Florida Sales Tax on Precious Metals and Bullion: Major Changes in 2025 and 2026

Florida Sales Tax on Precious Metals and Bullion: Major Changes in 2025 and 2026

By James H. Sutton, Jr., CPA, Esq.

Shareholder Moffa, Sutton, & Donnini, PA

What Are the New Florida Sales Tax Rules for Precious Metals and Bullion?

Florida has dramatically expanded its sales tax exemptions for precious metals and bullion through two landmark pieces of legislation: House Bill 7031 (effective August 1, 2025), which eliminated the old $500 minimum purchase threshold for gold, silver, and platinum bullion, and CS/HB 999 (effective July 1, 2026), which recognizes qualifying gold and silver coins as legal tender in Florida and exempts them from sales tax. Together, these laws represent the most significant overhaul of Florida's precious metals tax policy in more than two decades. Investors, dealers, collectors, and businesses that deal in precious metals need to understand exactly what changed, what the new rules require, and where traps for the unwary still remain. The article is written by James H Sutton Jr, CPA, Esq, a state and local tax (SALT) attorney focused almost exclusively on Florida sales and use tax controversy.

Background: Florida's Prior Law on Precious Metals

To appreciate how significant the 2025 and 2026 changes are, it helps to understand where Florida's law stood before. Florida imposes sales and use tax under Chapter 212, Florida Statutes, on the retail sale of tangible personal property delivered in the state. Precious metals, as tangible property, are subject to that tax unless a specific statutory exemption applies.

Florida's precious metals exemptions trace back to 1999, when the Legislature created what became § 212.08(7)(ww), Florida Statutes. At that time, the Legislature exempted the sale of U.S. legal tender coins outright (since coins sold at face value are essentially currency, not taxable property), but imposed conditions on everything else. For gold, silver, and platinum bullion — defined in Florida Administrative Code Rule 12A-1.0371 as those metals in the form of bars, ingots, or plates normally sold by weight — the exemption only applied when the total sales price in a single transaction exceeded $500. A similar $500 threshold applied to foreign coins and currency not sold at face value. Purchases below $500 were fully taxable.

That framework created real problems. Investors buying a single silver round for $35 paid sales tax. Dealers making small incremental sales faced the administrative burden of tracking whether each transaction crossed the threshold. And when Florida's marketplace facilitator law (SB 50) took effect in 2021 — requiring out-of-state online sellers to collect and remit Florida sales tax — the $500 rule suddenly applied to every online bullion transaction shipped into Florida, pulling in dealers who had previously had no Florida collection obligation.

Change No. 1: House Bill 7031 — Elimination of the $500 Threshold (Effective August 1, 2025)

The first major change came through House Bill 7031, the large tax package passed during the 2025 regular legislative session. Effective August 1, 2025, the Legislature amended § 212.08(7)(ww), Florida Statutes, to eliminate the $500 minimum purchase requirement for gold, silver, and platinum bullion. The Florida Department of Revenue confirmed this change in Tax Information Publication TIP No. 25A01-03, issued July 1, 2025.

What changed under HB 7031:

The $500 floor is gone for bullion. All qualifying bullion — gold, silver, and platinum in bar, ingot, or round form sold by weight — is now exempt from Florida sales and use tax regardless of how much or how little the buyer spends. A single one-ounce silver round worth $35 is just as exempt as a $50,000 gold bar purchase.

The single-transaction requirement is eliminated. Previously, the exemption required the purchase to occur in a single transaction. That requirement no longer applies to bullion.

The mandatory documentation requirement for dealers was relaxed. Under the prior version of Rule 12A-1.0371(6), dealers were required to maintain specific documentation — describing the metal, quantity, form, and sales price of each item of bullion — as a precondition for the exemption. HB 7031 removed the statutory documentation mandate for bullion sales. Dealers should note, however, that the administrative rule has not yet been formally amended to conform to the statutory change, so maintaining good records as a practical matter remains advisable.

What did NOT change under HB 7031:

The $500 threshold still applies to certain coins and currency that do not qualify as bullion and are not U.S. legal tender — for example, foreign coins sold based on precious metal content (like a South African Krugerrand) and world or ancient coins. Those transactions remain taxable below $500 under the existing rule framework. U.S. legal tender coins (American Gold Eagles, American Silver Eagles, circulating U.S. coinage) remain exempt without any minimum threshold, as they always have been. Jewelry, decorative objects, and other fabricated goods incorporating precious metals remain fully taxable. And palladium is not covered — neither the pre-2025 law nor the 2025 amendments extended any bullion exemption to palladium.

Change No. 2: CS/HB 999 — Gold and Silver as Legal Tender (Effective July 1, 2026)

The second and more sweeping change came through CS/HB 999, signed by Governor DeSantis on May 27, 2025, and made fully operational by HB 1311, the 2026 legislative ratification bill passed by the Legislature in March 2026. Together, these bills make Florida the largest state in the country to recognize gold and silver coins as legal tender.

What HB 999 Does

CS/HB 999 creates a new legal framework under Chapter 560, Florida Statutes, recognizing qualifying gold and silver coins as legal tender in Florida for the payment of debts incurred on or after July 1, 2026. The bill amends § 212.05, Florida Statutes, to exempt qualifying gold and silver coins from sales and use tax — expanding the prior exemption that only covered U.S. legal tender coins sold at face value.

To qualify as legal tender under HB 999, a gold coin must consist of at least 99.5% pure gold, and a silver coin must consist of at least 99.9% pure silver. Each qualifying coin must be stamped or imprinted with its weight and purity and, optionally, the name or symbol of the refiner or mint. The term "coin" is defined broadly to include rounds, bars, ingots, and bullion coins in solid form valued for metal content — it does not include jewelry, picture frames, keepsakes, or other goods that merely incorporate precious metals.

HB 999 also establishes a presumption of eligibility for the sales tax exemption if the coin is stamped with appropriate purity markings or transacted electronically. Importantly, the burden of proving that a coin meets the definition falls on the person claiming the exemption — not on the Department of Revenue to disprove it.

Use as Legal Tender

Under HB 999, no individual, business, or government entity is required to accept gold or silver coin as payment unless required by contract. Use is entirely voluntary. Governmental entities — including the Florida Department of Revenue — may accept qualifying coins for payment of taxes, fees, and other charges, but only via electronic transfer, not in physical coin form. Money services businesses, check cashers, and similar entities authorized under Chapter 560 are permitted (but not required) to transmit and accept payments in gold and silver.

The Custodian Framework

HB 999 creates a licensing and regulatory framework for custodians — defined as persons or entities that hold qualifying gold or silver coin in secure vault facilities for safekeeping, where ownership may be transferred electronically. Custodians must be licensed as money transmitters under Chapter 560, are subject to annual examination by the Office of Financial Regulation, must maintain all-risk insurance covering 100% of deposits, and owe a fiduciary duty to their customers. This framework envisions a system where gold and silver coin can function like a deposit account — held in secure storage and transferred electronically to pay debts, taxes, or commercial obligations.

The Ratification Requirement and HB 1311

HB 999 contained a built-in sunset: if the Legislature did not ratify the implementing rules adopted by the Chief Financial Officer and the Financial Services Commission by June 30, 2026, the entire law would be repealed. The CFO and FSC adopted those rules and submitted a joint report to the Legislature by November 1, 2025, as required. During the 2026 legislative session, HB 1311 ratified those rules — passing the House unanimously and the Senate 31-1 — clearing the way for the legal tender provisions to take effect July 1, 2026.

Probate Implications

One provision that practitioners will want to flag: qualifying gold and silver coin recognized as legal tender is classified as intangible personal property, not tangible personal property, for purposes of the Florida Probate Code. This applies only to estates of decedents who die on or after July 1, 2026, and may have implications for how such assets are inventoried, valued, and distributed in a Florida probate proceeding.

The Practical Landscape: What Is and Is Not Exempt After July 1, 2026

Given the overlapping effect of these two bills, here is a practical summary of Florida's current sales tax treatment of precious metals:

Fully exempt — no conditions:

Gold, silver, and platinum bullion (bars, ingots, rounds sold by weight) — exempt as of August 1, 2025 under § 212.08(7)(ww), F.S., with no minimum transaction amount
U.S. legal tender coins sold at face value — exempt under long-standing law
Qualifying gold coins (≥99.5% purity, stamped with weight and purity) — exempt as of July 1, 2026 under HB 999
Qualifying silver coins (≥99.9% purity, stamped with weight and purity) — exempt as of July 1, 2026 under HB 999

Still taxable (or conditionally exempt):

Foreign coins and currency not sold at face value, where total transaction is $500 or less — still taxable under Rule 12A-1.0371
Palladium in any form — not covered by any Florida bullion exemption
Jewelry and fabricated objects incorporating precious metals — fully taxable on the total sales price, with no credit for the metal content
Purely numismatic or collectible coins that do not meet purity and marking standards — classification-dependent; may be taxable

Audit Risk and Documentation Considerations

Despite the relaxed documentation mandate under HB 7031, dealers and investors should not abandon recordkeeping. The Florida Department of Revenue conducts audits of precious metals dealers, and the fundamental audit question — whether a transaction qualifies for exemption — requires the taxpayer to demonstrate that the goods sold meet the definition of exempt bullion or qualifying legal tender coin. Rule 12A-1.0371 has not yet been formally amended, and auditors will continue to reference it. Maintaining records that describe the metal, form, weight, purity markings, and sales price of each transaction is straightforward and provides critical protection in the event of an audit.

Dealers who previously relied on the $500 threshold as an easy bright line should also be aware that the expanded exemption does not change the classification analysis — it only removes the minimum amount. A sale must still involve qualifying bullion or qualifying coin, not a collectible, jewelry item, or other taxable category of goods. When the product line includes both exempt and taxable items, clean documentation of each line item matters.

Finally, note that Florida's expanded exemption has no effect on federal income tax. The IRS continues to treat gold, silver, and platinum as collectibles under 26 U.S.C. § 408(m), and gains from the sale of precious metals remain subject to a maximum long-term capital gains tax rate of 28% at the federal level — regardless of how Florida characterizes the items for sales tax purposes.

Conclusion

In little more than a year, Florida moved from a patchwork precious metals tax regime — with a $500 minimum threshold that disadvantaged small investors and created audit traps for dealers — to one of the most comprehensive precious metals exemption frameworks in the country. The elimination of the $500 bullion floor under HB 7031 took effect August 1, 2025. The recognition of qualifying gold and silver coins as legal tender and their full exemption from sales tax under CS/HB 999 and HB 1311 takes effect July 1, 2026. Florida is now the largest state in the nation to embrace this framework, joining Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Idaho, and Alabama.

If you are a precious metals dealer, investor, coin shop, or other business that buys or sells gold, silver, or platinum in Florida, now is the time to review your sales tax compliance procedures, update your point-of-sale systems to reflect the new exemptions, and ensure your documentation practices are solid. If you have received a Florida Department of Revenue audit notice or assessment related to precious metals transactions, the attorneys at Moffa, Sutton & Donnini, P.A. are available to help.

About the Author

James H. Sutton, Jr., CPA, Esq., is a Florida licensed State and Local Tax (SALT) Attorney and CPA with over 25 years of experience in Florida sales and use tax law. He is a Shareholder at the Law Offices of Moffa, Sutton & Donnini, P.A., and he focuses almost exclusively on Florida sales and use tax controversy, and serves as an Adjunct Professor of Taxation at Stetson University College of Law and Boston University School of Law's Graduate Tax Program. Mr. Sutton is a frequent speaker and author on Florida sales tax topics and can be reached at the firm's offices in Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Tallahassee. You can reach him by direct number 813-775-2131 or email JamesSutton@FloridaSalesTax.com. You can read more about Mr. Sutton in his firm bio HERE.

About the Firm

At the Law Offices of Moffa, Sutton & Donnini, P.A., we represent taxpayers throughout Florida in sales and use tax audits, protests, appeals, and litigation before the Florida Department of Revenue and Florida courts. Our practice is limited exclusively to Florida sales and use tax, giving us an unmatched depth of experience in this complex area of law. With offices in Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Tallahassee, we serve clients statewide. For more information, visit us at www.FloridaSalesTax.com or call us at your nearest office location. You can also take advantage of our FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION policy.

Additional Resources

Florida Sales Tax Exemptions
Florida Statute § 212.08 — Specified Exemptions
Florida Admin. Code Rule 12A-1.0371 — Sales of Coins, Currency, or Bullion
TIP 26A01-08 - Sales and Use Tax Exemption for Certain Gold and Silver Coins Beginning July 1, 2026
Florida Sales Tax Audits
Florida Sales Tax Attorney

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