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For a U.S. individual investor, selling gold or Bitcoin usually creates a capital gain or loss: subtract the asset’s adjusted basis from the amount you received (or the value of what you received). Bitcoin is property for federal tax purposes. Physical gold bullion and qualifying coins held more than one year are collectibles, subject to a maximum 28% long-term collectibles rate under 2025 IRS rules. Your actual rate can be lower, depending on the type of gain, taxable income and filing facts.
A missing broker form does not make a taxable transaction disappear. Report qualifying sales, exchanges and other dispositions on Form 8949 and carry the totals to Schedule D (Form 1040), even if you did not receive Form 1099-B, Form 1099-DA or Form 1099-S.
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What is taxed when you sell an investment?
The taxable result is generally the difference between your amount realized and your adjusted basis. The amount realized is what you receive in cash, property or other value, reduced by selling expenses such as a documented commission when the tax rules allow it. Basis normally begins with what you paid and includes allowable acquisition costs. Keep enough records to connect each sale to its purchase price, date and fees.
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Short-term versus long-term
An asset held one year or less generally produces a short-term capital result, which is handled through the capital-gain computation using ordinary-income tax rates. An asset held more than one year can qualify for long-term treatment. The exact holding-period dates matter: match the date acquired with the date disposed of for the specific units sold.
2025 federal rate categories
Internal Revenue Service 2025 guidance lists maximum capital-gain rates of 0%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 28% for different types of gains and taxpayer circumstances. Those are maximum category rates, not an automatic charge on every transaction. Your filing status, taxable income and the character of the gain determine the rate that applies. Collectibles gain has its own maximum 28% category.
How physical gold is taxed
Gold’s tax character depends on what you actually own. IRS Publication 550 defines collectibles gain or loss to include gain or loss from selling or trading a work of art, rug, antique, metal (including gold, silver or platinum bullion), gem, stamp, coin or alcoholic beverage held more than one year. Therefore, physical gold bullion and qualifying coins held for more than one year are generally collectibles for federal capital-gain purposes.
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A long-term gain on covered bullion or coins is subject to a maximum 28% collectibles rate. “Maximum” means the result can be taxed below 28% under the applicable computation; it is not a flat 28% bill for every investor. The 28% rule applies to the long-term gain itself, not to your gross sale proceeds.
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Gold held one year or less
The collectibles maximum applies to long-term collectibles gain. A short-term result is generally handled as a short-term capital gain or loss through the ordinary-income rate computation. The appropriate rate depends on your taxable income and other facts.
Gold securities are not automatically collectibles
Shares of a gold-mining company, a mutual fund, an exchange-traded product or another security are not automatically taxed the same way as directly held bullion. The verified IRS material specifically addresses collectibles such as bullion and coins; it does not classify every gold-related financial product. Identify the exact instrument and check its tax reporting and governing documents before applying the 28% category.
Gold basis and selling costs
Start basis with the purchase price and include allowable acquisition fees and commissions. Retain the purchase date, quantity, price, transaction fees and sale proceeds. If you bought multiple lots at different prices, determine which lot or lots were disposed of and use the corresponding basis rather than an unsupported average.
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Suppose you purchase bullion for $10,000 and pay a documented $100 acquisition commission. Your initial basis is $10,100. If you later sell it for $13,000 and pay a $50 selling fee, the illustrative amount realized is $12,950 and the gain is $2,850. If you held the covered bullion more than one year, that gain falls in the collectibles category, with a 28% maximum rate; your actual federal tax can be lower based on your circumstances.
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How Bitcoin and other digital assets are taxed
The IRS treats digital assets as property. Bitcoin is a digital asset, so general property and capital-asset principles apply. IRS Form 8949 instructions state: “A digital asset is treated as property, and general tax principles that apply to property transactions apply to transactions using digital assets, including how to figure your holding period for short-term and long-term capital gains and losses.”
Cashing out Bitcoin for dollars
Selling Bitcoin for U.S. dollars is a disposition. Compare the dollars received, net of applicable selling costs, with the basis of the Bitcoin units sold. A gain or loss results even if the exchange remains inside a cryptocurrency platform and no money is transferred to your bank account.
Swapping one digital asset for another
Exchanging Bitcoin for another digital asset is also a disposition. Use the fair market value of the property received (or another properly determined disposition value) and compare it with the basis of the Bitcoin units surrendered. The fact that you did not receive dollars does not by itself defer the tax event.
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Spending Bitcoin
Using Bitcoin to pay for goods or services is another disposition. Determine the value of the Bitcoin at the time of payment and compare that value with the units’ basis. Keep the date, amount of Bitcoin, its value when spent and the acquisition lot used.
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Bitcoin holding period and rate
Bitcoin held one year or less generally produces a short-term capital result, handled through the ordinary-income rate computation. Bitcoin held more than one year generally produces a long-term capital result. The supplied IRS material does not support one universal Bitcoin tax percentage: the rate depends on holding period, taxable income and filing circumstances.
Bitcoin basis and lot matching
Digital-asset basis includes acquisition cost plus transaction fees, commissions, transfer taxes and other acquisition costs. Preserve exchange statements, wallet addresses, transaction IDs, dates, quantities and fee records. When only part of a holding is disposed of, your records must show which units were sold, swapped or spent and the basis assigned to those units.
Illustrative Bitcoin calculation
Assume you acquire Bitcoin for $20,000 and pay $200 in acquisition fees, creating a $20,200 basis. You later dispose of those units for value of $30,000 and incur $100 in selling costs. The illustrative amount realized is $29,900, producing a $9,700 gain. If the holding period was eight months, it is short-term; if it exceeded one year, it is generally long-term. The applicable federal tax depends on your tax facts.
Gold versus Bitcoin: the practical differences
| Issue | Physical gold bullion or qualifying coins | Bitcoin |
|---|---|---|
| Tax character | Long-term bullion and qualifying coins are collectibles under Publication 550. | Digital asset treated as property; general capital-asset rules apply. |
| Taxable events | Sale or other disposition of the metal or coins. | Sale for dollars, exchange for another digital asset, spending on goods or services, or another disposition. |
| Holding period | More than one year can create long-term collectibles gain; one year or less is short-term. | More than one year is generally long-term; one year or less is short-term. |
| Special maximum rate | Long-term collectibles gain has a 28% maximum rate. | No single special Bitcoin percentage is established; rate depends on holding period and taxpayer facts. |
| Basis records | Purchase price, acquisition fees, dates, quantity and sale expenses. | Acquisition cost, transaction and transfer fees, wallet or exchange records, dates and disposed lots. |
| Information forms | A broker may issue Form 1099-B when applicable; report on Form 8949 regardless of receiving a form. | A broker may issue Form 1099-DA; report taxable transactions even without it. |
How to calculate and report a sale
- Identify the disposition. Decide whether you sold the asset, exchanged it, used it to pay for something or otherwise disposed of it. For Bitcoin, record the fair market value at that time.
- Determine the amount realized. Start with cash or property received and account for documented transaction costs that affect the calculation.
- Determine adjusted basis. Use the purchase cost plus allowable acquisition fees and other basis adjustments supported by your records. Match the basis to the actual gold lot or Bitcoin units disposed of.
- Compute the gain or loss. Subtract adjusted basis from amount realized. A positive number is a gain; a negative number is a loss.
- Classify the holding period. Compare acquisition and disposition dates. More than one year is generally long-term; one year or less is short-term. For physical bullion and qualifying coins, only the long-term result receives collectibles treatment.
- Enter each transaction on Form 8949. Provide the asset description, acquisition and disposition dates, proceeds, basis, adjustments and resulting gain or loss. Form 8949 instructions require qualifying transactions even when no Form 1099-B, Form 1099-DA or Form 1099-S was received.
- Transfer totals to Schedule D (Form 1040). Schedule D summarizes the short-term and long-term results reported from Form 8949 and feeds the capital-gain calculation on your federal return.
- Reconcile information returns. Compare any Form 1099-B or Form 1099-DA with your own transaction history. Correct basis, fees, dates and lot assignments when the form does not reflect your complete records; the information form does not replace your reporting duty.
What if you did not receive Form 1099-DA?
You still report a taxable digital-asset disposition. IRS guidance says taxpayers must report taxable digital-asset income, gains and losses whether or not they receive the information form. A platform’s failure to issue a form, a transfer between your own wallets, or the absence of a cash withdrawal does not by itself make a sale, swap or payment non-taxable.
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Use your exchange exports, wallet history, transaction confirmations and contemporaneous valuation records to reconstruct proceeds and basis. If the records do not identify a lot, do not invent a cost; resolve the missing data before filing or obtain professional tax assistance.
Records to keep for gold and Bitcoin
- Acquisition and disposition dates, including time zone where digital-asset records require it.
- Quantity sold, exchanged or spent and the specific lot or units involved.
- Purchase price, sale proceeds or fair market value at the disposition time.
- Commissions, transaction fees, transfer fees and other costs included in basis or proceeds.
- Broker statements, Forms 1099-B or 1099-DA, invoices, wallet addresses, exchange reports and transaction IDs.
- For physical metal, a description of the bullion or coin, quantity, dealer invoice and storage or transfer documentation.
Limits of this federal overview
This treatment is for a U.S. individual holding assets as capital investments. It does not establish state or local taxes, foreign reporting, IRA or other retirement-account rules, trust taxation, dealer or business inventory treatment, or the classification of a particular gold fund or exchange-traded product. Those situations can change the result and require jurisdiction- and account-specific analysis.
For the covered case, the decision is straightforward: calculate proceeds and adjusted basis for every disposition, apply the correct holding-period and asset-character rules, and report the transaction on Form 8949 with the summary on Schedule D. Physical bullion and qualifying coins held more than one year can face the 28% maximum collectibles rate; Bitcoin follows ordinary property rules and can be taxable when sold, swapped or spent.
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