Massachusetts – FMV Gold

The six facts

Statute-level rules. Each fact is sourced; click through to the primary citation.

Exempt (threshold)

Sales tax on bullion

MGL Chapter 64H, Section 6(ll), effective since 1999, exempts from Massachusetts sales tax sales of $1,000 or more of (i) rare coins of numismatic value; (ii) gold or silver bullion or coins; or (iii) gold or silver tender of any nation traded and sold according to its value as precious metal. Sales below the $1,000 threshold are subject to the 6.25% Massachusetts sales tax. Excluded from the exemption regardless of transaction size: platinum and palladium products (fully taxable), and fabricated precious metals that have been processed or manufactured for industrial, professional, or artistic use.

Source As of 2026-04-26 · high confidence

Recognized as legal tender

Massachusetts has not enacted a statute recognizing gold or silver coin or specie as legal tender. S.2399 (2024-2025 General Court session) — a combined bill that would exempt precious metals from sales tax, exempt them from capital gains tax, and affirm gold and silver as legal tender — cleared the Joint Committee on Revenue in February 2025 and awaits a Senate floor vote. As of this capture date, the bill has not been enacted; Massachusetts remains absent from the seven-state legal-tender list.

Source As of 2026-04-26 · medium confidence

Taxed

Capital gains on bullion

Massachusetts taxes long-term capital gains at a flat 5.0% — the same as the regular individual income tax rate — but taxes short-term capital gains at 8.5%, an unusual higher rate distinct from ordinary income. 4% millionaire surtax: Massachusetts voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 2022 imposing an additional 4% surtax on total taxable income above $1 million, indexed for inflation. The 2025 surtax threshold is $1,083,150. For high-earner precious-metals investors subject to the surtax, the top effective long-term capital gains rate is 9.0% (5% + 4%) and the top effective short-term rate is 12.5% (8.5% + 4%). There is no precious-metals-specific carve-out.

Source As of 2025-01-01 · high confidence

State bullion depository

Massachusetts has not enacted enabling legislation for a state-administered or state-chartered bullion depository. No active depository-authorization bill was identified in this research pass.

Source As of 2026-04-26 · medium confidence

State gold & silver reserves

The Massachusetts State Treasurer & Receiver-General does not hold physical gold or silver as a reserve asset. State financial statements disclose no precious-metals line item, and no statutory authority for such holdings exists.

Source As of 2026-04-26 · medium confidence

Pension fund holdings

The Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (PRIM / MassPRIM) manages the PRIT Fund — a pooled investment fund holding the assets of the Massachusetts Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement Systems plus the assets of county, authority, district, and municipal retirement systems that opt into the PRIT Fund. Total PRIT Fund assets exceed $100 billion. The State Treasurer & Receiver-General serves as ex officio Chair of the PRIM Board. PRIT follows a standard institutional asset allocation; no precious-metals or physical-bullion line item is disclosed.

Source As of 2024-06-30 · medium confidence

What this means for buyers

When you buy bullion in Massachusetts: bullion is exempt from state sales tax above a transaction-size threshold. Below the threshold the standard sales-tax rate applies, so larger consolidated purchases capture the exemption; small accumulation purchases may be taxed.

When you sell or otherwise realize a gain: capital gains on bullion are taxed at Massachusetts’s state capital-gains rate, on top of the federal 28% collectibles rate. Less punitive than ordinary-income treatment but still a meaningful state-level layer.

Mostly standard taxation; one carve-out worth knowing about. Confirm it covers your specific purchase before relying on it.

Rules of Gold in Massachusetts

The six facts

Sales tax on bullion

Recognized as legal tender

Capital gains on bullion

State bullion depository

State gold & silver reserves

Pension fund holdings

What this means for buyers

Coin & bullion dealers in Massachusetts

Beantown Coins

Bunker Hill Rare Coin

Charles Hertan Numismatics

JJ Teaparty

King Philip Coin

Track your Massachusetts collection at fair-market value.