Sales Tax on Gold and Silver in Washington, D.C.

Does Washington, D.C. charge sales tax on gold and silver?

Yes. Retail sales of gold and silver bars, rounds and coins in the District of Columbia are subject to the general D.C. sales tax. The District taxes retail sales of tangible personal property, which D.C. Code 47-2001(s) defines as “corporeal personal property of any nature.” Bullion and coins fall within that definition, and the District’s exemption list in D.C. Code 47-2005 contains no exemption for bullion, coins, legal tender or precious metals.

What qualifies as taxable

Because the definition of tangible personal property is broad, the following are treated as taxable when sold at retail in the District:

• Gold and silver bars
• Gold and silver rounds
• Gold and silver coins

The District’s exemption list does not carve out bullion, coins, legal tender or precious metals in any form. No Office of Tax and Revenue guidance specific to bullion was found, so the treatment above is inferred from the statute’s lack of an exemption rather than from an explicit statement by the Office of Tax and Revenue.

What is not addressed

The D.C. Code sections reviewed do not set a dollar threshold for bullion purchases, so no minimum purchase amount triggers or avoids the tax. The exemption list also does not address jewelry, platinum or other precious metals specifically, so no separate rule for those items is stated here.

Local sales taxes

Not applicable. The District of Columbia is a single jurisdiction, so there is no separate local sales tax layered on top of the District rate.

D.C. gold and silver tax treatment at a glance

Official sources

The rule rests on two sections of the D.C. Code:

• D.C. Code 47-2001 — defines “tangible personal property” as “corporeal personal property of any nature.”
• D.C. Code 47-2005 — the exemption list, which contains no exemption for bullion, coins, legal tender or precious metals.

This rule was checked in October 2026 and can change with new legislation. Before a large purchase, confirm the current treatment with the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue.

What buyers commonly get wrong

A common assumption is that buying precious metals is exempt from sales tax because they are a store of value or an investment. In the District, that assumption does not hold: the exemption list in D.C. Code 47-2005 does not exempt bullion, coins, legal tender or precious metals, so the general sales tax applies to retail purchases.

Another frequent mistake is expecting a minimum purchase threshold. The D.C. Code sections reviewed do not set a dollar threshold for bullion, so there is no amount below which the tax does not apply.

Some buyers also assume that coins are treated differently from bars or rounds. The statute’s definition of tangible personal property and its exemption list do not distinguish among them, so all three are treated the same way.

Finally, because the treatment is inferred from the absence of an exemption rather than from an explicit Office of Tax and Revenue statement on bullion, the position could be clarified or changed by future legislation or guidance. For individual circumstances, consult a tax professional or your own preparer.

For general background on how precious metals are taxed at the federal level, see sales tax on gold.