South Carolina appears ready to join the ranks of Utah in making gold and silver legal tender, as well as sales tax free. Look for this trend to continue to increase throughout many of the rest of the southern and western states.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina residents would be able to use gold and silver coins as currency under a bill advanced Tuesday by a House panel.
The measure approved by the House Judiciary Committee would let people use the precious metals as money as long as businesses agree to take them. Legislators had made the argument that they didn't want to force businesses to take the metals and have to figure out the worth of the coins from one day to the next and amended the bill to remove such a requirement.
Advocates of the measure say the metal coins are more stable than the dollar, although Rep. Greg Delleney, who chaired the subcommittee that studied the bill, has previously warned that, if the dollar collapses, people will be in trouble no matter what the metals are worth.
The bill that advanced Tuesday would also exempt the coins from any sales tax, a provision also included in the only other similar bill to become law in the country. Last year, Utah became the first state in the country to legalize gold and silver coins as currency, exempting the sale of the coins from state capital gains taxes. Several other states including North Carolina have explored similar bills.
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