When Walmart began selling precious metals through their website marketplace last year, it became a convenient way for stackers to add some silver to their order of other household goods.
As the popularity of buying precious metals online grows, many buyers have experienced issues with being charged sales tax in states where metals aren’t taxed. Some buyers turn to social media for advice on how to deal with customer service when resolving sales tax issues.
Sales tax on precious metals is contentious issue, which is a complicated patchwork of outdated state laws that have created issues that online retailers must contend with since South Dakota v. Wayfair decision in 2018.
Since that landmark decision from the Supreme Court, large online marketplace retailers like Walmart and eBay are required to collect state and local sales taxes and remit those to their respective government agencies.
Gold and Silver Legal Tender
Already, 11 US states have taken steps to officially recognize gold and silver as legal tender. More states have pending legislation that either eliminates sales tax on precious metals or recognizes it as currency.
The United States was founded on sound money principles. The founding fathers included in the Constitution the rules that states must follow when issuing legal tender.
“no state shall make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts”
Texas was the first state to establish its own bullion depository, and there is pending legislation that aims to create the first state-issued gold-backed crypto-currency that will be redeemable to physical gold.
While the Federal Reserve continues to battle with inflation and interest rates, Republican lawmakers have introduced new legislation titled “The CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act” to ban a CBDC in the United States.
In a press release, Senator Ted Cruz said “The Biden administration salivates at the thought of infringing on our freedom and intruding on the privacy of citizens to surveil their personal spending habits, which is why Congress must clarify that the Federal Reserve has no authority to implement a CBDC.”
Dedollarization and the Return to a Gold Standard
The BRICS member nations have been making progress with developing a gold-backed common currency for trade. It’s already been reported that last year, roughly 20% of the world’s oil trade was done in non-dollar currencies, a record high since the introduction of the petrodollar in the 1970s.
China stockpiled more than 225 tones of gold during 2023. According to central bank holdings data, China’s central bank is now holding 2,235.39 tons in gold reserves, almost on par with Russia’s holdings of 2,332.74 tons.
Additionally, other BRICS countries are quickly accumulating more gold. Five additional countries have announced they are joining BRICS, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. While dozens of others have expressed interest.