Sales Tax on Gold and Silver in North Dakota

North Dakota does not charge sales tax on legal tender coins or on precious metal bullion refined to a purity of at least .999 (999 parts per 1,000). The exemption has no minimum purchase amount, so a single coin or a small bar qualifies the same as a large order.

What Qualifies for the Exemption

Two categories of metal are covered.

The first is money, which the statute defines to include all legal tender coins and currency. There is no purity test for legal tender coins, so a coin that is legal tender qualifies regardless of its metal content.

The second is precious metal bullion refined to a purity of not less than 999 parts per 1,000. For bullion to fall under this part of the rule, its value must depend on its precious metal content and not on its form.

What Does Not Qualify

Bullion below .999 purity that is not legal tender does not qualify for the exemption. In that situation the ordinary sales tax rules apply.

The statute does not set a dollar threshold, so there is no minimum purchase amount that must be reached before the exemption applies.

Jewelry and Other Items

The exemption is written for money and for precious metal bullion meeting the purity standard. It does not address jewelry, and no jewelry rule appears in the statute text.

Local Sales Taxes

The statute provides a statewide exemption. No separate local rule is stated in the source material.

North Dakota gold and silver tax treatment at a glance

When the Rule Took Effect

The bullion exemption was created in the 2005 legislative session, according to the North Dakota Tax Commissioner’s sales tax history page.

Official Sources

The exemption appears in N.D.C.C. 57-39.2-04(31). The North Dakota Tax Commissioner lists it among sales tax exemptions and incentives, and the sales and use tax history page records the 2005 change.

This rule was checked in October 2026 and can change with new legislation. Confirm the current treatment with the state before a large purchase. For how these rules fit together across states, see sales tax on gold.

What Buyers Commonly Get Wrong

A common mistake is assuming that any coin or round made of precious metal is exempt. The purity test applies to bullion, and legal tender coins are covered separately as money. A piece that is neither legal tender nor refined to at least .999 purity does not qualify.

Another frequent error is looking for a minimum purchase amount. North Dakota’s rule sets none, so the size of the transaction does not decide whether the exemption applies.

Buyers also sometimes treat the purity figure as a range rather than a floor. The statute uses 999 parts per 1,000 as the threshold, and bullion below that level falls outside the exemption unless it is legal tender.

Finally, the exemption turns partly on why the metal is valued. Bullion whose value depends on its form rather than its precious metal content does not meet the description in the statute.

Rules of this kind can change, and the way a specific item is classified can depend on details of the transaction. A tax professional or your own preparer can address your own situation.