The Texas Precious Metals IRA Guide
Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission when a reader opens an account through links on this page. The commission has no effect on what you pay or on what we publish. We are not a financial or tax advisor; consult a licensed advisor for your situation. Last reviewed June 2026.
Short on time? The essentials
- Four metals qualify inside an IRA: gold at 99.5 percent fineness or better, silver at 99.9 percent, platinum at 99.95 percent, palladium at 99.95 percent. Coins below the floor need a statutory exception, and only the American Gold Eagle and American Silver Eagle get one.
- The 2026 IRA contribution cap is 7,500 dollars, or 8,600 dollars from age 50 upward with the 1,100 dollar catch-up. Rollovers from a 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), TSP, or another IRA are not subject to that cap.
- Texas has no personal income tax under Article 8, Section 24 of the Texas Constitution, so an RMD, an early withdrawal, or a Roth conversion is taxed only at the federal level for a Texas resident.
- The Texas Bullion Depository accepts IRA metal through Lone Star Tangible Assets as the IRS-approved non-bank operator, and Equity Trust Company as the first wired-in self-directed IRA custodian for the flow.
- Home storage of IRA metal remains disallowed everywhere in the country. The 2021 McNulty v. Commissioner ruling treats it as a full taxable distribution plus penalty when the owner is under 59 and a half.
- Federal early-withdrawal penalty stays at 10 percent below age 59 and a half unless a listed exception applies. Texas adds no state layer on top of it.
- Common eligible products span all four metals: American Silver Eagle, Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf, Canadian Palladium Maple Leaf, and gold bars from LBMA-accredited refiners such as PAMP Suisse, Valcambi, and the Royal Canadian Mint.
On this page
- The four metals a Texas precious metals IRA can hold
- The two Texas wedges that improve the math
- How the account is legally structured
- How a Texas resident opens the account
- IRS-eligible products by metal, with common examples
- Funding paths a Texan can use
- Storage inside Texas at the Bullion Depository
- Estimate the fee drag on your account
- Worked example: a Dallas couple splitting metal across gold and silver
- Your next step
- When a precious metals IRA is the wrong move
- Precious metals IRA in Texas FAQ
The four metals a Texas precious metals IRA can hold
A precious metals IRA covers more than gold. The statute at IRC 408(m)(3) carves out four bullion metals from the general collectibles ban: gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. Each one has its own fineness floor, and the floor is not the same across the four.
The chart below shows the four thresholds side by side. Any coin or bar under its own metal’s floor cannot sit inside the IRA unless a specific statutory exception applies to it.
The tolerance around the gold floor matters most in practice. Gold moves at .995 or better, which excludes the South African Krugerrand at .9167 and most pre-1933 United States coins. The American Gold Eagle sits at the same .9167 purity as the Krugerrand, but Congress named it in the statute, so it qualifies anyway.
The other three metals have narrower product menus. Silver and platinum accept the American Silver Eagle and the American Platinum Eagle, plus the Canadian equivalents. Palladium runs almost entirely on the Canadian Palladium Maple Leaf and approved bars from LBMA-accredited refiners.
The two Texas wedges that improve the math
Federal rules apply the same in Alaska, in California, and in Texas. What changes at the Texas line is the layer of state rules that sits above them. For a precious metals IRA the wedge shows up in two places: at the tax return, and at the vault.
Texas prohibits a personal income tax under Article 8, Section 24 of the state constitution. The 2019 ballot amendment stiffened that rule by requiring both a two-thirds vote of the Legislature and a statewide vote before any income tax could be imposed. A Texas resident who takes a required minimum distribution from a precious metals IRA reports it on the federal 1040 and stops there.
That same rule covers Roth conversions and early withdrawals. If a Texan converts 50,000 dollars from a traditional precious metals IRA to a Roth in the same custodian, the conversion goes on the federal return only. No Texas state layer is added on top of the federal ordinary-income tax on the converted amount.
The second wedge is physical. The Texas Bullion Depository in Leander is the only state-administered precious metals depository in the country. It was authorized by House Bill 483 signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 12, 2015, and it has accepted retail deposits since 2017 with Lone Star Tangible Assets as the contracted operator.
The Texas Comptroller announced on June 12, 2025 that self-directed IRA accounts can hold their metal at the depository. Equity Trust Company acts as the wired-in IRA custodian, and Lone Star Tangible Assets is the IRS-approved non-bank operator. Total deposits across all account types passed 400 million dollars by the same date. Source: texasbulliondepository.gov, checked June 2026.
How the account is legally structured
A precious metals IRA is not a separate account class in the tax code. It is a self-directed IRA that happens to own physical bullion instead of stocks and bonds. Every legal control that applies to a plain-vanilla IRA applies here.
Four separate parties usually touch the account. The IRA owner makes the buy and sell decisions. The custodian holds the legal title and files the tax paperwork. The dealer sources the metal and quotes the price. The depository stores and insures the physical bars and coins.
The IRA owner never touches the cash after funding, and never touches the metal at any point. That flow is not a customer-service convention. It is the reason a home-storage arrangement is treated as a full distribution by the Tax Court in the 2021 McNulty ruling.
Harry’s Coins is an editorial site focused on Texas precious metals IRA rules and providers. We do not open accounts, we do not hold metal, and we are not a licensed advisor. Our role is to lay the mechanics out clearly so a Texas resident can talk to a dealer or a custodian on level terms.
How a Texas resident opens the account
The sequence has six discrete steps. Each step is executed by a different party, and skipping any one breaks the tax treatment.
- Pick a qualified custodian. The custodian must be a bank, a federally insured credit union, or an IRS-approved non-bank trustee. Common picks that serve Texas residents include Equity Trust Company (Ohio), STRATA Trust Company (Texas), and GoldStar Trust (Texas).
- Open the self-directed IRA. The paperwork is standard. The custodian collects the trust agreement, the beneficiary designation, and the IRA type choice (traditional, Roth, SEP, or SIMPLE).
- Fund the account. A trustee-to-trustee transfer from an existing IRA is the cleanest path. A direct rollover from a 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), or TSP works when the source plan allows it. A new-year cash contribution works up to the annual cap.
- Choose the metal mix. Select IRS-approved gold, silver, platinum, or palladium products. Bullion coins and generic bars carry tighter dealer premiums than proof or marketed-as-exclusive coins.
- Direct the depository. Instruct the custodian and the dealer that the metal ships to a specific IRS-approved depository. Texas residents can specify the Texas Bullion Depository in Leander or a private facility such as Delaware, Brinks, IDS, or CNT.
- Confirm the booking. The custodian receives the invoice and the shipping confirmation, pays the dealer from the IRA cash balance, and books the metal on the account statement. The annual Form 5498 records the fair market value each year.
The full sequence is usually done in two to three weeks. The bottleneck is almost always the funding step, since a check-based indirect rollover starts a 60-day countdown that a direct rollover avoids.
IRS-eligible products by metal, with common examples
The 408(m)(3) rule is a purity floor, not a product list. Any coin or bar that meets the floor from an accredited refiner qualifies, plus the two American Eagle statutory exceptions. The table below lists the most common eligible products a Texas dealer will offer.
| Metal | IRS floor | Widely stocked eligible products |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | .995 (statutory exception for American Gold Eagle at .9167) | American Gold Eagle, American Gold Buffalo (.9999), Canadian Gold Maple Leaf (.9999), Austrian Gold Philharmonic (.9999), Australian Gold Kangaroo (.9999), gold bars from PAMP Suisse, Valcambi, Credit Suisse, Royal Canadian Mint, Perth Mint. |
| Silver | .999 (statutory exception for American Silver Eagle at .999) | American Silver Eagle, Canadian Silver Maple Leaf (.9999), Austrian Silver Philharmonic (.999), Australian Silver Kangaroo (.9999), silver bars from accredited refiners. |
| Platinum | .9995 | American Platinum Eagle (.9995), Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf (.9995), Australian Platinum Koala (.9995), platinum bars from accredited refiners. |
| Palladium | .9995 | Canadian Palladium Maple Leaf (.9995), palladium bars from LBMA-accredited refiners. |
Source: Internal Revenue Code Section 408(m)(3), IRS Publication 590-A, mint specification sheets from the United States Mint, Royal Canadian Mint, Austrian Mint, Perth Mint. Checked June 2026.
Bars have to come from a refiner or assayer accredited by NYMEX, COMEX, LBMA, or an equivalent national mint. That accreditation is the guarantee behind the fineness stamp. A bar from an unaccredited source will be rejected by the custodian even if it tests at the right purity.
Not everything a coin dealer sells qualifies. The South African Krugerrand, most pre-1933 United States gold coins, pre-1965 United States 90 percent silver coinage, and graded or proof coins priced for numismatic value all sit outside the exception. Buying them for a personal collection is legal; parking them inside an IRA is not.
Funding paths a Texan can use
Most Texas retirement accounts can feed a precious metals IRA, but the path is not identical across plan types. The table below groups the common sources by mechanism and flags a Texas-specific note where one applies.
| Source account | Typical mechanism | Texas note |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional IRA, SEP IRA | Trustee-to-trustee transfer | Uncapped and simple. No 1099-R issued. |
| SIMPLE IRA | Trustee-to-trustee transfer | Two-year holding rule from first contribution before a rollover out. |
| Roth IRA | Trustee-to-trustee transfer to a self-directed Roth | Stays Roth. Texas adds no state tax on eventual qualified distributions. |
| Former-employer 401(k) | Direct rollover | Available after separation from service. |
| Current-employer 401(k) | Blocked in most plans until age 59 and a half | A minority of plans allow in-service rollovers of post-tax or rollover sub-accounts. |
| 403(b) (public schools, non-profits) | Direct rollover after separation | Texas public school retirees often pair this with a TRS refund question. |
| 457(b) (state and local government) | Direct rollover after separation | The 457(b) penalty waiver does not survive the move into an IRA. |
| TSP (federal civil service, military) | Direct rollover via TSP-99 or TSP-70 | Roth TSP rolls into a Roth IRA; traditional TSP into a traditional IRA. |
| Texas pension lump sum (TRS, ERS, TMRS, TCDRS, municipal) | Direct rollover of a refund of member contributions | Only a lump-sum refund is eligible. A monthly annuity election cannot be rolled. |
| Annuity | Depends on tax type | Qualified annuities can roll. Non-qualified annuities cannot. |
| New-year cash contribution | Direct deposit at the custodian | 2026 limit: 7,500 dollars, or 8,600 dollars at age 50 or older. |
Sources: IRS Publication 590-A (2026 contribution and rollover rules), IRS Topic 413, plan documents at TRS Texas, ERS Texas, TMRS, TCDRS. Checked June 2026.
For a Texas public educator with a Teacher Retirement System of Texas balance, the wrinkle is important. A defined-benefit pension pays a monthly annuity, and an annuity stream is not eligible for rollover. A member who leaves the system can elect to refund their own contributions as a lump sum, and that lump sum can move by direct rollover into a precious metals IRA.
Storage inside Texas at the Bullion Depository
Every IRA-eligible bar or coin has to sit at an IRS-approved depository. The list of approved facilities has grown steadily and now includes Delaware Depository in Wilmington, Brinks Global Services locations, International Depository Services vaults (including a Texas facility), CNT in Massachusetts, and the state-run Texas Bullion Depository.
The Texas Bullion Depository sits on a 10-acre purpose-built campus in Leander, roughly 25 miles north of Austin. The facility accepts gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium for individuals, businesses, government entities, and (since June 2025) self-directed IRA accounts.
The IRA flow at TxBD runs through two named parties. Equity Trust Company is the self-directed IRA custodian wired in for the IRA process. Lone Star Tangible Assets is the IRS-approved non-bank operator that handles the physical vaulting on behalf of the state.
Practical setup starts at the dealer. Ask whether the dealer already coordinates with Equity Trust for TxBD delivery. If yes, the paperwork sequence is: open the Equity Trust self-directed IRA, fund it by transfer or rollover, place the metal order, and specify TxBD as the shipping destination. If the dealer does not coordinate with Equity Trust yet, the alternative depositories stay available.
Storage fees for IRA metal at TxBD are set through the dealer, the custodian, and Lone Star Tangible Assets, and they can differ from the depository’s retail schedule. Confirm the current rate before signing paperwork. Source: texasbulliondepository.gov, checked June 2026.
Estimate the fee drag on your account
Fees on a precious metals IRA are predictable in category and unpredictable in size. Setup, custodian, storage, and dealer markup all compound against the account balance. The calculator below turns the recurring fee stack into an annualized percentage cost, so a Texas resident can compare providers on a like-for-like basis.
It is a planning tool, not a quote. Ask each provider you contact for the exact dollar figures before signing.
Texas gold IRA fee-drag calculator
Texas gold IRAs charge mostly flat dollar fees (setup, annual custodian, storage). Flat fees take a much bigger bite out of a small account than a large one. Enter your numbers to see the drag.
Estimate only. Fee amounts vary by provider and are often not published; enter figures you confirm in writing. This tool ignores metal price changes and the dealer spread, which also affect returns. Not financial advice.
Picking a company that explains every fee up front is the first step. Get the free gold IRA company checklist.
Worked example: a Dallas couple splitting metal across gold and silver
Your next step
If a precious metals IRA looks like a fit for your Texas retirement plan, the single highest-leverage move is to vet the provider you talk to before signing. Augusta Precious Metals is our primary affiliate partner for precious metals IRA accounts, and they publish a free company checklist built for that vetting step.
Get the Augusta Precious Metals gold IRA company checklistSponsored link. Use the checklist to grade any provider you speak with, including Augusta. Past performance does not guarantee future results.When a precious metals IRA is the wrong move
A precious metals IRA is not the right vehicle for every Texan. The failure patterns are consistent. We list them here, with no CTA attached.
Small starting balance. A 12,000 dollar IRA carrying a 200 dollar custodian fee and a 150 dollar storage fee pays close to 3 percent per year in fixed fees, before dealer markup. The drag compounds against any long-term return.
Cash needed inside five years. Physical metal in an IRA is liquid in theory and slow in practice. A dealer buyback takes days, the bid-ask spread costs real money, and a forced sale into a soft market usually hurts.
Already heavily allocated to metals. If a large share of your net worth is already in physical gold, silver, or mining equities, more metal inside the IRA may not add diversification. Speak to a fiduciary advisor, not a metals salesperson.
Substantially equal periodic payments planned. Setting up a 72(t) SEPP stream on an account holding physical bars is operationally heavier than the same plan held in cash and securities. It works, but the friction is higher.
The dealer keeps steering you to premium coins. Wide markups on graded, proof, or marketed-as-exclusive coins are the single most common way a precious metals IRA underperforms. Common bullion coins and generic bars fit the vehicle better.
You want the metal in your hand. A precious metals IRA cannot hold metal at home under any legal structure. If direct physical custody is the point, a straight cash purchase from a Texas dealer is a different product.
Precious metals IRA in Texas FAQ
Is a precious metals IRA legal for a Texas resident?
Yes. A precious metals IRA is a self-directed IRA that owns IRS-approved bullion under IRC 408(m)(3). Federal rules apply the same in Texas. The account must sit at a qualified custodian, and the metal must vault at an IRS-approved depository.
How is a precious metals IRA taxed in Texas?
The IRS taxes traditional-IRA distributions and Roth conversions as federal ordinary income. Roth qualified distributions are federally tax-free. Texas has no personal income tax under Article 8, Section 24 of the Texas Constitution, so no Texas state layer is stacked on top of any of these events.
Can I hold silver, platinum, or palladium alongside gold?
Yes. All four metals qualify inside the same self-directed IRA as long as each product meets the applicable IRC 408(m)(3) fineness floor: .995 gold, .999 silver, .9995 platinum, .9995 palladium. Products can sit together in a single custodian account.
Can my IRA metal be stored inside Texas?
Yes. The Texas Bullion Depository in Leander accepts IRA metal through Lone Star Tangible Assets as the IRS-approved non-bank operator, with Equity Trust Company as the wired-in self-directed IRA custodian. Private depositories with Texas vaults are also available. Source: texasbulliondepository.gov, checked June 2026.
Is a home-storage precious metals IRA ever allowed in Texas?
No. Federal IRA rules apply in every state. The 2021 Tax Court decision in McNulty v. Commissioner treated a self-directed home-storage IRA as a full taxable distribution plus penalty. Texas offers no state-level exception.
Can I take an early withdrawal from a Texas precious metals IRA?
Yes, but the federal 10 percent penalty applies to any withdrawal before age 59 and a half unless an IRS exception fits. Common exceptions include first-time home purchase up to 10,000 dollars, higher-education costs, disability, and substantially equal periodic payments under 72(t). Texas adds no state penalty.
What is the minimum to open a precious metals IRA in Texas?
There is no federal minimum. Each dealer and custodian sets its own. Reported minimums range from a few thousand dollars at the low end to 50,000 dollars or more for full-service providers. Confirm the current threshold with each provider before committing.
Do the American Silver Eagle and American Gold Eagle really qualify below their metal’s floor?
Yes for the American Gold Eagle. It sits at 91.67 percent purity, below the .995 gold floor, but Congress named it in the statute as an exception. The American Silver Eagle also has a statutory carve-out; it happens to already meet the .999 silver floor.
Sources
- Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-A: Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs). irs.gov/publications/p590a. Checked June 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-B: Distributions from Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs). irs.gov/publications/p590b. Checked June 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 413, Rollovers from Retirement Plans. irs.gov/taxtopics/tc413. Checked June 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 558, Additional Tax on Early Distributions from Retirement Plans. irs.gov/taxtopics/tc558. Checked June 2026.
- Internal Revenue Code Section 408(m). Collectibles rule and bullion exception, Office of the Law Revision Counsel. uscode.house.gov. Checked June 2026.
- United States Mint. American Eagle Coin Program specifications. usmint.gov. Checked June 2026.
- Texas Bullion Depository. IRA Storage Services. texasbulliondepository.gov/ira-storage. Checked June 2026.
- Office of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Bullion Depository overview. comptroller.texas.gov. Checked June 2026.
- Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Refund of Member Contributions. trs.texas.gov. Checked June 2026.
- Employees Retirement System of Texas. Refunds and Rollovers. ers.texas.gov. Checked June 2026.
- United States Tax Court. McNulty v. Commissioner, 157 T.C. No. 10 (November 18, 2021). Home storage triggers a full distribution.
- Texas Constitution, Article 8, Section 24. State personal income tax prohibition. statutes.capitol.texas.gov. Checked June 2026.