRA. For IRA storage, check your custodian's schedule, not the vault's retail page; the vault's terms and Delaware Depository IRA storage fees by custodian are on its page.

The gap can reach you after an IRA exit, too. STRATA lets distributed metal move into a personal account at Delaware Depository or TPMD as a "reportable distribution" (Form 1099-R). From then on personal rates apply, so the same coins in the same vault go from $115 a year to 0.50% of their value.

5. Handling, shipping and transfer charges outside the storage fee#

The storage line does not include handling, shipping or internal transfer fees, which the custodian bills separately when metal moves. A handling fee pays the vault to pack, unpack or process a shipment. An internal transfer moves metal between storage types inside the same vault.

Charges outside the storage fee (read September 29, 2026).

Package limits add up on a large in-kind exit, which hands you the metal instead of cash. At $4,155 an ounce (spot snapshot, September 29, 2026), a fully insured Delaware Depository package holds about 24 oz of gold. A $300,000 in-kind distribution needs at least 3 packages, or $105 of Entrust handling before postage (SafeOunce computation). Other charges that stay out of the summary are in hidden gold IRA fees.

What Happens If You Don't Pay Your Gold IRA Storage Fee?#

At least 4 custodians' documents let them sell your metal when a storage bill goes unpaid and the IRA holds no cash. Equity Trust can then distribute the rest of the account to you, which is taxable. To liquidate means to sell; to force distribute means to move assets out of the IRA to you, which counts as a withdrawal. The table quotes 7 custodians' rules.

What 7 custodians' documents say about unpaid fees (read September 29, 2026).

Fees keep running even on an empty account: Directed's schedule says "Fees will continue to accrue and be payable even if the Account contains no assets." Keep at least one year of fees in cash inside the IRA. At least six custodians require a $500 cash minimum anyway: Madison, uDirect, Forge, Provident, IRA Financial and Preferred (schedules read September 29, 2026).

How an unpaid storage bill can become a taxable distribution#

A forced distribution is taxed like any withdrawal, so a $235 unpaid bill can turn into about a $6,400 tax bill on a $20,000 traditional gold IRA. The example assumes an owner under 59 1/2. The table shows the math.

SafeOunce illustration, rounded; your bracket and any state tax change the numbers.

In plain English: the IRS treats the forced payout as money you chose to take out. It is ordinary income, taxed at your regular rate, and the additional tax is the 10% early-withdrawal tax before 59 1/2.

The distribution is valued at spot, not the price you paid: Equity Trust statements value metal without "any markups, commissions or premiums." The 28% collectibles rate applies only outside an IRA (26 U.S.C. 1(h)). How cash and in-kind gold IRA distributions are valued and taxed is covered step by step.

Can you pay storage fees from outside the IRA?#

It depends on your custodian: Directed lets owners pay fees from outside the IRA, Preferred Trust requires payment from the IRA, and IRS guidance covers only trustees' administrative fees. IRS Publication 590-A says "Trustees' administrative fees aren't subject to the contribution limit," and separately billed fees aren't deductible as contributions. Preferred Trust says depository fees "must be paid directly from your IRA"; Accuplan tells clients not to pay storage out of pocket. Whether an outside payment of storage counts as a contribution is not established, so follow your custodian's written rule.

Which Gold IRA Storage Option Costs Least for Your Situation?#

Flat-fee custodians cost least for most gold IRAs of $50,000 to $250,000 once the account fee is added: $215 to $235 a year at GoldStar and Equity Trust. Forge, Directed and Madison cost $500 to $656. On storage alone, the value-based minimums at Entrust-AMGL ($70) and Directed ($95) cost less up to about $87,500 and $118,750. Fidelity's 0.50% costs less all-in only below about $47,000. The table matches 11 situations to the published number that decides each one, all as of September 29, 2026.

Situations overlap; check every row that fits you.

An ETF (exchange-traded fund) trades like a stock, and its expense ratio is the yearly fee it takes as a percentage of your money. The table describes situations, not advice for your household.

How Do Storage Fees Fit Into the Total Cost of a Gold IRA?#

Storage is one of a gold IRA's 5 cost layers, and the dealer's spread alone usually costs more than 10 years of storage. Published 2026 schedules put custodian and storage fees at $215 to $656 a year on $50,000, before the spread. The 4 other cost layers are listed below.

• Dealer spread and markup: the dealer's cut of the price you pay, charged once when you buy.
• Buyback gap: dealers buy metal back below spot, so selling costs you again.
• Custodian account and setup fees: $90 to $556 a year on $50,000 at published 2026 metals schedules.
• Exit fees: $150 to $500 to close or transfer out at published schedules.

Vaults ranked on cost and safety appear in best gold IRA depositories, and custodians compared on total cost in best gold IRA custodians.

Free storage and "fees paid" offers#

A "free storage" offer removes a fee of about $100 to $225 a year, which is small next to the coin price. U.S. Money Reserve's "Fees for Life" covers up to $300 a year at Equity Trust. It requires a $200,000 minimum rollover and at least 60% proof coins (effective April 1, 2026). Ten years of Equity Trust segregated fees ($2,900) is less than a spread 3 points higher on $100,000. What no-fee gold IRA offers are worth is computed offer by offer.

Questions readers ask about gold IRA storage#

The 7 questions below come up most often beside storage fees.

Can you store gold IRA metal at home to avoid storage fees?#

No: IRA metal kept at home is treated as a taxable distribution of what the coins cost, as the Tax Court held in McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 (2021). In McNulty, $374,000 of Gold Eagles bought in 2015 were taxed as distributed. The IRS took the same view of bullion held by non-trustee storage companies in PLR 200217059 (2002). The home storage gold IRA pitch is explained in full.

Is IRA gold storage insured?#

Yes, by the depository's own policy, which pays the metal's value, not the premium you paid, and has limits and exclusions. First State Depository advertised "$400 million" of insurance while its actual cover was $75 million from May 2021. Its owner was sentenced on June 17, 2025 to 65 years in prison. What IRA owners got back after First State Depository failed is documented case by case.

Does the IRS approve gold IRA depositories?#

No: the IRS approves no depository; it approves only nonbank trustees, 73 of them as of April 1, 2026. The law requires your trustee to hold the bullion (26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(B)). A nonbank trustee is a firm that is not a bank but has IRS approval to act as an IRA trustee.

How do you store gold in an IRA?#

You store gold in an IRA by having the custodian direct a dealer to ship IRA-eligible metal to a depository the custodian contracts with. Every vault and where IRA metals are stored is mapped on the depository hub.

Is it better to have physical gold or a gold IRA?#

It depends on the goal: a gold IRA adds tax deferral but also yearly custodian and storage fees of about $215 to $325 at GoldStar, Equity Trust and STRATA. Gold you hold yourself is a collectible, an asset class whose long-term gains are taxed at up to 28% when you sell. Costs, taxes and access are set side by side in gold IRA vs physical gold.

What is the downside of a gold IRA?#

The main downsides are that metal pays no income, the dealer spread and flat yearly fees weigh on small balances, and traditional withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. On $10,000, a flat $235 a year is 2.35% of the account. The full gold IRA pros and cons are weighed with 55 years of data.

Does the IRS know if you buy gold?#

Inside an IRA, yes: the custodian reports the account's year-end value to the IRS on Form 5498, with the metal valued near spot. Form 5498 is the yearly IRA information return; every form is decoded in Does the IRS know about your gold.