+9999 The physical gold market is kind of like the drug trade, it's the fees that kills ya and the spreads are all over the place.
This is simply a response to the sleazy tactics of Goldline International, which advertises heavily on television and radio and tries to push people into buying vastly overpriced coins. Intelligent people use dealers who post both their buy and sell prices and make sure that for small quantities they're not paying more than about 4% over spot. But there are always some marks who get sucked in by the guys who buy a lot of advertising. (Common sense tells you that you will get better prices from dealers who don't spend a lot of money on national advertising.) It's not necessarily a bad thing to have a law that requires coin dealers to post both their buy and sell prices (which the good ones do anyway). But at the same time I would think that grown ups should be able to discern a huckster on their own, and we don't necessarily need Congress to try to jump in and "fix" things. In any case this is *not* some nefarious plot to keep people from buying gold. Far more damaging to gold bullion dealers is the provision in the health care bill that starting in 2012 businesses will have to file a 1099 form for every transaction over $600. That means gold dealers will have to file those 1099s for every gold coin they sell. The more socialism you want the more the government will go poking into every nook and cranny of your life.
When I sell $600 of stock or even $60 of stock, the broker needs to file a 1099. Tell me why should gold dealers be exempt?
In Canada I walk by these Cash Money businesses.. one is next to Starbucks. They have a big sign "We Buy Gold" .. seems it could be a great product to buy and sell given your ability to "write off" a loss or account for a gain where it may be convenient to do so....wink wink
This will affect any business that sells stuff worth at least $600, not just gold dealers. And no, gold dealers are not tax exempt as it is.
I wrote nothing about tax exemption, I was writing about exemption from filing a 1099, which is what you were objecting. I have no problem having any business requiring to file a 1099 on any single item that is $600 or more. Preferably the law should only apply on something that is small and easily transported and laundered, such as gold coins and other precious metals. It does not make sense to have a 1099 on a $1000 refrigerator, for example, because no one would be trying to hoard, transport and launder refrigerators.
You have no problem with the government requiring more businesses to fill out stupid forms. I do. It costs money to fill out all the stupid forms.
yeah I agree, not so much the money part. But it's mostly the annoyance of filling out the forms that drives me crazy. Even though all I put is a 0, its still a waste of ink and postage and all that shit just so the gov knows what you are getting in income. Seriously, it makes no sense.
"If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." --Reagan