Rules of Gold in Oregon

Oregon imposes no state or local general sales tax on any goods, including precious metal bullion and coins. This places Oregon in the structural-no-sales-tax minority alongside Alaska, Delaware, Montana, and New Hampshire. Bullion exemption is by structural absence rather than statutory carve-out — there is no Oregon Revised Statutes provision specifically exempting precious metals because there is no sales-tax statute to which an exemption could attach. (Distinct from the Corporate Activity Tax exemption — see HB 2073 below — which addresses dealer business-input taxation rather than retail bullion purchases.)

Oregon has not enacted a statute recognizing gold or silver coins or bullion as legal tender for payment of debts. Senate Bill 1158 (2025 Regular Session, lead sponsor Sen. Kim Thatcher R-SD 11) would (a) declare gold and silver legal tender, (b) exempt the proceeds of buying, selling, or exchanging gold and silver from Oregon personal income tax, corporate income and excise taxes, and the corporate activity tax, with effect 91 days after sine die of the 2025 regular session. The Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue held a public hearing on SB 1158 on 2025-05-19; no vote was taken at that hearing. Bill remains in committee with status "Introduced" as of capture.

Oregon taxes capital gains on precious metals as ordinary income — no preferential long-term/short-term distinction, no precious-metals carve-out under current law. Oregon's 2025 individual income tax brackets are 4.75% (taxable income up to $4,400 single / $8,800 MFJ), 6.75% ($4,400-$11,050 single / $8,800-$22,100 MFJ), 8.75% ($11,050-$125,000 single / $22,100-$250,000 MFJ), and 9.90% (over $125,000 single / $250,000 MFJ). The 9.90% top marginal rate is among the highest state income tax rates in the country, hitting at a comparatively low threshold ($125,000 single). Capital gains on physical gold and silver flow into the Oregon return as ordinary income at the applicable bracket rate. SB 1158 (pending — see legal-tender field) would exempt PM exchange proceeds from PIT, CIT, and CAT but has not been enacted.

Oregon has not enacted enabling legislation authorizing a state-administered or state-chartered bullion depository. No depository-authorization bill identified in 2021-2025 sessions. Sound Money Defense League coverage notes "Oregon law does not currently allow for a state bullion depository," which is consistent with the absence of any depository-statute language in ORS. The Oregon State Treasurer has no statutory authority to operate a depository or hold physical bullion as a state asset.

The Oregon State Treasurer does not hold physical gold or silver as a reserve asset. Oregon statutes do not authorize state-treasury PM holdings, and the Treasurer's Office's published performance-and-holdings reporting reflects standard institutional asset classes (cash equivalents, fixed income, public equities, alternatives, real assets) without physical-bullion exposure. SB 1158 (pending) would not directly authorize state-treasury PM holdings but would establish legal-tender recognition; a separate depository-authorization vehicle would be required for any future Treasurer-held PM reserve.

The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF, ~$98B AUM) is managed by the Oregon Investment Council (OIC) under the direction of the Oregon State Treasury. OPERF's Investment Policy Statement places "commodities" within the Alternatives sleeve alongside hedge funds, infrastructure, and natural resources; the Real Assets sleeve consists of approximately 70% airports/bridges and 30% natural resources (commodities, timber, energy, agriculture). The IPS does not enumerate a discrete physical-precious-metals line item, and OPERF's published holdings disclosures do not surface gold or silver bullion as standalone positions. The June 2025 OPERS climate mandate emphasizes real-assets and public-equity rebalancing rather than commodity-PM exposure. Field marked `No-public-disclosure` rather than definitive `No` because the alternatives sleeve composition is not fully enumerated in publicly-available summary documents.