Just read an article on the US tax consequences for ETF gold redemptions.

Kinda breaks my heart.

It seems that those who were buying their ETF gold investments were thinking that they would get taxed as if they were an equity or bond, but the IRS considers them to be in the same class as gold coins and collectibles, so the they are being taxed as capital gains, which for some will be around the 32% rate.

Equities and bonds are capped at 20%.

Another way to make shure that more of the gains in gold stay in Federal Hands.