COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — Washington imposed a 10% sales tax on gold, silver and precious coins at the beginning of the year to close the state’s deficit.
Critics say it’s only driving business to North Idaho.
Since January 1st, coin and pawn shops in Idaho have been flooded with new customers from Washington trying to protect their savings.
“We get lots of phone calls, probably about 70% just new people,” said Donivan Floyd, who works at DJ’s Coins. “We’ve been getting a lot of people from Washington, people as far away as the Tri-Cities calling in and coming into town.”
Precious metals broke record highs and dips in the past week, adding to market volatility.
“The market itself has just been so insane the last month in general, so it’s kind of the combination between the spike in metals as well as the spike in extra customers coming in,” Floyd said.
The impact has been significant for Idaho businesses.
Richard Neyman, owner of Coeur d’Alene Pawn shop, said the influx is changing how he operates when it comes organizing inventory.
“I think we’re going to be stocking a lot more gold and silver than we’ve ever had in our history,” Neyman said. “I’ll probably increase it by a minimum 30%.”
Washington coin store owners have pre-filed legislation to bring back a tax exemption for precious metals. Jake Graham, co-owner of American Coin and Vault, said if the legislation fails, his business may have to relocate.
“We’re going to have to make a pretty tough decision to pick up a business that’s been in this building for over 40 years and move it so that we can transact with our customers in a fair way,” Graham said.
Washington customers say they’ll continue traveling to Idaho to protect their savings.
“Things are getting pretty expensive. And these new taxes aren’t helping a bit,” said David Van Wormer, a Washington customer.
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