The records, in writing. The treatment, with the CPA.
A short orientation for the tax adviser coordinating with the Office. The Office is not a tax adviser. The engagement produces a defined documentation chain that lands in the client’s file at each milestone; the CPA confirms how each record is treated for the client’s specific situation.
A documentation chain readable by a successor preparer fifteen years later.
Each event in the engagement produces a defined record. The records are designed to land in the client’s file with the detail a CPA needs to review and the structure a successor preparer can pick up without reconstruction.
| Event | Record produced |
|---|---|
| Acquisition | Trade record with lot detail (date, quantity, all-in cost, refiner, serial or lot number). |
| Quarterly | Depository holdings statement (positions, allocated identifiers, vaulting fee). |
| Sale | Sale record (proceeds, lots sold, date, counterparty); 1099-B from the buyback counterparty where applicable. |
| Transfer-in-kind | Receipt of transfer between depositories or between titled entities. |
| Distribution | Distribution record (in cash from buyback proceeds, or in kind to a successor account). |
| Death | Date-of-death valuation memo with allocated detail; successor titling instruction documents under counsel’s direction. |
The full operational treatment of the documentation chain — with how each record is produced, by whom, and when — is on the Custody page.
Two transparent line items, named in writing.
The engagement is priced as two transparent line items: a competitive metal spread at acquisition and exit, and a vaulting rate at the chosen facility. Both are named in writing in the brief before any metal is purchased. The acquisition spread is part of the all-in cost paid for the metal at acquisition; the exit spread reduces proceeds at sale. The vaulting rate is billed annually against held value.
How each of the three is treated on the client’s schedule is the CPA’s call, following the client’s entity classification and the prevailing tax rules.
Published spread bands by format and the vaulting-rate range live on the Pricing page.
The CPA gets the file. The Office produces the records.
When a client refers an engagement to a CPA, the Office is available for a 30-minute orientation call directly with the CPA before the brief is reviewed. There is no charge for that call.