Storing IRA-owned gold at home is not a minor technicality — it is treated by the IRS as a full distribution of the account’s value on the date you take possession, per IRC Section 408(m)(3). That means the entire amount becomes taxable as ordinary income immediately, plus a 10% early withdrawal penalty under Section 72(t) if you’re under 59½ — not just the value of the metal you stored.

This was confirmed in the 2021 Tax Court case McNulty v. Commissioner, where a taxpayer’s home storage of IRA-owned American Eagle coins triggered a full taxable distribution. “Checkbook IRA” LLC structures marketed as a home-storage workaround do not change this outcome — the IRS’s position has been consistent that IRA metals must sit with an approved trustee or depository, not the account owner.