Do Dealers Report Gold Sales to the IRS? Form 1099-B for Bullion

When people ask whether a coin dealer "reports" a sale to the IRS, they usually mean Form 1099-B. This guide explains what the IRS says about that form for gold, silver, platinum and palladium, and what it means for you whether or not you ever get one. It covers physical metal you own outside an IRA. IRA paperwork is different and is covered in our guide to Gold IRA tax forms.

This is general education, not tax advice. A tax professional can apply the rules to your own records.

What is Form 1099-B?

Form 1099-B is an information return. A "broker" fills it out to tell the IRS, and the person who sold, how much money the sale brought in. The IRS defines a broker in its Form 1099-B instructions as "any person who, in the ordinary course of a trade or business, stands ready to effect sales to be made by others."

The same instructions list "Some sales of precious metals" among the exceptions to reporting. That is the rule that matters for gold and silver.

When must a sale of precious metals be reported?

The IRS instructions have a section called "Sales of precious metals." Based on the pages we opened, it says the following:

Sources: IRS Form 1099-B instructions, "Sales of precious metals"; wording confirmed against the 2025 edition.

In plain English: reporting depends on two things, the form of the metal and the quantity. The CFTC is the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the federal regulator of futures markets. The instructions tie reporting to what the CFTC has approved for regulated futures contracts, and to the minimum size of those contracts.

What we did not confirm

The instructions we opened do not list which specific coins and bars are reportable, and they do not give the minimum quantities. Those depend on CFTC-approved contract terms, which we did not open. So this page does not name coins or amounts. If you want to know whether a particular sale will be reported, ask the dealer, who has to decide it under the rule above.

What does the aggregation rule mean?

Say a customer sells small amounts to the same dealer on the same day, and each one alone is below the minimum. The IRS says sales for a single customer in a 24-hour period must be aggregated. The combined amount is what gets compared with the minimum. This is described in the IRS instructions. We did not find any rule in the pages we read that covers sales spread over longer periods, so we say nothing about them.

What does the form look like when it is filed?

Form 1099-B has a "Collectibles" box. The instructions say to check it "if the proceeds you are reporting in box 1d are from a transaction involving collectibles." The instructions we read do not define collectibles in that box description.

Brokers must give the recipient their Form 1099-B statement by February 15 of the year after the sale. If that date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day, according to IRS Publication 1099. We could not read the table with the IRS filing deadlines, so we do not state them here.

Do you owe tax if you never get a Form 1099-B?

A missing form does not change whether a gain is taxable. The Form 8949 instructions say to include sales "even if you didn't receive a Form 1099-B." For physical metal sold without a Form 1099-B, the instructions point to a separate checkbox on Form 8949: box C for short-term and box F for long-term sales.

How are gains on gold and silver taxed?

The IRS Schedule D instructions say that collectibles include "metals (such as gold, silver, and platinum bullion)," along with coins, art and other items. Long-term gains on collectibles go on a separate worksheet, the 28% Rate Gain Worksheet.

IRS Topic 409 says net capital gains from selling collectibles, such as coins or art, "are taxed at a maximum 28% rate." Topic 409 also says that if you hold something one year or less, the gain or loss is short-term, and short-term gains are taxed as ordinary income. Gains and losses are normally reported on Form 8949 and summarized on Schedule D (Form 1040).

Topic 409 does not mention gold or silver by name. The Schedule D instructions do, which is why we cite both. A tax professional can tell you how this works with your income level and state tax. Our guide to state taxes on Gold IRAs covers the state side for IRA holders, and sales tax rules for buying metals are a separate subject.

What should you keep?

Because the IRS form may not exist for your sale, your own records matter. These are sensible things to keep, based on what the forms ask for rather than on any one IRS list:

• The date you bought the metal and the price you paid, including fees.
• The date you sold and the amount you received.
• The dealer's invoices and receipts for both.

Form 8949 asks for the date acquired, the date sold, the proceeds and the cost, so these are the numbers you will need.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming "no form" means "no tax." The Form 8949 instructions tell you to include these sales anyway.
• Assuming every dealer sale is reported. The IRS instructions say some precious metals sales are not.
• Splitting a sale to dodge reporting. The IRS says the quantity exception does not apply if the broker knows or has reason to know a customer is trying to avoid it. We do not suggest this, and a tax professional can explain the risks.
• Mixing up IRA and non-IRA rules. An IRA that holds approved metals is treated differently from metal you own directly. See IRA gold versus taxable gold and the collectibles rule.

Related questions

Is this the same as Form 8300?

No. Form 8300 is a different IRS form, not covered here. We plan a separate guide on paying cash at a coin dealer.

Does this page tell me what to do with my own sale?

No. It explains what the IRS publications say. What applies to you depends on your records, your income and your state. A tax professional can help with that.