Gold might glitter, but it’s still money. Taxes should treat it that way

Gold reaches new highs but faces 28% tax rate as collectible versus 20% for stocks, creating unfair burden for investors seeking inflation protection.

The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have been cavalier about your money — derelict in their duty to protect the value of the dollar, which means protecting the purchasing power of the money you have earned.  Carol Roth is a former investment banker, entrepreneur and author of the new book "You Will Own Nothing" Broadside Books. Her previous books are "The War on Small Business" and the New York Times bestseller "The Entrepreneur Equation."

Gold has been money, both as a store of value and sometimes a medium exchange, for around 5,000 years. It increasingly plays a role in protecting your earnings from the inflation generated by bad governance reducing the purchasing power of U.S. dollars and other fiat currency. But gold isn’t treated for tax purposes like holding U.S. dollars in cash or even U.S. Treasuries. Its tax treatment isn’t even that of a stock or cryptocurrency. It is treated as a collectible, engendering a very high taxation rate for many holders.