Is the Texas Bullion Depository IRS-Approved for IRAs?

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What IRS-approved really means for an IRA

The phrase "IRS-approved depository" gets thrown around a lot. It is technically imprecise. The IRS does not certify vaults. It certifies who can act as the trustee of your IRA.

Under Internal Revenue Code section 408(a)(2), an IRA must be held by a bank as defined in section 408(n), or by another entity that has demonstrated to the IRS that it can administer trust assets under Treasury Regulation 1.408-2(e). That second path is the "nonbank trustee" route. The IRS keeps a public list of the entities it has approved for it.

For a precious-metals IRA, the practical result is the same either way. Your metal must sit with a bank or a nonbank trustee that the IRS has cleared to hold trust assets. A vault operator that is not one of those two things cannot legally hold IRA metal on its own. The vault must be tied to an approved trustee.

So the useful question is not "is this vault IRS-approved". It is "who is the IRS-approved trustee behind this vault, and is the storage relationship documented".

The nonbank trustee rule that matters here

Treasury Regulation 1.408-2(e) sets a demanding bar. To act as a nonbank trustee, an entity must show adequate net worth, fiduciary experience, internal controls, audit procedures, segregation of trust assets from corporate assets, and continuity of administration if the entity ceases operations. The IRS reviews the application and issues a written approval letter.

Approval is not automatic and is not permanent by default. The IRS can suspend or revoke a nonbank trustee if the entity stops meeting the standard. That is why the IRS maintains a published list of active nonbank trustees. Any custodian, dealer, or depository claiming IRS status should trace back to an entity that appears on that list.

For precious-metals storage specifically, section 408(m)(3) narrows the eligible bullion and coins. The trustee approval is separate from the metals approval, but both have to line up. The metal must meet the fineness rule and the storage must sit with an approved trustee.

Who owns and runs the Texas Bullion Depository

The Texas Bullion Depository is an agency of the State of Texas. It was created by state law signed on June 12, 2015, and opened for storage in 2017. The building sits on a 10-acre campus in Leander, Texas, north of Austin. It is roughly 40,000 square feet, purpose-built for precious-metals storage.

The State of Texas owns and oversees the facility through the Office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. As of July 2026 the acting Texas Comptroller is Kelly Hancock and the depository administrator is Macy Douglas. Day-to-day operations are handled by a private contractor selected by the state.

That contractor is Lone Star Tangible Assets LP, referred to on the depository site as LSTA. LSTA runs the vault, handles account opening, and manages the storage relationship with dealers and custodians. The state audits it. This is the only vaulting facility in the United States that is a state agency and is audited by a state comptroller.

Lone Star Tangible Assets got IRS nonbank trustee status in 2023

The IRA angle turns on a single fact. Lone Star Tangible Assets LP, the operator of the Texas Bullion Depository, received IRS approval as a nonbank trustee in 2023. The Texas Bullion Depository states this directly on its IRA Storage page.

Practically, this means the metal in the vault sits under an entity that the IRS has cleared to hold IRA trust assets. Combined with a self-directed IRA custodian that partners with LSTA, that is what makes the depository a legitimate storage venue for a precious-metals IRA in the eyes of the IRS.

Before 2023, the Texas Bullion Depository accepted deposits from individuals, institutions, and government entities, but not IRA assets under LSTA's own trustee status. The 2023 IRS letter is what added the IRA use case. The depository confirms that Equity Trust Company was the first self-directed IRA custodian to route IRA metal to the vault under the new setup.

How the IRA path to the depository works today

Nothing about the process is exotic. It follows the same pattern as any precious-metals IRA. The step that is Texas-specific is where the metal actually lands.

The depository has said it plans to add more IRA custodian relationships over time. Before you set up a new account, check the current custodian list directly on the depository site so you are not relying on a stale snapshot.

What can be stored and what stays out

The Texas Bullion Depository holds gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium. For an IRA the metal has to also meet federal eligibility. That combination narrows the list.

The Krugerrand line trips a lot of new investors. It is a globally recognized gold coin, but its 22-karat purity sits under the .995 gold minimum and it is not written into the statutory exception the way the American Gold Eagle is. That keeps it out of an IRA even though it is very much real gold.

Security, audits, and insurance

The vault is a Class 3 rated storage vault, the highest published class for precious-metals vaulting. Access is controlled by biometric authentication, bullet-resistant doors, and layered surveillance. On-site security is staffed by commissioned Texas peace officers plus ex-military personnel with SWAT experience. This is what the depository publishes, and it is consistent with what a state agency needs to answer the Texas Comptroller.

Assets are insured through Lloyd's of London against theft, fire, flood, and natural disasters. Insured values are updated to daily market prices, which matters because gold and silver move. If the coverage lagged, a large price rally would leave part of a large account uninsured against loss.

The Texas Comptroller audits the depository. That is the audit trail that distinguishes it from a private commercial vault, where oversight is a matter of contract law and the vault operator's chosen insurance policy, not a state audit.

Worked example: a Texas resident opening a Texas Bullion Depository IRA

Fees and long-term drag

Depository storage fees for IRA metal are typically negotiated between the custodian, the dealer, and the depository operator. The depository itself notes that the standard fees posted on its site may not be the fees a specific IRA account ends up paying. You will get the actual number from your custodian and dealer.

That is normal for the industry. It is also why we do not publish a single storage-fee number for the Texas Bullion Depository on this page. What we can do is show what a small annual fee difference does to a retirement account over time, so you can pressure-test the quotes you receive.

The calculator below runs a fee-drag scenario on any account size and fee bundle. Enter what your custodian and dealer quote for a full year of custody, storage, and any recurring wire or transaction fees, and compare it against an alternative bundle.

Fees do not have to be the lowest in the market for the Texas Bullion Depository path to make sense. State oversight and segregated storage carry their own value. But you should still see the number, and you should compare it against at least one private depository quote before signing.

The Texas advantages that survive

Two Texas features remain even when you strip out the marketing. First, Texas has no state personal income tax. Federal income tax still applies to traditional-IRA distributions, but a Texas resident does not add a state income tax layer on top. Retirees in high-tax states who move to Texas often see this as the biggest single retirement tax change.

Second, the Texas Bullion Depository is a Texas agency, audited by the Texas Comptroller, and physically inside Texas. If you place high value on being able to point at a state-run vault under state audit, this is the only one in the country. For a Texas resident buying IRA metal from a Texas dealer, the whole chain can sit inside Texas.

Sales tax on the metal purchase itself is handled by state statute. Most precious-metals purchases in Texas do not incur state sales tax, and the depository notes that acquiring and storing inside Texas keeps other states from claiming tax nexus on the transaction. Verify with your dealer for the exact product you are buying.

When this is a bad idea for you

The Texas Bullion Depository path is not the right fit for everyone with a gold IRA. Some honest situations where it is a poor match:

• You want the widest possible custodian roster. As of July 2026 the documented IRA custodian path runs through Equity Trust Company. Other custodians will likely follow, but if your existing custodian is not on the list yet, you would have to move accounts.
• You are chasing the absolute lowest storage fee. State-run oversight and Class 3 vaulting come at a real cost. If price is the only thing that matters to you, a national commercial depository may quote lower.
• Your IRA balance is small. With any specialty custody arrangement, a flat annual fee eats a bigger share of a small account. Under a modest balance the fee drag can outrun the benefit.
• You need frequent in-kind distributions. The vault is in Leander, Texas, near Austin. Logistics for shipping serialized coins to an owner in another state add cost and time.
• You expect to liquidate in a hurry. Any physical metal held in an IRA has a settlement cycle. If your plan is to trade in and out of gold on price signals, a gold ETF inside a normal IRA is a better tool.

None of these are reasons to distrust the depository. They are reasons to check that your specific setup matches what a state-audited physical vault actually delivers.

Frequently asked questions

By Harry's Coins Editorial. Last reviewed July 2026.