MN No exemptions Last reviewed: April 2026

Rules of Gold in Minnesota

The six facts

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

Bullion exempt

Sales tax on bullion

Minnesota Statutes §297A.67 subdivision 34 exempts precious metal bullion from sales and use tax. Original exemption (longstanding): bullion in bar or round form consisting of at least 99.9% gold, silver, platinum, or palladium by weight, clearly marked with weight and purity. Coins (including legal-tender bullion coins like American Gold Eagles) were specifically excluded under the original framework. 2025 expansion: Effective for sales after June 30, 2025, the exemption was broadened to include bars, ingots, commemorative medallions, coins, and currency made of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, or a combination, plus paper currency that is or has been legal tender. The expansion eliminates the prior bullion-vs-coin distinction. Operator should verify the expansion was enacted as a final tax-bill provision (some 2025 sources noted the standalone vehicle HF 881 was reported "pronounced dead" March 26, 2025, while the substantive expansion appears to have made it into 2025 omnibus tax legislation effective July 1, 2025).

Source As of 2025-07-01 · medium confidence

No

Recognized as legal tender

Minnesota has not enacted a statute recognizing gold or silver coin or specie as legal tender for payment of debts. Multiple sound-money bills have been introduced and failed across recent sessions: HF 2481 (2021-2022), HF 106 (2023-2024, Rep. Bjorn Olson), and HF 881 / SF 403 (2025-2026). The bills have focused primarily on tax-exemption expansion rather than legal-tender recognition. Minnesota remains absent from the legal-tender state list as of 2026.

Source As of 2026-04-26 · medium confidence

Taxed

Capital gains on bullion

Minnesota taxes capital gains as ordinary income through its four-bracket individual income tax system: 5.35%, 6.80%, 7.85%, and 9.85% (top marginal) for tax year 2025. Both short-term and long-term capital gains receive identical treatment with no preferential rate. Plus: Starting tax year 2024, Minnesota added a 1% additional tax on net investment income (including capital gains) over $1 million — making Minnesota one of the few states with a high-net-worth investment-income surcharge. There is no precious-metals-specific carve-out. Capital gains on physical gold and silver are taxed at the applicable bracket rate plus, for high-income filers, the 1% surcharge.

Source As of 2025-01-01 · high confidence

No

State bullion depository

Minnesota has not enacted enabling legislation for a state-administered bullion depository. No active depository-authorization bill was identified.

Source As of 2026-04-26 · medium confidence

No

State gold & silver reserves

The Minnesota Department of Management and Budget / State Treasurer functions hold no physical gold or silver as reserve assets.

Source As of 2026-04-26 · medium confidence

No

Pension fund holdings

Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS), Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA), and Teachers Retirement Association (TRA) — collectively administering pensions for hundreds of thousands of state and local public employees — do not hold physical gold or silver as portfolio assets. The Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) manages public pension assets under a standard institutional asset allocation; no precious-metals or commodities line item is disclosed.

Source As of 2024-06-30 · medium confidence

What this means for buyers

When you buy bullion in Minnesota: investment-grade bullion is exempt from state sales tax. The exemption typically covers gold, silver, platinum, and palladium meeting standard investment-grade purity. Verify the exemption applies to your specific purchase — definitions and minimum-purity thresholds vary by statute.

When you sell or otherwise realize a gain: capital gains on bullion are taxed as ordinary income at Minnesota’s state-tax rates, stacked on top of the federal 28% collectibles rate. This is a real drag on long-term holdings — consult a CPA before realizing a major position.

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

Coin & bullion dealers in Minnesota

Verified retail dealers — sourced from state corporation registries, BBB, and trade associations.

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About this page. Legislative data captured by the Empirical Research Orchestrator. Each fact links to its primary source. State laws change — confirm material facts with your CPA or the state Department of Revenue before acting on a transaction. Fair Market Value does not provide legal or tax advice.

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