Bill would encourage Alabamians to use of gold and silver as money

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gold and silver

“Imagine if you asked a grocery clerk to break a $5 bill and he charged you a 35 cent tax. Silly, right? After all, you were only exchanging one form of money for another.” – The Tenth Amendment Center Communications Director Mike Maharrey

The above situation may sound crazy to some Alabamians, but that exchange tax is essentially what’s happening to residents across the state who buy and use gold and silver.

That would all change if a pair of bills made their way through the state Legislature this session. SB156 introduced by Florence-Republican State Senator Tim Melson and it’s House counterpart, HB19 introduced by Sylacauga-Republican state Rep. Ron Johnson would exempt gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bullion from the state sales tax for the next five years.

The idea isn’t unheard of either. Many states don’t tax the sale of silver and gold at all, and similar bills have been introduced and passed across the country in recent years in effort to take the first step in breaking the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money. The pair of bills would, in essence, allow Alabamians to use gold and silver as money without tax penalty.

Others see gold and silver as an investment that ought not be taxed.

“The simple reason why we need this bill is that we should not have a sales tax on investments,” said Graham Champion, a contractor and lobbyist pushing the bill told The New Americannoting that there are no such taxes on real estate or other investments. “Precious metals are an investment, they aren’t a commodity that’s going to be consumed. And so it doesn’t make sense to treat these differently.”

SB156 has been reported from Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee as favorable, meanwhile HB19 is pending its third reading on day from the House Ways and Means Education Committee with one amendment.