Turn a Precious Metals Loss into a Gain

What if we told you there was a secret and completely legal industry method for capturing your losses on a precious metals investment? This little-known tactic has saved investors thousands of dollars on their taxes. And now is the time to act.

Although the volatility in the stock market and a potentially weakening U.S. dollar have gold prices on the rise and anticipating a breakout in the near future, precious metals spot prices are still low. If you invested in these assets in the past at significantly higher prices, you can take advantage of this little-known tax strategy of which many investors (and even their advisors) are often unaware.

Precious Metals Tax Swap

When your precious metals investment goes down in value and you sell it and exchange it for a different investment, you can realize a "capital loss." Intentionally realizing a capital loss for tax reasons could allow you to reduce your income tax bill, offset capital gains, and potentially offset some ordinary income.

Ordinary income tax rates are higher than capital gains tax rates, so a loss that could be deducted against ordinary income could save you several hundred dollars now on your 2019 taxes. For some taxpayers, it can save even more. When this strategy is used consistently, it can add up to thousands in tax savings over a lifetime of investing in precious metals.

Because precious metals are not subject to a holding period for tax swap sales, this presents a loophole many investors can take advantage of to offset their gains and capture their losses. IRS Code Section 1091 prohibits the re-purchase of a security you sell for 31 days. But, from what we understand, these “wash rules” do not apply to precious metals.*

As a result, you can do a tax swap by selling and immediately buying back precious metals the same day. With this type of exchange, you can capture the tax loss while staying invested in your desired investment allocation.

How Do You Qualify for a Tax Swap?

Take a look at the precious metals you currently own:

• Did you buy gold, silver, platinum, or palladium at higher than today’s prices?
• Have they fallen in value?
• Do you still believe precious metals are essential for hedging risk in your portfolio?

If so, you are a perfect candidate for a tax swap. And the benefits are numerous:

1. You can capture the loss for tax purposes.
2. You can offset gains one for one.
3. If you do not have gains to offset, you are permitted to use $3,000 of the total loss per year until you use it all up.
4. You can minimize your exposure to the market by dispensing with the 31-day holding period.
5. In many cases, you can get back the exact same merchandise you sold at the new cost basis.

The best part about the tax swap is how easy it is to do:

And, the benefit can be significant.

Important – Doing the tax swap at currently low prices ensures you capture a larger loss, and your cost to capture it is lower.

An Added Benefit for Perth Mint Certificate Holders

For those investors who purchased silver with Perth Mint Certificates (whether it be unallocated, allocated, or pooled allocated) at loftier prices, you can also sell and repurchase unallocated silver to capture your losses, retain your silver holdings, and receive free storage on unallocated silver going forward.

For Perth Mint Certificates, there would be a $50 Certificate fee for each new Certificate issued, and the spread is 3.5%. These funds would be paid out of pocket, and you would receive back the exact number of ounces you sold.

How Does It Work?

In order to ensure the tax swap adheres to IRS requirements, you have to physically ship your bullion coins and bars, your Perth Mint Certificates, or your numismatic coins to a trusted precious metals dealer like ASI, and then we would physically ship the exact contents back to you.

You would be responsible for the cost of shipping, insuring and handling in both directions along with the preferential commission of 2% spread for bullion, 4% for numismatic coins, and 3.5% for Perth Mint Certificates, but it could still be worth it to take advantage of the savings on your taxes.

The good news is you don’t need to perform a tax swap just hoping it will all work out to your advantage. Our Preferred Client Relations representatives can walk you through the calculations, provide the numbers you need to consult with your tax attorney, CPA or advisor, and help you execute your tax swap if your trusted advisor agrees you can benefit.*

The time is right for this service. We can help you do a tax swap, but you must start the process soon in order to capture your losses in your 2019 taxes. We have the knowledge and experience to make the process of capturing your capital loss painless and effortless.

Call us today at 800-831-0007 or send us an email to see if a tax swap is right for you based on the current low price of precious metals.

*Asset Strategies International is neither a financial advisor nor a tax advisor. Consult your CPA or Tax Attorney today before making any decision regarding a tax swap with your precious metals.