The Coin Cellar · Debasement Basement Tools
Capital gains tax on gold and silver: calculator
In the US, a profit on gold or silver held more than a year is taxed as a collectible, at your ordinary income tax rate but no more than 28%. Held a year or less, it is taxed as ordinary income. The tax is figured in dollars, with no allowance for inflation. Ten ounces of gold bought at 2011’s average price and sold at 2021’s made a $2,270 gain and a tax bill of up to $636, even though the sale lost about $952 of buying power. This calculator does the same arithmetic on your numbers.
US federal rules. The UK, Canada and Australia are in the table further down, and in full in the tax guide. Outside the US? The scrap gold, junk silver, premium and gold-silver ratio calculators show prices in your own currency.
Capital gains tax calculator
Metal
Your top rate on ordinary income. Not sure? Last year’s return shows it.
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10 oz of gold · bought 2011 · sold 2021
Your whole $2,270 gain is inflation. In buying power you lost $952.29, and the tax is still $544.80.
Long-term collectible, 24% federal
To match the buying power of the $15,720 you paid in 2011, you needed $18,942 in 2021. The same gain on shares held over a year would pay about $340.50, at 15% federal. You lost buying power and still owe tax, like paying a cover charge on your way out of a party you did not enjoy.
How this is calculated
- 1. Gain = total received − total paid. Your total paid is your cost basis: price, dealer premium, shipping and fees.
- 2. Federal rate: held more than one year, your bracket but no more than 28% (the collectibles rate); held a year or less, your bracket. The 3.8% net investment income tax and your state rate are added if you enter them.
- 3. Inflation: what you paid, raised by the change in the Consumer Price Index between the two years, 271 ÷ 224.9 = 1.205. The part of your gain below that line is only inflation; anything above it is a real gain.
- 4. The shares comparison uses the long-term rates on stocks (0%, 15% or 20%), matched roughly to your bracket.
Limits: your top bracket is applied to the whole gain, though a big gain can straddle two brackets; the CPI is an annual average, so a purchase in January and one in December of the same year count the same; and the year’s-average-price button leaves out the premium you paid. Federal rules only; this describes the rules and isn’t tax advice.
Sources: the collectibles rate and holding period, IRS Topic 409; metal as a collectible, 26 USC 408(m); the 3.8% tax, IRS Topic 559. CPI-U annual averages from the Minneapolis Fed’s table (this year’s an estimate). Metal annual averages from metalcharts.org; today’s price from gold-api.com. Data updated October 2026.
Worked examples
Bought and sold at each year’s average price, with no premium, to show the rule at work.
- 10 oz of gold, bought 2011, sold 2021, 24% bracket. A $2,270 gain and $544.80 of tax. Prices rose 20.5% over the decade, so the whole gain is inflation, and in buying power the sale lost $952.
- 100 oz of silver, bought 2020, sold 2025, 22% bracket. Paid $2,055, received $4,003: a $1,948 gain and $428.56 of tax. About $501 of the gain (25.7%) is inflation, and the tax on that part is $110.23. The same gain on shares would pay about $292.20.
- 5 oz of gold, bought 2024, sold 2025, 32% bracket. Paid $11,930, received $17,160: a $5,230 gain. Sold within a year, the tax is $1,674; held one more day past the anniversary, it would be $1,464 at the 28% cap.
- 100 oz of silver, bought 2011, sold 2021. Paid $3,512, received $2,514: a $998 capital loss, no tax, and up to $3,000 a year of losses can offset other income.
Why is gold taxed at 28%?
Because the tax code doesn’t treat it as an investment like a share. It treats it as a collectible, in the same list as art, rugs, antiques, stamps and wine. Shares held over a year are taxed at 0%, 15% or 20% depending on income. Collectibles held over a year are taxed at your ordinary rate, but the rate stops at 28%.
So the 28% isn’t a flat rate, and most people don’t pay it. Someone in the 12% bracket pays 12% on a gold gain, the same as on their paycheck. The people it bites are in the middle: in the 22% or 24% bracket, a gain on shares would usually pay 15%, while the same gain on gold pays 22% or 24%. That gap is what the comparison line on the card shows. The wine cellar and the coin drawer pay more than the brokerage account.
How much of your gain is only inflation?
The IRS measures the gain in dollars, and a dollar in the year you sell is not the dollar you bought with. If prices rose 20% while you held the metal, the first 20% of your gain only keeps your money level. You owe tax on it anyway, the way you would owe tax on a raise that exactly covers your rent increase.
The card splits your gain at that line. Below it is the inflation part; above it is the real gain. If the real gain is negative, the sale lost buying power while still showing a taxable profit, which is the 2011-to-2021 gold example above.
There is a fair counterargument, and it is worth stating plainly. Indexing capital gains for inflation would cost the Treasury money, and most of the benefit would go to the households that own most of the assets; the tax guide gives the estimates on both sides. The calculator takes no position on the policy. It just shows the receipt.
What counts as your cost?
Everything it took to own the metal: the price, the dealer’s premium over spot, shipping, insurance in transit and any fees. A higher cost means a smaller gain, so the receipt is worth money. Ten Silver Eagles bought at $5 over spot carry $50 of premium that comes off your taxable gain, if you can show it. The premium calculator works out your full cost per ounce, and My Stack keeps purchase records on your own device.
Lost the receipt? The “estimate from that year’s average price” button gives a rough figure, without the premium. It is a starting point for your own records, not something to file. Swapping one metal for another counts as selling the first, and the dealer reporting guide explains which sales a dealer reports to the IRS. You report every sale yourself either way.
Outside the US
This calculator uses US federal rules. Three other countries, in brief:
| Country | How a gain on bullion is taxed |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 18% or 24% after a £3,000 allowance. UK legal tender coins, such as sovereigns and Britannias, are exempt. |
| Canada | Half the gain is added to your income. |
| Australia | Added to income, halved if held 12 months. From July 1, 2027, inflation indexing replaces the halving, with a 30% minimum tax. |
Sources and detail for each are in the guide to taxes on selling gold and silver.
Questions people actually ask
How much tax do you pay when you sell gold?
In the US, if you held it more than a year, your ordinary income tax rate on the gain, but no more than 28%. If you held it a year or less, your ordinary rate. Only the gain is taxed: what you received minus what you paid, including the premium and fees.
Is silver taxed the same as gold?
Yes. Both are collectibles under US tax law, so a long-term gain on either is taxed at your ordinary rate up to 28%, and a short-term gain at your ordinary rate.
Is the collectibles tax rate always 28%?
No. 28% is the maximum. A long-term gain on gold or silver is taxed at your ordinary rate if that is lower, so someone in the 12% bracket pays 12%. Brackets of 32% and above pay 28%.
How long do you have to hold gold to get the lower rate?
More than one year. Metal sold on the one-year anniversary of its purchase is still short-term and taxed as ordinary income, so a long-term sale starts the day after the anniversary.
Do you pay tax on inflation when you sell gold?
Yes. The gain is measured in dollars with no adjustment for inflation. Ten ounces of gold bought at 2011’s average price and sold at 2021’s made a $2,270 taxable gain, while prices rose 20.5%, so the sale lost about $952 of buying power.
What counts as my cost basis for gold and silver?
Everything you paid to own it: the price, the dealer’s premium, shipping, insurance and fees. Keep the receipts, because a higher basis means a smaller taxable gain.
Can you deduct a loss on gold or silver?
Yes, if you held it as an investment. A capital loss first offsets capital gains, then up to $3,000 a year of other income ($1,500 if married filing separately), and the rest carries forward to later years.
Does the 3.8% net investment income tax apply to gold?
It can. The net investment income tax applies to capital gains, including gains on metal, for people whose income is above the IRS thresholds. The calculator adds it if you tick the box.