Know nothing much about US tax law…..but rather than take a tax hit, get yr mate to buy Sprott Gold ETF quote “PHYS” in his IRA….they keep all the Gold and Silver at the Royal Canadian Mint.
Secure
Without exception, the Trust’s physical gold bullion is fully allocated and stored at a secure third party storage location in Canada. The physical gold bullion is subject to periodic inspection and audits. Unlike other bullion funds, the Trust does not have an unallocated account that is used to facilitate transfers of gold between financial institutions that act as authorized participants.
http://sprottphysicalbullion.com/sprott-physical-gold-trust/
If Sprott turn out bad, then he’ll need a lot more bigger guns !!!!!
Unless he want’s it in his hands of course.