No receipts for bullion purchases or gifts. What to do for taxes?

Do you ever get receipts from your local coin shops? What about when you are gifted bullion? I foresee potential tax problems should I ever sell.

It's automatic to get receipts from online purchases, which is great because these are almost always in my case $100+ purchases.

When I buy from my local shops and spend at least $50, I am given a receipt.

However, I also make numerous small purchases of $10-$30 almost weekly. I have also received thousands of dollars of bullion as gifts.

When the time comes to sell and make a profit, what am I to do when declaring what my gain was on these assets?

I don't necessarily expect an expert to chime in and help, so perhaps I am just looking to commiserate with other people in a similar case. But, I have just realized I am sitting on around 100 oz of my silver and a few ounces of my gold which was made in small purchases or given as a gift.

Years from now when I sell those to make a profit, the $ amount may be large enough that I will need to declare it as income, but it will be impossible to show what the original purchase price was.

 

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I might add that I see dealers will not report their purchase from you with your information unless the value exceeds $10,000. Surely this amount could change in the future, but it would seem the smartest thing to do is to sell them back in very small amounts and simply not report the profit.

 

What! Someone with a conscience?

 

The only time you will need receipts is for an IRS audit. Keep good records of every purchase and gift. Your cost basis on gifts is the value at the time you received it.
Include those values in your records. If your records and receipts look reasonable, you won't have a problem.
You are thinking smart. So many don't worry about keeping good records.

 

Silver at its high was what $48/49Ish an ounce on record.
If you sell for anything less, you claim no profit.
Selling as cash and carry, doesn't require a receipt.

 

This is good advice.

This and similar responses are going to get you in trouble.

 

You don't give philosophical lectures on receipt giving to coin dealers?

 

Obviously you need advice from a tax professional which none of us are, but the simple answer is just be honest with what your gain was. You can always start a list for your own records to keep track of it. Gifts can have different tax rules so there is a chance you may not have to declare some of those but you would need to confirm that or have a tax professional confirm that

As long as you're honest you should be alright. It's only when you try and do what the one poster suggested and claim a loss on everything which clearly isn't the case in your situation that you could find yourself in trouble

 

Speak for yourself. I am a CPA, and have worked on government panels with the IRS.

For purchases, the IRS generally accepts contemporaneous records. So this means document somehow when you purchase something the total cost. Make sure to include fees and shipping as well.

Gifts are similar. Document what it ia worth when you receive it. If someone gives you it when its worth $1000 that is one transaction, (taxable to gifter if applicable). Any gain over $1000 is taxable to you, so getting a gift is much like purchasing it at that value.

That generally covers it. I agree its smart to worry about it and document it now to save your heirs a headache.

 

Have the rules changed for gifts, I've been retired for 12 years? Used to be, generally, your basis of a gift received, that has appreciated, is the donor's basis. Thus, most of the time, one needs to know what the donor paid for the item. For inherited property, the fair market value (FMV) (value at the time it is inherited) is used as the heirs' basis. The gift rules do change if the donor paid gift tax on the gift, but that's rarer than an 1804 dollar, so usually not a consideration.

 

If you never sell then you never have to claim a profit. Simply use your stack for the reason it has value. It is the definition of money after all. Buy things with it from people when it has strong buying power. Stack when it doesn't. It only takes 2 people to make a transaction. Plenty are willing. But yes, keep your receipts.

 

It’s not the definition of money

 

Let's review:
1. Fungible
2. Divisble
3. Durable
4. Portable
5. Store of wealth

Have a nice day.