Precious Metals Holdings – Why You Should Start Preparing Your 2016 Tax Strategies Now
Yes, the deadline for filing your 2015 tax return has come and gone. But before you take a deep breath and move on, why not take stock of tax lessons you learned last month, talk about them with your tax preparer or attorney, and make some decisions right now about how you are going to deal with your precious metals holdings when next April rolls around?
Please note that we are only making suggestions in today’s article, not offering accounting or investing advice, which should come from financial advisors who know your financial situation. But let’s look at one of the most common issues that precious metals investors often confront in regard to taxes . . .
You wanted to sell off or refine some of your holdings, but you held off because you wanted to delay paying capital gains or income taxes on their value.
If that was your decision in 2015, what are you going to do now? If you keep doing nothing, your precious metals will (hopefully) go up in value even more, which could make you feel even more hesitant to liquidate them in the future. Let’s look at some possible solutions.
Put Your Precious Metals into an IRA or other Investment Account
That could let you leverage some of their value today instead of waiting for years to do so.
Set Up a Trust
The right kind of trust (again, speak with your attorney or tax advisor) could allow you to pass your precious metals to your children, spouse or other individuals tax-free at the time of your death.
Give Your Precious Metals Away as Gifts
You can also give some of your holdings to your children or your spouse right now; in calendar year 2015, individuals could give up to $14,000 worth of just about anything to anyone else, without paying taxes. Another interesting statistic about gift tax? As of 2015, individuals were allowed to give away up to $5.43 million during their lifetimes before they were required to pay gift tax. That’s a sizable chunk of value that you could pass on without paying taxes.
Get Your Items Appraised and Donate to an Institution or Museum
This strategy will allow you to take a tax deduction on the appraised value of the items you donate. And depending on your tax bracket, that could be a pretty attractive option. (If you donate $10,000 worth of gold jewelry to a museum and you’re in a 30% tax bracket, for example, that could immediately reduce the taxes you pay by $3,000.) Remember, you’ll have to pay something to get the items appraised. Again, this is a strategy to discuss with a financial advisor.
Set Up a Specialty Metals Pool Account
Another strategy is to open a Specialty Metals Pool Account and put your holdings of still-to-be-refined precious metals into it. If you call us at 800-426-2344, we’ll explain how it works. After you open your account, we tell you the value of your unrefined metals, you specify the price you would like us to sell them for, and we will execute your instructions when prices hit that level and pay you at that time. More smart investors are taking advantage of this new option. We’ll be pleased to tell you about its advantages.
Related Posts:
Can You Fund Your IRA with Gold and other Precious Metals?
If You Sell Your Precious Metals Before Year End, Can You Declare a Loss on Your Taxes?
Do You Have to Pay Income Tax when You Find Gold?
Investment Strategy: Give Gold to Your Children Now Tax-Free, Watch it Appreciate