[landemva]

> if you run a business with the intent of making a profit by buying and selling gold to other individuals, that's illegal to do without a licensed corporation.

Do you have a USA reference for this belief? From my experience and knowledge that claim is not true.

[everfree]

I believe it's mostly a state-by-state thing. The state laws I'm familiar with apply to "precious metal dealers", defined as people who are "in the business" of buying and selling. The laws require a state license and cover things like customer KYC, mandatory transaction records, criminal background checks, and restrictions on transactions with minors.

The critical distinction is between someone who is buying and selling precious metals, compared to someone who is "in the business of" buying and selling precious metals.

[landemva]

It appears TX explicitly exempts from license selling of coins or bars. https://occc.texas.gov/industry/cpmd

"crafted precious metal dealer". And that sounds like a professional license, not a requirement to start a corporation.