Eligibility is not permission to take delivery
Some home-storage pitches begin with a true point: certain coins are excepted from the general collectibles restriction. They then make a much broader claim about who may hold those coins. Section 408 contains account and trustee requirements as well as the collectibles exceptions. You need to consider the arrangement as a whole.
For bullion, section 408(m)(3)(B) expressly includes trustee possession. For the specified coins, do not infer that different wording creates unrestricted personal custody. The Tax Court addressed that argument in McNulty. A coin's eligibility and an account owner's possession are separate questions; a brochure that answers only the first leaves a serious issue open.
Read the opinion through the public docket
The primary source is McNulty v. Commissioner, docket 1377-19. On that Tax Court page, open docket entry 31, filed November 18, 2021, labeled T.C. Opinion, 157 T.C. No. 10. The opinion is 26 pages. Pages 10–16 discuss custody and the owner's control; the later pages discuss penalties.
The case involved self-directed IRAs that invested through single-member LLCs. Donna McNulty managed the LLC associated with her IRA, caused it to buy American Eagle coins and received the coins at home. The arrangement's use of an LLC did not prevent the court from examining who actually possessed and controlled the property.
The court held that her receipt created taxable distributions equal to the coins' cost when received. It also sustained accuracy-related penalties for substantial understatements. Those are findings about this case, not a calculator for another reader's tax bill. We do not apply the case's dollar amounts to a different account.
What the LLC did not change
The opinion recognized that a self-directed IRA may invest in a single-member LLC. It did not declare every such investment unlawful. The problem it resolved was the IRA owner's unrestricted control over the coins. Her position as LLC manager did not supply the independent oversight required by the IRA arrangement.
This distinction matters when reviewing a pitch. A seller might supply entity-formation documents, a business bank account or a proposed operating agreement. Those documents do not by themselves answer the possession issue. Ask what prevents the IRA owner from controlling or using the metal and which independent trustee remains responsible for it.
Do not accept a claim that changing the label on a home safe or adding an LLC name settles the issue. Physical security and legal custody do different jobs. A locked container cannot establish the required account structure simply because it is difficult to open.
What the court did not decide
The opinion should not be reduced to a claim that every mistake produces the same penalty or that every existing arrangement has identical facts. It also did not need to resolve every disagreement about legal title or the LLC to decide the possession question. The court focused on control and the custody requirements.
Readers should therefore avoid two shortcuts: treating the opinion as irrelevant because their paperwork uses different wording, or assuming they can calculate the consequences without professional review. The relevant facts include the account documents, purchase and delivery dates, who could access the property and what was reported.
For a general description of the institutions involved, read the commercial company comparison alongside our custodian-versus-dealer guide. The Rank Sheet is our sister site; we may earn a commission if you sign up with a company through it. Neither is a legal opinion about a personal-storage arrangement.
Ask for custody documents before an order
Request the custodian's full legal name, account agreement and instructions for permitted-metal purchases. Ask where the proposed metal would be held, how the holding is recorded and who authorizes releases. Get the proposed storage arrangement and its costs in writing. A salesperson's summary should point to those documents rather than replace them.
The SEC's self-directed IRA alert warns about misrepresenting custodial duties. A legitimate custodian does not validate every investment or sales claim. Verify the custody terms with the party responsible, especially if a dealer suggests an exception to ordinary procedures.
The separate account-fee discussion can help you distinguish annual storage costs from product pricing. Avoid letting a cheaper-looking storage proposal decide the legal question. The arrangement must be acceptable before its price becomes a useful comparison.
If IRA metal is already at home
Do not rely on a new sales conversation to solve a past tax question. Preserve the account agreement, entity documents, order confirmations, invoices, shipment records and any written advice you received. Note when the metal arrived, who had access and whether account statements or tax forms reflect it. Do not change records to make them fit a later explanation.
Bring those documents to an independent tax professional promptly. Ask whether a distribution or other tax event has occurred, what reporting may be needed and which future actions are appropriate. Do not assume sending the metal elsewhere now erases the original receipt. Avoid making another transfer or purchase merely because the promoter calls it a correction.
Publication 590-B supplies general distribution and collectibles context. The IRS collectibles discussion explains the exception framework. The professional reviewing your records must connect those rules to your facts.
Personal gold outside an IRA is a different purchase
Buying gold with personal funds for personal possession is a different arrangement from keeping IRA-owned metal at home. An IRA distribution of metal may also create personal ownership, but it carries its own valuation, tax and reporting questions. Do not use the phrase home storage to blur those distinctions.
If evaluating a dealer's account proposal, the separate Goldco background is one commercial reference. Our sales-warning checklist can help identify unsupported custody claims. None replaces individual legal or tax advice, and a kit request is not a reason to experiment with personal possession.