This tax ‘will definitely hurt our business’: WA 10% gold and silver tax punishes local retailers

Beginning January 1, 2026, Washington residents could be required to pay a sales tax on gold, silver, and coins due to a new bill that recently passed the Washington State Legislature.

Ryan Hoolahan, the Chief Financial Officer of Bellevue Rare Coins (BRC), explained the impacts the new SB5794 will have on its business and customers amid the commodity’s positive performance in recent years, on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

10% gold and silver tax in WA

“The reason you’re on today, Ryan, is not a happy story,” Curley said. “The folks at the capitol in Olympia, they’re always looking for money, and they figured out that when people buy gold, they can tax it.”

While sales tax currently applies to most purchases in Washington, gold and silver coins and bars have been excluded from these taxes.

“Gold has been the greatest hedge against inflation as people wonder, what’s the value of the dollar if you keep printing more of it?” Curley said. “I need something with security, and people look at gold, silver, and precious metals because that’s the place to put the money.”

The current price of one gold ounce as of July 11 is $3,372.60, a 44.12% price increase since one year ago, according to APMEX.

“This hasn’t been the first time there’s been an attempt to bundle [a gold tax] on these bills,” Hoolahan said. “In the past, we’ve had more notice and been able to combat it by way of testifying in Olympia, but this one caught me by surprise.”

The new bullion sales tax rate is likely to be the standard sales tax rate, which is currently 6.5% at the state level and an additional 2-3% at the city level, according to BRC.

Gold and silver sales tax’s effect on Bellevue Rare Coins

“It’ll definitely hurt our business,” Hoolahan said. “We’ve tried to always put gold in our customers’ hands at the most efficient cost possible. It’s not a major profit center for us, selling bullion to our customers.”

The current price of one silver ounce as of July 11 is $38.78, a 33.12% price increase year-to-date (YTD), according to APMEX.

“Say somebody wants to invest in collectible coins, they’ll be in Bellevue at over a 10% charge,” Hoolahan said. “Obviously, any investment with a 10% surcharge out of the gate is not an investment; it’s nothing I feel good about steering my customers into.”

Including a 10% sales tax on one ounce of gold priced at $3,300, the sales tax on a single ounce of gold would reach roughly $300.

“It’d be like if I handed you a $100 bill, but before I hand it to you, the state would come in and whack it 10%, now you’re getting less value for the exchange,” Curley said. “In the State of Washington, they need to have their fingers on it.”

The Washington Legislature is currently in the midst of an estimated $15 billion budget shortfall over the next four years, and will resort to implementing new taxes to fill the gap.

“What I’m afraid of is that the representatives said, ‘Look how much money we can collect through this taxation,'” Hoolahan said. “Our sales have fallen off a cliff as for individual investors buying gold, which is fine. It’s back to kind of where it normally is, but if they’re taking a snapshot of 2022 and presenting it, saying, ‘We could tax this,’ it’s misleading and short-sighted.”

Hoolahan referenced the recent gold price surge in the last few years, which resulted in a single ounce of gold increasing from roughly $1,800 in early January 2022 to gold’s peak of $3,448 in June 2025, according to APMEX.

“Should I go to Oregon? Should I go to Idaho to save 10%?” Curley asked.

“Honestly, I’m not going to mislead my customers, I’d suggest that that’s going to be the only way to buy physical metal,” Hoolahan said. “We’re going in the opposite direction of many other states in our country; it’s a real shame.”

Listen to the full conversation below.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.