The National Coin & Bullion Association is fighting to preserve sales-tax exemptions on coins, paper money, and precious-metals bullion in 39 states, and we are also working to gain such an exemption in the 11 states that do not currently have one.
We are currently seeking 400 coin and precious-metals dealers to take a survey, providing 2020 sales and sales tax collections and 2019 coin show booths/tables data that will allow us to make our case for these exemptions. With this data, our prospects for keeping exemptions and gaining new ones will increase dramatically.
Typically when a state considers enacting a new exemption or possibly revoking an existing exemption,
- The state’s legislative fiscal office (called different things in different states) begins by estimating the amount of “lost revenue” arising from a sales-tax exemption. This estimate is often ridiculously high. For example, when Virginia was first considering an exemption in 2017, it estimated it would lose up to $14.5 million dollars each year.
- When NCBA and other organizations seek to set the record straight, we are told that in the absence of hard data, the legislature will assume its own estimates are correct. These inflated estimates then become part of the legislative history and are treated as facts.
To help us combat this misinformation created by the state fiscal offices, we need 400 coin and precious-metals dealers to arm us with data that will demonstrate to state lawmakers that our estimates of numismatic state sales-tax revenue are more accurate than their estimates. All survey responses are anonymous. Optional contact information—should you choose to provide any—will be kept strictly confidential. The survey will take only 10–15 minutes of your time, could potentially save the coin and precious-metals communities tens of thousands of dollars, and possibly help expand your own business.
Five years ago we did a similar survey as a direct response to a concern from the state of Tennessee, where its fiscal agency had challenged the data that we had put before them. Without that survey’s data, Tennessee (and most other states we’ve worked in since then) would have almost certainly fallen back on its own estimates, which we know to be inflated. Instead, its projected decline in estimated state and local sales-tax collections were dramatically reduced. This current survey can provide data that will help affect legislation across the nation.
Please support NCBA and our industry in our efforts to achieve sales-tax exemptions on coins, paper money, and precious-metals bullion nationwide by taking 10–15 minutes to complete our survey. The survey can be accessed at https://bit.ly/3zMECoe and will be available through July 14, 2021.
