What federal reporting rules apply to private gold and silver sales in Washington state?

1. Cash over $10,000: the universal “8300” rule that applies even to bullion

Any cash transaction (or series of related cash transactions) of $10,000 or more triggers a mandatory Form 8300 filing by the business or dealer receiving the cash; this reporting requirement is a federal anti‑money‑laundering disclosure and applies to precious‑metals dealers just as it does to other cash‑intensive trades ^{[1] [4] [5] [2]}. The reporting duty is on the buyer’s counterparty (the dealer or business), not on an individual private seller, although private sellers who receive large cash payments should expect the purchaser to comply with Form 8300 rules and may face scrutiny if related transactions are structured to evade the $10,000 threshold ^{[1] [2]}.

2. “Reportable bullion” and Form 1099‑B: when dealers must report certain sales

A separate federal reporting regime comes into play for sales of bullion that meet precise form, purity and quantity rules: dealers may be required to report sales on information returns (commonly Form 1099‑B) when the items sold match the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) quality thresholds and the sales meet the IRS quantity thresholds — for example, gold items of 0.995 fineness totaling 1 kilogram or more, or silver at 0.999 fineness totaling 1,000 troy ounces, and in some cases sales in excess of 25 specific government gold coins or U.S. 90% silver coin face values over $1,000 ^{[3] [1] [6]}. These rules mean many routine retail bullion purchases and small private sales won’t be automatically reported by dealers, but larger, standardized bullion lots and some coin blocks are treated as “reportable” ^{[3] [1]}.

3. Capital gains reporting remains the seller’s federal tax obligation

Separately from dealer information returns, individual sellers must report and pay federal capital‑gains tax on any profit realized from selling gold or silver — gains are taxable income reported on the seller’s federal return regardless of whether a dealer filed Form 8300 or 1099‑B ^{[3] [7]}. Several secondary sources note that even when a dealer does not file an information return, taxpayers still carry the statutory obligation to report gains; the dealer filings mainly assist the IRS with matching and enforcement ^{[2] [3]}.

4. How this interacts with Washington state developments — not a federal change but a context shift

Washington’s removal of a longstanding state sales‑tax exemption for bullion, effective January 1, 2026, changes the cost calculus for buyers and sellers in the state but does not alter federal reporting thresholds; dealers in Washington will now collect state retail sales tax or B&O tax on many bullion transactions while still complying with federal Forms 8300 and 1099‑B rules where applicable ^{[8] [9] [10]}. Industry guides and dealers emphasize state tax changes because they affect transaction behavior, but those state tax rules are distinct from — and do not replace — the federal cash and reportable‑bullion reporting regimes ^{[8] [10]}.

5. Caveats, competing narratives and limits of available reporting

Most available summaries come from dealers, bullion sellers, and state guidance rather than direct IRS or CFTC primary texts in the provided reporting; dealers have an incentive to simplify rules for customers and to stress the $10,000 cash rule as a deterrent to carrying large bills, while also highlighting thresholds that could trigger 1099‑B filings ^{[1] [4] [2]}. The precise legal triggers and technical definitions (for example, exact coin lists, aggregation rules, or how “related transactions” are determined) are established in federal statutes, IRS regulations and CFTC definitions; those primary federal sources were not in the supplied reporting, so any reader needing definitive legal conclusions should consult the IRS, CFTC guidance or a tax attorney for binding interpretation ^{[2] [3]}.