Precious Metals Academy
How to Hold Your Metals
A practical guide to the holding structures available to Canadian and US investors — physical, vaulted, ETF, and registered accounts — with a summary of tax implications for each.
In short
- Canadian investors can shelter precious metals gains in an RRSP (tax-deferred) or TFSA (tax-free) through exchange-listed funds and trusts such as PHYS, or through bullion that meets CRA's conditions and is bought by the plan itself. Bullion you already own does not qualify.
- American investors holding physical gold or silver face the collectibles tax rate (28% maximum) rather than standard long-term capital gains rates.
- A precious metals IRA allows US investors to hold approved bullion in a tax-deferred (traditional) or tax-free (Roth) retirement account — with strict eligibility rules.
- Vaulted storage services provide professional custody without home storage risk, but add custodian counterparty risk — verify provider reputation and insurance coverage.
- Tax rules vary by province, state, and individual circumstance — consult a qualified tax advisor before making holding structure decisions.
Deciding how much to allocate to precious metals is only half the decision. The other half — often overlooked — is how to hold that allocation. The choice of holding structure affects your tax bill, your liquidity, your storage costs, and your exposure to counterparty risk. This guide walks through the main options for Canadian and American investors.
Canadian investors have access to registered accounts that can meaningfully improve the after-tax return on precious metals holdings. The table below summarises the main structures:
The US tax treatment of physical precious metals is notably different from most other investments. Gold and silver are classified as collectibles by the IRS, which subjects long-term gains to a higher maximum rate than standard capital assets: