The Wisconsin Assembly just voted overwhelmingly to end sales taxes on purchases of gold and silver. primarily sponsored by Rep. Shae Sortwell, just passed out of the State Assembly by a bipartisan vote of 86-12. This popular bill is cosponsored by almost two dozen other legislators and enjoys wide support – and would align Wisconsin with the policies of 43 other U.S. states.AB 29 would exempt “precious metals bullion,” defined as coins, bars, rounds, and sheets that contain at least 35% gold, silver, copper, platinum, or palladium.Imposing taxes on the exchange of Federal Reserve notes for monetary metals (i.e. gold and silver) has become an unusual and outmoded practice in the United States… only 7 states still engage in it. Passage of these bills would remove a major disincentive to holding gold and silver — a move that has become especially pertinent at a time when inflation is ripping through the economy and wreaking havoc on family budgets.Article 1, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution prescribes that gold and silver are money, and imposing a tax on the exchange of one money for another is inherently illogical. But there are other strong public policy reasons why so few states still impose sales tax on precious metals purchases:
The harm is exacerbated when you consider that all of Wisconsin’s neighbors (Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan) have already stopped taxing gold and silver. This harms in-state businesses. Tennessee ended this tax in 2022, and Arkansas and Ohio eliminated this tax in 2021.
More than a dozen states have introduced pro-sound money legislation in 2024 so far, including Alaska, Indiana, Iowa, , Kansas, , Missouri, New Hampshire, , , Oklahoma, Vermont, and West Virginia.. More By This Author:
