Rules of Gold in Utah

Utah Code § 59-12-104 exempts from the state's 4.85% sales/use tax (plus applicable local up to ~3%) two categories: (a) currency or coins that constitute legal tender of a state, the United States, or a foreign nation; (b) gold, silver, or platinum ingots, bars, medallions, or decorative coins that do NOT constitute legal tender, provided the item has gold/silver/platinum content of 50% or more by weight. Notable: palladium is NOT included (parallels SC's omission). Taxable items remain: bullion <50% PM content; copper products; palladium products; coins not legal tender; paper currency no longer in circulation; accessories (holders, tubes, coin flips); processed/manufactured items (colorized coins, jewelry, statues). The 50% PM threshold is one of the more lenient in the dataset (most states require 99.5% or 99.9% purity for bullion bars), which captures pre-1965 US silver coinage (90% silver) and various commemorative pieces.

Utah taxes capital gains as ordinary income at a flat 4.55% individual income tax rate (TY 2025), continuing a multi-year reduction trajectory (4.85% TY 2023 → 4.65% TY 2024 → 4.55% TY 2025). Critical feature: Utah provides a nonrefundable capital-gains tax credit for capital gains recognized on the sale or exchange of gold and silver coins issued by the United States government (specie legal tender, e.g., American Gold Eagles, American Silver Eagles, pre-1965 US silver coinage) reported on an individual or fiduciary federal income tax return — administered as an "apportionable non-refundable credit against Utah tax." The credit effectively eliminates state-level capital gains tax on these specific transactions while federal capital gains taxes still apply (federal collectibles 28% maximum rate). Important scope limit: the credit applies to US-government-issued coins specifically — NOT to bullion bars, generic rounds, foreign coins (Krugerrands, Maples, Britannias), or platinum/palladium products. So a typical bullion-bar transaction faces full 4.55% UT cap-gains tax, while a US Eagle transaction faces 0% UT tax.

Utah has authorized state precious-metals reserves and a precious-metals-backed payment infrastructure through a multi-bill framework: HB 348 (2024 General Session, Rep. Ken Ivory) signed by Gov. Spencer Cox — "Precious Metals Amendments" — authorizes the State Treasurer to invest up to 10% of certain state reserve accounts in physical gold, silver, platinum, copper, or palladium, custodied within Utah's geographical boundaries; HB 306 (2025 General Session) — authorizes the State Treasurer to issue a competitive procurement for a precious-metals-backed electronic payment platform, allowing state vendors to opt for payment in physical gold and silver. Utah is the first US state to enable state vendor payments in physical PM. HB 268 (2022) ensures Goldbacks (UT-headquartered private gold-backed currency notes by Goldback Inc., based in Alpine, Utah) are exempt from state taxes. Operational status: Treasurer Marlo Oaks's office holds physical bullion in a Utah vault under HB 348 (see reserves field below); vendor-payment-platform procurement under HB 306 is in active development as of capture.

Utah Retirement Systems (URS, ~$45B AUM) — six defined-benefit pension systems and five defined-contribution plans for state, local government, and public education employees — does NOT hold physical gold or silver as a portfolio asset per available public disclosures. URS administration is independent of the State Treasurer's Office (which is where the HB 348 PM-reserve holdings sit); the HB 348 framework operates at the Treasurer's office level and does not extend to URS pension assets. URS follows a standard institutional asset allocation across public equities, fixed income, real estate, and alternatives without enumerating physical-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.