Gold IRA Rules: The Complete IRS Rulebook for Precious Metals IRAs (20 Rules for 2026)

A gold IRA follows all normal IRA rules plus two metal rules in 26 U.S.C. 408(m): it buys only eligible metal, and a custodian, not you, holds it. A custodian is the bank or trust company that legally holds your individual retirement account (IRA), and "26 U.S.C." is the federal tax code.

Together they make 20 rules for 2026, from a $7,500 contribution limit ($8,600 at 50 or older) to required withdrawals at 73 (75 if born in 1960 or later). Which ones cost the most? A prohibited transaction (Rule 17) taxes the whole IRA, and home storage (Rule 4) taxes every coin you keep.

The rules follow your money and metal from purchase to withdrawal, then cover death, divorce, bankruptcy and 7 rule-breaking sales pitches. A SafeOunce review of 43 ranking pages (September 2026) found none that cited 26 U.S.C. 408(m) or the 2021 Tax Court case on home storage.

The table below lists the 20 gold IRA rules and the federal cost of breaking each, as of September 29, 2026.

What Are the Rules for a Gold or Precious Metals IRA?#

Gold IRA rules are the normal IRA rules plus the collectibles rule in 26 U.S.C. 408(m), which admits only certain metal held by a trustee. Yes, you can hold precious metals in an IRA, and the same rules cover gold, silver, platinum and palladium. A collectible is the tax code's word for things an IRA may not buy, such as art, stamps and most coins. The law calls the custodian a "trustee"; both words mean the bank or trust company holding the IRA.

A gold IRA is not its own account type. It is an ordinary IRA whose custodian allows metal. That can be a traditional IRA (tax later), a Roth IRA (tax paid up front), or a SEP or SIMPLE IRA for the self-employed and small employers. These rules are the core of every precious metals IRA, whichever metal it holds.

What does a gold IRA require? 5 requirements before you buy#

A gold IRA requires 5 things: a qualified custodian, money that can legally move in, eligible metal, storage by the custodian, and no personal use. They are listed below in the order you meet them.

1. An IRA at a qualified custodian: a bank, a state-supervised trust company or an IRS-listed nonbank trustee that allows metal (26 U.S.C. 408(a)(2), 408(n)).
2. Money that can legally move in: a cash contribution, a transfer or a rollover (Rules 6-10).
3. Eligible metal: a named US coin, or bullion at the minimum purity (Rules 1-3).
4. Storage by the custodian: the metal goes from the dealer to a depository, a private vault, in the custodian's name (Rule 4).
5. Hands off: the IRA, not you or your family, buys, owns and uses the metal (Rule 17).

Most big brokers sell no coins inside an IRA, so metal usually sits in a self-directed IRA for gold, whose custodian offers assets the big brokers do not. Fidelity is the main exception (see "Gold IRA rules at Fidelity" below).

The IRS sets no minimum investment; company minimums are a sales policy, not a rule.

You can follow how a gold IRA works from opening to cash-out, step by step.

Who writes the rules? The 8 layers from Congress to your dealer#

Gold IRA rules come from 8 layers, from Congress down to your dealer's contract, and only the first 5 are law. A futures exchange is a market for metal contracts, and its delivery rules set the purity bar the tax code borrows. A private letter ruling is an IRS answer to one taxpayer, and it binds no one else. The table below shows each layer with one example.

Layers 1-5 are law; layers 6-8 are company policy you can compare. The IRS enforces the tax rules. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state regulators pursue sales fraud. Of the 43 ranking pages we reviewed, only 5 linked any primary source.

Is anything "IRS-approved"?#

No coin, bar, dealer or vault is "IRS-approved". The IRS Retirement Plan Investments FAQs (updated April 8, 2026) say "there is no list of approved investments for retirement plans." Its only approval list covers 73 nonbank trustees (list of April 1, 2026). The correct phrase is "IRA-eligible under 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)."

A nonbank trustee is a company, not a bank, that the IRS has approved to hold IRAs (Treas. Reg. 1.408-2(e)). On the IRS nonbank trustee list, only one is a metals business: Lone Star Tangible Assets, LP, approved on November 30, 2023.

The big metals custodians, such as Equity Trust, STRATA and GoldStar, are not on that list. They qualify another way, as trust companies chartered by a state (26 U.S.C. 408(n)). How to check a charter is covered in "IRS-approved" gold IRA custodians.

The phrase sounds like a government check of the coin or price, and none exists. Yet all 6 top ranking pages we read in September 2026 used it.

What Can a Gold IRA Buy? Rules 1-3#

A gold IRA can buy only metal that fits the tax code's exception to the collectibles ban: a named US coin or bullion of a minimum purity. Everything else counts as a collectible and is taxed as a withdrawal.

Rule 1: An IRA may not buy collectibles, with two metal exceptions#

An IRA may not buy collectibles, such as stamps, art or most coins; eligible gold, silver, platinum and palladium are the exceptions. The rule is 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(1)-(2), added by the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 for property bought after December 31, 1981.

The IRS collectibles page lists art, rugs, antiques, any metal or gem, any stamp or coin, and alcoholic beverages. The full text of the IRS collectibles rule and its history is on its own page.

What breaking it costs: the price becomes taxable income that year, plus a 10% additional tax (the early-withdrawal penalty) under age 59 1/2. The metal is not taxed again when it later leaves the IRA (IRS Publication 590-A). If the unreported amount is over 25% of the income you reported, the IRS has 6 years to assess instead of 3 (26 U.S.C. 6501(e)).

The table below assumes a couple filing jointly with $90,000 of other taxable income (federal tax only, 2026 brackets, Rev. Proc. 2025-32).

Krugerrands, gold Sovereigns and old Morgan dollars are among the coins and bars you cannot hold in an IRA.

Rule 2: Only named US coins or pure bullion qualify#

Only two kinds of metal qualify: a US coin the law names, such as the American Gold Eagle, or pure bullion that the custodian holds. The two routes in 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3) are listed below.

• Route A, named coins (408(m)(3)(A)): the American Gold Eagle (1, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 oz), the 1 oz American Silver Eagle and the American Platinum Eagle. State-issued coins also count, but none is known to be on sale.
• Route B, bullion (408(m)(3)(B)): bars and coins valued for their metal, at exchange purity and held by the trustee.

The Krugerrand and the British Sovereign are also 22 karat (.9167), but no US law names them. The Gold Buffalo and the Palladium Eagle qualify only as Route B bullion. A coin-by-coin list shows exactly which gold, silver, platinum and palladium the tax code allows.

Custodians add their own limits. No IRS ruling covers proof (collector-finish) Gold and Silver Eagles, so accepting them is custodian practice; proof Platinum Eagles are named in the statute. GoldStar and Equity Trust refuse proof Buffalos (September 29, 2026).

What breaking it costs: the same bill as Rule 1, unless the custodian refuses the order first. Before you pay, look up the exact coin and year in the IRA-eligible precious metals database.

Rule 3: Bullion must meet a minimum fineness#

Bullion must be at least .995 fine for gold, .999 for silver and .9995 for platinum and palladium. Fineness is purity in parts per thousand, so .995 means 99.5% pure. The minimums come from US futures exchanges through 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(B).

The table below shows each metal's minimum and examples that pass.

What breaking it costs: the same bill as Rule 1, because a bar below the minimum is a collectible. Some coins changed purity: the gold Britannia was .9167 and the silver Britannia .958 through 2012, and the gold Libertad was .900 before 1991. Refiner lists are custodian policy, not law.

Before you buy, run the 5-question test below.

1. Is it a US coin the law names (Gold, Silver or Platinum Eagle)?
2. If not, is it at or above the minimum fineness for its metal and year?
3. Is it bullion, not a collector piece your custodian refuses (graded or proof)?
4. Does your custodian accept it, in writing?
5. Will the custodian's depository hold it from day one?

Bars, rounds and every year trap are covered in gold IRA purity requirements.

Where Must Gold IRA Metal Be Kept? Rules 4-5#

Gold IRA metal must sit in the custodian's possession, which in practice means a private depository holding it in the custodian's name. A depository is a private vault; see where the main gold IRA depositories are and what they charge. The table below shows the 2 storage types, with one custodian's dated fees.

Following the custody rule does not prove the metal is there. First State Depository failed with 2,102 accounts, 90% of them IRAs. Its owner, Robert Leroy Higgins, was sentenced on June 17, 2025 to 65 years, and restitution is about $76 million.

Depository insurance pays metal value, not the premium you paid, and has exclusions: Delaware Depository's $1 billion all-risk cover excludes war, terrorism, cyber and confiscation (FAQ, September 29, 2026). FDIC and SIPC never cover IRA metal.

Rule 4: The custodian must hold the metal, never you at home#

The custodian must hold IRA metal. If you keep it at home, the IRS treats it as withdrawn. The citations are 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)(B) and McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 (U.S. Tax Court, November 18, 2021).

The gold IRA custodians that hold metal are banks or trust companies, and they rent vault space from depositories.

In McNulty, Mrs. McNulty's IRA bought 320 one-ounce Gold Eagles for $374,000 in 2015 and 2,000 Silver Eagles for $37,380 in 2016. She kept them in a home safe through an IRA LLC, and the court taxed their cost as distributions. Yet the custodian kept filing its yearly value report, Form 5498 ($349,856 for 2015, $388,247 for 2016), so the account looked normal on paper.

What breaking it costs: the table below shows the extra federal tax when IRA coins go home, for a couple filing jointly with $80,000 of other taxable income (2026 brackets). A 20% accuracy penalty for understating tax can come on top, as in McNulty; unreported tax passes its $5,000 threshold at about $32,200 of coins.

Every home storage gold IRA pitch, built on an LLC or a "special" coin, is checked against the ruling on its own page.

Rule 5: An IRA LLC or checkbook IRA does not change the custody rule#

An IRA LLC, often sold as a checkbook IRA, does not let you keep IRA metal at home. The coins in McNulty were held through exactly such an LLC. An IRA may own a newly formed company, such as an LLC (limited liability company), with the IRA as its only owner (Swanson v. Commissioner, 106 T.C. 76 (1996)). Checkbook control means you sign the LLC's checks yourself.

Managing that LLC makes you a fiduciary, someone legally bound to act for the IRA. The LLC also becomes a disqualified person, barred from dealing with your IRA (Ellis v. Commissioner, 787 F.3d 1213 (8th Cir. 2015)). What a checkbook IRA costs, and why metal still needs a custodian, is on its own page.

What breaking it costs: an LLC adds cost and buys no exception. The table below uses one provider's published prices (Check Book IRA LLC pricing page, September 29, 2026).

The same provider's page "Why Store Precious Metals at Home?" was modified on February 28, 2024 and was still live on September 29, 2026. It says the "only one way legally the IRA owner can take physical delivery ... MUST be in the form of American Eagles." The Tax Court rejected an American Eagle exception in 2021; the full case is in McNulty v. Commissioner.

How Can Money Go Into a Gold IRA? Rules 6-11#

Money enters a gold IRA in 3 ways: a yearly cash contribution, a transfer from another IRA, or a rollover from a 401(k) or another IRA. Only contributions are capped. Most money arrives by gold IRA rollover or transfer, not by contribution.

A transfer and a direct rollover go custodian to custodian; a 60-day rollover pays you first. The table below compares the ways in for 2026.

Match where your money sits today to the method below.

Rule 6: Contributions are cash only, capped and tied to work income#

You can contribute up to $7,500 in cash for 2026, or $8,600 at 50 or older, but no more than your pay from work that year. The limits come from 26 U.S.C. 219 and IRS Notice 2025-67.

The 4 parts of the contribution rule are listed below.

• Cash only: IRS Publication 590-A says "Property can't be contributed."
• The limit: $7,500, plus a $1,100 catch-up contribution from age 50, shared across all your traditional and Roth IRAs. The 2027 limits are not announced as of September 29, 2026.
• Compensation: you need pay from work. There has been no age cap since 2020 (SECURE Act section 107), but Social Security, pensions, RMDs, interest, dividends and rents do not count (219(f)(1)).
• Deadline: contributions for 2026 are due by April 15, 2027.

Workplace IRAs have their own 2026 caps, shown below. The age 60-63 super catch-up never applies to regular IRAs.

Solo 401(k) amounts are in gold IRA contribution limits.

What breaking it costs: an excess contribution, meaning money above your limit, costs 6% a year until you take it out (26 U.S.C. 4973). That is $516 a year on an excess of $8,600.

Rule 7: Transfers between IRAs have no limit and no tax#

A transfer from one IRA to a gold IRA custodian has no dollar limit, no tax and no withholding, because the IRS does not count it as a rollover. IRS Publication 590-A calls this a trustee-to-trustee transfer and says it "isn't a rollover" (see also Announcement 2014-32).

Ask the new custodian for an IRA to gold IRA transfer from the old one, not a check made out to you. A check payable to the new custodian but mailed to you still counts as a transfer.

What breaking it costs: $0 when done custodian to custodian. The exception is a SIMPLE IRA. In its first 2 years, SIMPLE money can move only to another SIMPLE IRA, and an early move costs a 25% additional tax.

Rule 8: A 60-day rollover must bring back the same property#

A 60-day rollover is tax-free only if you deposit the same property by the 60th day after you receive it. That means cash for cash, or the same coins for coins. A 60-day rollover, also called an indirect rollover, is one where the money or metal is paid to you first (26 U.S.C. 408(d)(3)).

Day 1 is the day after the money arrives. A deadline on a weekend or legal holiday moves to the next business day (26 U.S.C. 7503, applied in Estate of Caan). The table below shows how to count days under the 60-day rollover rule.

Aim for day 45, so a mail or bank delay cannot sink you.

Check your own date in the rollover deadline calculator.

What breaking it costs: miss day 60 and the whole amount is taxable in the year you received it, plus 10% under 59 1/2. You cannot withdraw cash and deposit coins (Lemishow v. Commissioner, 110 T.C. 110), or sell coins and deposit the cash. In Estate of Caan (161 T.C. No. 6, 2023), the deposit was not the same property, and the court valued the taxable distribution at $1,548,010.

The same-property rule cannot be waived. A late deposit is different: self-certification, a free letter to the custodian under Rev. Proc. 2020-46, can rescue it for 12 listed reasons. Otherwise you need a private letter ruling, which carries an IRS user fee.

Rule 9: Only one IRA-to-IRA 60-day rollover per 12 months#

You may do only one IRA-to-IRA 60-day rollover in any 12 months, counting all your IRAs together. The law is 26 U.S.C. 408(d)(3)(B), applied from January 1, 2015 (Bobrow v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2014-21; IRS Announcement 2014-15).

The IRS cannot waive the one-rollover-per-year rule, which covers traditional, Roth, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs. After a first receipt on March 10, 2026, the safe date for a second IRA rollover is March 11, 2027 (day 366).

The limit does not cover 3 kinds of moves, listed below.

• Trustee-to-trustee transfers between IRAs (Rule 7).
• Roth conversions, which move traditional IRA money into a Roth IRA.
• Rollovers from a 401(k) or other employer plan into an IRA.

What breaking it costs: a second rollover inside 12 months is taxable, plus 10% under 59 1/2. The deposit also becomes an excess contribution, taxed 6% a year until you remove it.

Rule 10: A 401(k) check paid to you loses 20% to withholding#

A 401(k) check paid to you loses 20% to mandatory withholding. You must replace that 20% from savings within 60 days, or it is taxed. Withholding is money the plan sends straight to the IRS as a prepayment of your tax. The rule is 26 U.S.C. 3405(c), and you cannot waive it; IRA withdrawals default to 10% instead, and you can opt out on Form W-4R.

A direct rollover, paid straight to the new custodian for your benefit, has 0% withholding. It is the simple way around the 20% withholding trap.

What breaking it costs: the table below follows a $250,000 401(k) paid by check to an owner aged 52 in the 22% bracket (federal tax only).

Rolling a 401(k) into a gold IRA also gives up 3 plan features. They are the age-55 exception (Rule 15), delaying RMDs while you still work there, and plan loans. A plan loan can reach half your vested balance (the part you fully own), capped at $50,000, with a $10,000 floor (26 U.S.C. 72(p)(2)(A)). The plan paperwork is in 401(k) to gold IRA rollover.

Rule 11: You can cancel a new IRA within 7 days#

You can cancel a new IRA for a full refund for at least 7 days. This right comes from Treasury Regulation 1.408-6, and you use it with the custodian, not the dealer. The 7 days start on the day the IRA opens or first buys, whichever comes first.

The custodian must give you a disclosure statement when you open the IRA, and it says how to revoke, usually in writing. Here is how to cancel a gold IRA step by step.

What breaking it costs: miss the 7 days and only the dealer's own window protects you. The table below shows 2 dealer windows, each from the dealer's own document.

What Rules Apply While You Hold the Metal? Rules 12-13#

While you hold the metal, 2 rules apply: the custodian must value and report it every year, and you can buy and sell inside the IRA without tax. Neither rule carries a penalty for you. Both explain numbers that surprise new owners: a statement below what you paid, and a fee on each sale.

Rule 12: The custodian values the metal every December 31 and reports it#

Your custodian must value the metal every December 31 and report it to you and the IRS on Form 5498. That value leaves out what you paid the dealer above melt value. The duty comes from 26 U.S.C. 408(i) and the IRS Form 5498 instructions. Fair market value is what the metal would sell for that day; melt value is its metal content times the market price.

Each custodian picks its own price source. Equity Trust uses "the previous day's metal type value". Its precious metals disclosure (CA_F-0003-05 Rev. 121625) adds: "The value on your quarterly statement does not include any markups, commissions or premiums from the precious metals dealer."

GoldStar statements show "estimated bid values". Each custodian's method is in how gold IRA metals are valued.

What breaking it costs: no penalty applies to you. Box 5 of Form 5498 carries the December 31 value. For 2026, the custodian must send your copy by February 1, 2027 (January 31 is a Sunday) and file with the IRS by May 31, 2027.

Two statement checks catch trouble early. Your metal should appear on the custodian statement within about 28 days of purchase. A first statement more than 10% below the price you paid is a warning sign of overpricing. Each line of a gold IRA statement is explained on its own page.

Rule 13: Selling inside the IRA is not taxed#

Selling metal inside a gold IRA is not taxed at any age; tax starts only when cash or coins leave the IRA. IRS Publication 590-B taxes distributions, not trades inside the account, and a sale carries no penalty even before 59 1/2.

You and the dealer agree the price; the custodian does not set it. Compare buyback bids (the price a dealer will pay you) from at least 2 dealers before you sell gold in your IRA.

What breaking it costs: nothing breaks here, but the custodian charges for each sale. The table below shows 3 dated custodian fees.

Unpaid fees can force a sale. Equity Trust's disclosure lets it sell your metal to pay unpaid fees, then pay out whatever remains, which is a taxable distribution (CA_F-0003-05 Rev. 121625).

How Does Money Come Out of a Gold IRA? Rules 14-16#

Money comes out of a gold IRA as cash after a sale inside the IRA, or as the coins themselves; from a traditional IRA, both are taxable. Three rules set the cost: income tax, the extra 10% before 59 1/2, and the yearly minimum from 73 (75 if born in 1960 or later).

Rule 14: Withdrawals are taxed as income, in cash or in coins#

Every withdrawal from a traditional gold IRA is taxed as ordinary income, whether you take cash or coins. Ordinary income is taxed at your normal bracket, like wages (26 U.S.C. 408(d)(1); IRS Publication 590-B). The 3 ways out are listed below.

• Cash: the custodian sells the metal, and the cash you take out is ordinary income.
• In kind: an in-kind distribution means taking the coins instead of cash; their value that day is income.
• Roth: qualified withdrawals from a Roth gold IRA are tax-free (26 U.S.C. 408A), generally after 5 years and at 59 1/2 or later.

Each withdrawal goes on Form 1099-R, sent to you and the IRS. How gold IRA distributions in cash or coins work is explained step by step.

What breaking it costs: coins count as income too: 3 Gold Eagles at an assumed $4,150 each add $12,450 to your taxable income. Tax can be withheld only from cash, so if you take coins from a metals-only IRA, plan to pay that tax yourself. In-kind fees apply: $125 plus shipping at Equity Trust (Rev. 081726), or $75 plus $10 plus shipping at GoldStar (Rev. 01/2026).

IRA withdrawals never face the 3.8% tax on investment income (26 U.S.C. 1411(c)(5)) or the 28% collectibles rate, which applies only to gold held outside an IRA (IRS Topic 409).

Rule 15: Before 59 1/2, an extra 10% applies unless an exception fits#

Withdrawals before age 59 1/2 cost an extra 10% on top of income tax unless an exception fits. The law is 26 U.S.C. 72(t), which calls the 10% an "additional tax". It applies to coins too, and it is 25% in a SIMPLE IRA's first 2 years. At 59 1/2, it ends.

The main IRA exceptions are listed below with their 2026 amounts.

• Death or disability of the IRA owner.
• First home purchase: up to $10,000 over your lifetime.
• Birth or adoption: up to $5,000.
• Qualified disaster: up to $22,000.
• Personal emergency: up to $1,000 a year.
• Domestic abuse: up to $10,500 in 2026, or 50% of the account if that is less.

A fixed series of equal yearly payments set by an IRS formula (substantially equal periodic payments) also avoids the 10%.

What breaking it costs: say you leave your job at 56 with $400,000 in a 401(k) and need $30,000 a year until 59 1/2. That is $105,000 over 3.5 years. From the 401(k), it costs $0 in additional tax, because leaving the job (separation from service) at 55 or later is an exception (72(t)(2)(A)(v)). From an IRA, it costs up to $10,500, because that exception does not apply to IRAs (72(t)(3)(A)).

Every exception is listed in gold IRA early withdrawal penalty.

Rule 16: From 73 (75 if born 1960 or later), you must take RMDs#

From age 73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later, you must withdraw a minimum amount each year, in cash or coins. The rule is 26 U.S.C. 401(a)(9), and the tax for missing it is in section 4974. For people born in 1959, the age is 73 under proposed IRS regulations (REG-103529-23), not final. Your required minimum distribution (RMD) is the December 31 balance divided by an IRS number called the divisor: 26.5 at 73 and 24.6 at 75.

The first RMD may wait until April 1 of the next year; later ones are due by December 31. Aggregation lets you take the total RMD of all your traditional IRAs from any one of them. Roth IRAs have no RMDs during your life (408A(c)(4)). The full gold IRA required minimum distributions rules and the IRS RMD FAQs cover the details.

What breaking it costs: a missed $10,000 RMD costs $2,500 (25%), or $1,000 (10%) if corrected in time. It costs $0 if the IRS grants a waiver you request on Form 5329 for reasonable error. Delaying the first RMD to April 1 puts 2 RMDs in one tax year: about $1,689 more tax in our example ($500,000 IRA, $80,000 of other joint income).

The table below prices 4 ways to take it at Equity Trust (schedule FS-0004-05, Rev. 081726).

Work out your own amount in ounces with the gold IRA RMD calculator.

What Can Never Happen in a Gold IRA? Rule 17#

One rule ends the whole account: the IRA may never be used for your own benefit or in deals with your close family. It can cost more than any other rule, because it taxes the entire IRA at once.

Rule 17: No prohibited transactions: no personal use, no deals with family, no pledging#

A prohibited transaction ends the whole IRA and taxes it at its January 1 value. The banned deals are in 26 U.S.C. 4975(c)(1)(A)-(F), and the result is in 408(e)(2).

The 5 prohibited transactions below are the ones metals owners meet most.

• Personal use: using or displaying IRA coins yourself.
• Self-dealing sale: selling coins you own to your IRA.
• Family deal: buying IRA metal from your son's coin shop.
• Pledging: using IRA coins as security for a loan; at least the pledged part counts as withdrawn (408(e)(4)).
• Paid services: taking a salary from a company your IRA owns.

What breaking it costs: you lose the IRA itself, and the custodian reports it on Form 1099-R with code 5. You, the owner, pay no section 4975 excise tax; other disqualified persons in the deal pay 15%, or 100% if it is not corrected. The table below shows the extra federal tax for a joint filer with $80,000 of other taxable income (2026 brackets).

Only the IRA involved loses its status (IRS Publication 590-A), so a separate metals IRA acts as a firewall. In McNulty, the IRS agreed there was no prohibited transaction for Mrs. McNulty, whose IRA held the coins, so only their cost was taxed.

In Ellis v. Commissioner (8th Cir. 2015), a $9,754 salary paid by a company the IRA owned disqualified the whole $321,253 IRA. The bill was a $135,936 deficiency plus a $27,187 penalty, and good faith was no defense.

Personally guaranteeing a loan to your IRA's company also counts, as indirect credit (Peek v. Commissioner, 140 T.C. 216 (2013)). The IRS usually has 3 years to assess, or 6 if the omitted income is over 25% of gross income. In Thiessen v. Commissioner (146 T.C. 100 (2016)), the 6-year period applied to a $432,076.41 deemed distribution (the whole IRA treated as withdrawn).

More cases are in IRA prohibited transactions for gold.

What Happens to a Gold IRA at Death, Divorce or Bankruptcy? Rules 18-20#

Most heirs must empty an inherited gold IRA within 10 years, a divorce decree lets metal move to a spouse tax-free, and bankruptcy law protects up to $1,711,975. Each lets metal move without tax when followed, and costs heirs or an ex-spouse money when ignored.

Rule 18: Beneficiaries must empty an inherited gold IRA within 10 years#

Most heirs other than a spouse must empty an inherited gold IRA by the end of the 10th year. They must also take yearly amounts if the owner had already started RMDs, which the IRS enforces from 2025 (T.D. 10001). The law is 26 U.S.C. 401(a)(9)(H), for owners who died after 2019.

A beneficiary is the person you name to receive the IRA. Five kinds of heirs get softer rules: a spouse, a minor child, a disabled person, a chronically ill person, and anyone not more than 10 years younger than the owner.

A trust named as beneficiary must be valid and irrevocable at death, with identifiable beneficiaries, and the custodian must receive its documents. The IRA's value also counts in the owner's gross estate. Naming gold IRA beneficiaries is done on the custodian's form.

What breaking it costs: a father dies in 2025 at 80, after his RMDs began, and his daughter, 51, inherits a $400,000 gold IRA. The table below compares two ways to empty it (single filer, $90,000 of other taxable income, flat prices, 2026 brackets).

Heirs owe no 10% additional tax, and a non-spouse heir can move the IRA only by direct transfer. A spouse may treat the IRA as their own. What heirs must do with an inherited gold IRA is covered step by step.

Rule 19: A divorce decree lets IRA metal move to a spouse without tax#

IRA metal can move to a spouse or ex-spouse without tax when a divorce or separate maintenance decree orders it. The custodian then changes the name on the account or transfers the metal directly to the spouse's own IRA. The law is 26 U.S.C. 408(d)(6). A decree is the court order that ends the marriage or sets support terms while spouses live apart.

Splitting coins and bars between two IRAs is covered in gold IRAs in divorce.

What breaking it costs: without a decree, the move is handled like any other withdrawal by the owner. $100,000 taxed as a withdrawal adds $19,920 of federal tax for a joint filer with $80,000 of other income, or $29,920 under 59 1/2 (Rule 4 table). Both spouses file Form 8606 if the IRA's after-tax basis (money that went in already taxed) changes.

Rule 20: Bankruptcy law protects up to $1,711,975 of IRA money#

In federal bankruptcy, your IRAs are protected up to $1,711,975 for cases filed from April 1, 2025. The law is 11 U.S.C. 522(n).

Outside federal bankruptcy, state law decides whether a gold IRA is protected from creditors and bankruptcy claims.

What breaking it costs: money outside the protection can go to creditors. The 3 limits are listed below.

• Protected with no cap: money rolled over from employer plans, with its earnings, and SEP and SIMPLE IRAs.
• Not protected: inherited IRAs are not "retirement funds" in bankruptcy (Clark v. Rameker, 573 U.S. 122 (2014)).
• Outside bankruptcy: a 401(k) is shielded by federal law (29 U.S.C. 1056(d)(1)), while an IRA depends on state law.

Which Sales Pitches Break Gold IRA Rules? 7 Red Flags#

Seven common pitches break or bend gold IRA rules, from "IRS-approved" coins to home storage and "free silver". Each one maps to a rule above, as listed below.

1. "IRS-approved coins" or "IRS-approved depository." No IRS list of approved coins, dealers or vaults exists (IRS FAQs, April 8, 2026). Eligible metal is "IRA-eligible under 26 U.S.C. 408(m)(3)" (Rules 1-3).
2. "Keep your IRA gold at home." Home storage is a taxable withdrawal under Rules 4-5, with or without an LLC. Sellers cite "IRS Announcement 2023-10", "Notice 2023-30" or "T.C. Memo 2021-110"; none is home-storage guidance, and McNulty is 157 T.C. No. 10.
3. "Move the coins you already own into your IRA." Contributions are cash only (Rule 6): you would have to sell, contribute cash and rebuy.
4. "Free silver" with your IRA. The only IRA gifts the IRS allows come from the IRA trustee: $10 a year for deposits under $5,000 and $20 for $5,000 or more (Publication 590-A). The FTC's "free" guide bars a seller from recovering the free item's cost by marking up the purchase (16 CFR 251.1). The example below shows how free silver and bonus metal promotions are paid for.
5. "Your 401(k) or bank could be frozen or seized, so put it all in metal." The CFTC's Safeguard Metals case (liability consent order, October 25, 2023) involved this fear pitch. The CFTC lists "Putting all your retirement savings in precious metals is safe and secure" as a lie in Precious Metals IRA Lies vs Facts (2024).
6. "Your custodian checks our prices" on "premium" or "semi-numismatic" coins. Custodians do not check dealers or prices (SEC Initial Decision No. 1030, June 27, 2016). The CFTC calls "semi-numismatic" "a made-up industry term", and such coins cause Rule 12's low first statement.
7. "Gold in an IRA is tax-free" or "no RMDs on metal." Traditional IRA withdrawals are ordinary income, and RMDs apply to coins (Rules 14 and 16).

These 7 pitches are among the 11 warning signs of gold IRA scams.

The CFTC flier (March 20, 2024) reports IRA metal spreads of "30 to 300 percent or more". At an assumed 5% yearly gain, a 23% premium takes 4.2 years to earn back, 71% takes 11.0 years and 130% takes 17.1 years.

You should ask for the price per coin, the markup in percent and the buyback bid in writing before you pay.

Regulators, not the IRS, act against these pitches. Each case is in the dated list of precious metals IRA enforcement actions.

Gold IRA Rules vs Tax Rules, Roth Rules and Other Accounts#

The metal rules (Rules 1-5) are the same in every account that can hold metal; what changes is the tax and what the account can buy. Traditional IRA withdrawals are taxed as income, qualified Roth withdrawals are tax-free, and most 401(k) plans cannot buy coins at all. Which accounts can hold metal is covered in types of gold IRAs.

What are the tax rules for a gold IRA?#

A traditional gold IRA is taxed like any IRA: growth is tax-deferred, and withdrawals are ordinary income. Tax-deferred means no tax until you withdraw. Traditional contributions may be deductible, within the 2026 income limits in the table below.

The 28% collectibles rate applies only to metal held outside an IRA. Forms and deductions are in gold IRA taxes.

Do gold IRA rules change in a Roth IRA?#

A Roth gold IRA follows the same metal and storage rules, but it has no required withdrawals during your life, and qualified withdrawals are tax-free. Roth contributions share the $7,500 limit ($8,600 at 50 or older) with traditional IRAs. A withdrawal is qualified after the 5-year period and at 59 1/2, death, disability or a first home purchase.

The right to contribute shrinks within the income ranges in the table above. See Roth gold IRA.

Coins can also convert to a Roth in kind, by transfer or by renaming the account at the same custodian. Their value that day is taxable income, the once-per-year limit does not apply, and a conversion made after 2017 cannot be undone.

Do the same gold rules apply in a 401(k)?#

Yes, the collectibles rule also covers self-directed 401(k) accounts, but most 401(k) plans offer no way to buy coins, so gold usually arrives there as a fund. The same bullion exception applies. A 403(b) custodial account cannot hold bullion at all (26 U.S.C. 403(b)(7)(A)).

A Department of Labor proposed rule on alternative assets, published March 31, 2026, is not final as of September 29, 2026. More on whether you can hold gold in a 401(k).

Gold IRA rules at Fidelity#

Fidelity lets an ordinary Fidelity IRA buy and store eligible gold, silver and platinum under the same IRS rules, with a $1,000 minimum purchase as of September 2026. It works in Traditional, Roth, Rollover, SEP and SIMPLE IRAs. Eligible products include Gold Eagles (1, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 oz), the 1 oz Gold Buffalo, the 1 oz Silver Eagle, the 1 oz Platinum Eagle and bullion bars.

Taking coins out of the IRA is a distribution. Fees are compared on Fidelity gold IRA.

Gold IRA rules frequently asked questions#

How do you cash out a gold IRA?#

Ask the custodian to sell the metal to a dealer inside the IRA, which is not taxed, then withdraw the cash, which is taxed. You can also take the coins themselves. At Equity Trust, a sale costs $30 and an in-kind distribution $125 plus shipping (schedule FS-0004-05, Rev. 081726); see Rules 13 and 14.

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

A gold IRA keeps savings that are already in an IRA or 401(k) tax-deferred; gold in your own hands must be bought outside the IRA with after-tax money. Americans may own gold privately again since December 31, 1974 (Pub. L. 93-373). Cashing out $100,000 of IRA money to buy coins costs $19,920 in extra federal tax for a couple aged 62 with $80,000 of other income (2026). The full tax math is in gold IRA vs physical gold.

What is the downside of a gold IRA?#

The main downsides are price swings, the dealer's spread, yearly fees on top, and no interest or dividends. Gold fell 23.3% from its record LBMA PM price (the daily London benchmark) of $5,405.00 on January 29, 2026 to $4,144.55 on September 28, 2026. The downsides of a gold IRA are weighed by reader situation on their own page.

Does the IRS know if you buy gold or silver?#

Yes for IRA metal: your custodian reports the account's year-end value on Form 5498 every year and every withdrawal on Form 1099-R. Outside an IRA, a dealer files Form 1099-B only for certain bars and coins sold in large amounts, at or above the size of a futures contract. Form 8300 covers cash payments over $10,000. More in does the IRS know about your gold.

What changes at 50, 55, 59 1/2, 70 1/2 and 73?#

At 50 you may add $1,100 a year, at 55 leaving a job frees a 401(k) (not an IRA) from the 10%, and at 59 1/2 the 10% ends. At 70 1/2, charitable distributions paid straight from the IRA to a charity can start, up to $111,000 per person in 2026. RMDs begin at 73, or at 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. Every birthday that matters is in gold IRA age rules.

When did gold become allowed in IRAs?#

Congress banned collectibles in IRAs from 1982, allowed American Gold and Silver Eagles from 1987 and pure bullion from 1998. The laws were the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981, the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Each took effect after December 31 of its year, and each is quoted in the history of gold in IRAs.

When will the 2027 gold IRA limits be announced?#

Not yet: as of September 29, 2026 the IRS has not announced the 2027 limits, which it usually publishes in late October or November. Until then, the 2026 limits of $7,500, or $8,600 at 50 or older, apply.

What do custodian, depository and fineness mean?#

The custodian is the bank or trust company that legally holds your IRA, and the depository is the vault that stores the metal. Fineness is purity in parts per thousand: .995 means 99.5% pure. The precious metals IRA glossary explains 60 terms.