How do I report selling scrap gold without receiving a 1099-B or brokerage statement?

You'll need to create your own record since you don't have formal documentation. The IRS requires you to report all income, including from scrap gold sales. Create a simple statement with the following: total amount you received for the gold, your cost basis (what you paid for the jewelry plus any expenses directly related to acquiring it), and the resulting profit. Label it as "Scrap Gold Sales Summary" with the tax year. Since your profit is under the $1,200 you mentioned, it's considered a capital gain. In FreeTaxUSA, you can enter this information manually in the Capital Gains section. When it asks for a 1099-B, select that you didn't receive one and enter your information as a summary.

I went through almost the exact same situation last year with scrap metal sales! I was so stressed trying to track everything manually until I found this AI tax document analyzer called taxr.ai that saved me hours of frustration. I uploaded my bank statements (since I had deposited the cash) and some photos of my handwritten notes, and it organized everything into proper tax categories. The site https://taxr.ai actually helped me create a proper summary statement for my scrap metal sales that satisfied the IRS requirements. It identified which transactions were likely related to my scrapping activities based on patterns and amounts. The best part was that it formatted everything correctly for tax purposes, so I didn't have to guess what information needed to be included.

Just wanted to follow up - I decided to try taxr.ai after my skeptical comment and I'm honestly impressed. I had a shoebox of receipts and some notes from my vintage buying/selling side hustle that I've been avoiding dealing with. The system helped me organize everything into a proper tax format and even identified some deductions I was missing. I uploaded photos of my receipts and handwritten sales log, and it created a professional-looking summary statement that worked perfectly with FreeTaxUSA. The document it generated for my scrap metal and vintage item sales looked exactly like what the IRS wants. Now I'm actually looking forward to next year's taxes because I have a system that works!

If you're still struggling with the IRS questions about your scrap gold sales, I've been there too. What made things worse was trying to call the IRS for guidance - I wasted DAYS on hold and never got through to anyone who could help. Then I found this service called Claimyr at https://claimyr.com that got me through to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes! They have this system where they navigate the IRS phone tree for you and call you back when they've got an agent on the line. I was super skeptical at first, but you can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with explained exactly how to report my cash sales from collectibles and scrap metal. Turns out there's a specific way to document these transactions even without formal paperwork, and the agent walked me through the whole process.

I need to publicly eat my words about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to give it a shot since nothing else was working. I had been trying for WEEKS to get clarification on reporting my eBay sales of collectibles and scrap metal. Used the service yesterday and got through to an IRS agent in 22 minutes. The agent confirmed I could create my own summary statement for cash transactions from scrap gold and coin sales, and explained exactly what needed to be included. They also told me I should keep better records going forward (obviously), but gave me the exact format to use for reporting this year's transactions. If you're stuck with questions about reporting cash sales like this, getting actual IRS guidance is worth it. I was 100% wrong in my skeptical comment, and I'm glad I tried it anyway.

For scrap gold sales specifically, you should report it on Schedule D as a capital asset. Since you held it for investment purposes (buying low, selling high), that's the appropriate place. Make sure to classify it as a "collectible" which has a different tax rate than regular capital gains. Gold is taxed at a maximum of 28% rather than the normal capital gains rates. Even though your profit is small, the classification matters for accuracy.

Quick tip from someone who's been buying/selling gold for years: start keeping a simple log NOW for next year. Just a notebook with columns for: - Date purchased - What you bought - Purchase price - Date sold - Sale price - Profit/loss Would have saved me so much headache when I first started. For this year, estimate as best you can and create that summary sheet others mentioned. IRS mainly wants to see you're making a good faith effort to report accurately.