Campaign for Liberty Chairman Ron Paul had a successful appearance before the Arizona Senate Finance Committee yesterday in support of HB 2014, legislation recognizing gold and silver as legal tender. Following Dr. Paul’s appearance, the Committee passed the bill by a vote of 4-3. Here is two stories covering Dr. Paul’s visit: US News and World Report: Backers of Tax Cut on Gold Coin Sales Bring in Heavy Hitter
PHOENIX (AP) — Backers of a proposal exempting the sale of U.S. gold coins from state capital gains taxes brought in former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul on Wednesday to tout their effort at the state Senate.
The Republican testified before the Senate Finance Committee that the measure takes an important step by not taxing money.
“What you’re doing here, the way I understand it, is maybe we ought not to tax money,” Paul said. “And I think that’s a good idea. I’d like to not tax a lot of things, but certainly it makes no sense to tax money.”
Rep. Mark Finchem’s House Bill 2014 is the latest effort to exempt gold coins from taxation. The Oro Valley Republican argues that taxing exchanges of “legal tender” like gold coins is a tax on money alone and also is essentially a tax on inflation.
Arizona Daily Sun: Ron Paul to AZ lawmakers: End capital gains tax on gold coins A bill would let coin collectors escape a capital gains tax.
PHOENIX — Invoking claims of illegally printed paper money, the use of gold in the Bible and even foreign entanglements, former Congressman Ron Paul urged Arizona lawmakers Wednesday to let coin collectors and investors escape the state’s capital gains tax.
Paul, a three-time presidential hopeful, told members of the Senate Finance Committee it’s not fair or even legal from his perspective for the government to take its share when someone who bought a coin at $300 later sells it for $1,200.
He said the value of the coin really remains the same. It’s the value of that paper money — money he contends is “fraud” — that’s gone down.
Paul’s testimony helped buttress similar claims by Rep. Mark Finchem, R-Oro Valley, who already has ushered the tax break in HB 2014 through the House. The result was the Senate panel giving its OK on a 4-3 party-line vote and sending it to the full Senate.
But the real hurdle remains Republican Gov. Doug Ducey who vetoed similar measures in 2015 and again last year saying he feared the unintended consequences of such a change in tax law.
