Hypothetical discovery question

[animalrooster41]

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
I'll get right to the point. Say a person found on his or her own property $100 million in gold bars, (no marks on them) in Nevada (no state tax). Could you sell them a little at a time or all at once without breaking the law?! Assuming taxes get paid because it's claimed as income at the end of year. Remember, its a hypothetical question. Best answers please, (and no I haven't found anything!)

 

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[pa plateau hiker]

Holy cow, you've been a member for 10 years and ownly spoke to us all 11 times.
Don't be so bashfull.

 

[Kel1]

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!
I'll get right to the point. Say a person found on his or her own property $100 million in gold bars, (no marks on them) in Nevada (no state tax). Could you sell them a little at a time or all at once without breaking the law?! Assuming taxes get paid because it's claimed as income at the end of year. Remember, its a hypothetical question. Best answers please, (and no I haven't found anything!)

The law is finders keepers especially if found on your own property. Previous owners give up the right once the property is sold... I'm pretty sure you would have to pay the 28% capital gains tax though... but then maybe gift that amount to family members to break even.. LOL

 

[TheGreenBoy]

Maybe in US. In EU one would be stripped off those bars before able to get a good look at them. Remember the prank at Lake Topliz?

 

[fistfulladirt]

Nope, no taxes, according to some folks on here that post finds online that they claim they’ve sold for thousands in profit.
I’ve been piled on many times for claiming differently. Contact a tax man for the correct info.

 

[TheCoinKid]

Excerpt from an article on the Saddle Ridge Hoard (1,400 gold coins found by a couple in California on their own property): "According to federal tax law, when you find lost or abandoned property, you have to pay tax on it as income equal to its value in the first year you take full possession of it."

 

[smokeythecat]

It is finders keepers and thecoinkid is correct on taxes.

 

[animalrooster41]

Thank you all for the prompt and great answers! Have a great day!

 

[jeff of pa]

it depends on how much you sell at a time.
I Don't know the Limit But if you Sell to a gold Buyer there is a Point he will Ask you for a SS #

If you find out what point that is & Just sell shavings, Slugs or Solid Gold Kisses, weighing under that amount, at multiple places so you don't become familiar, how would they know ? If you have that much, The World is your Oyster & Every Buyer Interested

loose lips

Of course if you want to Pay Taxes & are Visited & Questioned , It's been in the family like Forever, Right ?

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Go to Dubai and sell it no questions asked.

 

[relicmeister]

I’ll worry about it when I find my hoard

 

[fistfulladirt]

it depends on how much you sell at a time.
I Don't know the Limit But if you Sell to a gold Buyer there is a Point he will Ask you for a SS #

If you find out what point that is & Just sell shavings, Slugs or Solid Gold Kisses, weighing under that amount, at multiple places so you don't become familiar, how would they know ? If you have that much, The World is your Oyster & Every Buyer Interested

loose lips

Of course if you want to Pay Taxes & are Visited & Questioned , It's been in the family like Forever, Right ?

Here’s how they would know. People posting online with pictures of the loot and totals in profit, some which exceed $10k. I’ve seen that several times.

 

[newnan man]

I wouldn't say squat to anyone. I'd get a safety deposit box, sell what I need as conditions arise. Laws are made to relieve you of your assets. Everything you buy will be taxed anyway so that's my take on it. Now I just have to discover gold or diamonds on my little piece of property!

 

[cw0909]

i was trying to visualize what a hypothetical $100 million in gold bars looks like
maybe this is close

 

[gemee]

Go to Dubai and sell it no questions asked.

LOL...and HOW would you get it there?

 

[Madmox]

LOL...and HOW would you get it there?

Obviously you would send it back in the human trafficking containers that came here first.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

LOL...and HOW would you get it there?

You don't have to get it there, broker the deal, show them proof of it and let them worry about getting it there. I can see you've never dealt with anything shady.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Sell a bar here and there, only enough to get you thru a year or so at a time, so you can pay cash for everything. Inform your children what you have and how to cash it in as you did, because they will eventually end up with it. There should be no way you or your children could spend that in a lifetime. And don't tell a soul that you found it. Sell it to different coin shops / refineries etc. each year, so as not to raise suspicion that you have a large amount.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

You better keep your mouth completely shut as Feds will want their share of total found within 1 year of find. The couple who found the 10 million in old gold coins on their property found that out

"So, the couple that recently found about $10 million-worth of old gold coins on their property may have to cough up almost half of their findings to the taxman. If they sell any of the gold, however, they can take advantage of lower capital gains taxes."

https://www.advisor.ca/news/industr...hen, the IRS has,their findings to the taxman.


"According to a 1969 federal court ruling a ‘treasure trove’ is taxable in the year that it was discovered.

‘If you find and keep property that does not belong to you that has been lost or abandoned (treasure-trove), it is taxable to you at its fair market value in the first year it is your undisputed possession,’ states the IRS’ 2013 tax guide."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.da...old-coins-forced-half-new-fortune-taxman.html

 

[ARC]

You better keep your mouth completely shut as Feds will want their share of total found within 1 year of find. The couple who found the 10 million in old gold coins on their property found that out

"So, the couple that recently found about $10 million-worth of old gold coins on their property may have to cough up almost half of their findings to the taxman. If they sell any of the gold, however, they can take advantage of lower capital gains taxes."

https://www.advisor.ca/news/industr...hen, the IRS has,their findings to the taxman.


"According to a 1969 federal court ruling a ‘treasure trove’ is taxable in the year that it was discovered.

‘If you find and keep property that does not belong to you that has been lost or abandoned (treasure-trove), it is taxable to you at its fair market value in the first year it is your undisputed possession,’ states the IRS’ 2013 tax guide."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.da...old-coins-forced-half-new-fortune-taxman.html

Which IMO is total BS and should be stricken from the guide as it makes the citizens of the U.S. look like complete idiots.

How can something be taxed if it isn't sold yet. this is absurd to think you will pay tax on it TWICE.

Most items don't have a value UNTIL its sold... until then it is only speculative as to a true and definitive value.

This law IMO should be re-written to only apply to items SOLD.... ONLY THEN can it be considered "income".

A chair worth money that you bought at a yard sale or grandpa had in his house which you now own is not "income".

ONLY when it is converted to cash could a "value" be placed on ANY item.

It is what it is... until it isn't.

Not under the law... but plain dumb ole common sense.