Where to part with your gold...

ARA Update

Hey guys, this is Russell from ARA I'm one of the guys in the front office up here. I just thought i would give ya'll some insight as to what's going on in Texas as there has been mass confusion lately (some with us as well). They are cracking down heavily on refineries but here is what we've found.

We are required to have a Tax ID of some sort which we have found out recently is way more simple than we had previously thought.

**Per the owners, we REQUIRE a copy of one of these listed below. You will only need to send it in once and we will keep it on file. Please be sure to use the shipping list ScubaDetector posted which is also available on our site.**

"A Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is an identification number used by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the administration of tax laws. It is issued by either the Social Security Administration (SSA) or by the IRS. A Social Security Number (SSN) is issued by the SSA whereas all other TINs are issued by the IRS."

Taxpayer Identification Numbers:
Social Security Number "SSN"
Employer Identification Number "EIN"
Individual Taxpayer Identification Number "ITIN"
Taxpayer Identification Number for Pending U.S. Adoptions "ATIN"
Preparer Taxpayer Identification Number "PTIN"

Note: The temporary IRS Numbers previously assigned are no longer valid.

If you need/want further info here is a link regarding TIN's: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Taxpayer-Identification-Numbers-(TIN)

Make sure you check out our site http://www.aragold.com/

We have the shipping list under Customer Application for some reason... our site is hosted via ATT/YP and its a pain to get them to fix it but we are definitely working on it.

There's a lot of new things happening for us down here and we are excited to share all of it with you guys!

We have a new program being developed (really close to completion) which will automatically email/text you depending on your preferences when your lot is received/checked-in with the expected due date and when it settles as well with the breakdown and amount settled.

We are moving to a new/bigger state of the art facility in a month or two so keep an eye out for that and I'll try to get back here and keep you guys updated with our status.

Also i have a more detailed breakdown of our Refining Schedule/Payouts I can email to you which we are trying to get put up on the site as well due to the one listed currently being uninformative/incorrect.

If you guys have ANY questions please feel free to contact me at [email protected] and I'll try to get back to you in a timely manner!

We apologize if our changes have caused you guys any frustration/confusion!

-The ARA Family

Unfortunately we don't have the manpower or time to go to each forum to post this so if you would please feel free to spread the word. Please and thank you!

Awesome! Thanks for clearing this up!!!

No problem man like i said if you all need anything at all just email me and I'll get back to ya asap!

tried to email Russell at ARA but the email doesn't seem to work, maybe one of you guys can answer my questions. I don't know the term "melt and shoot", what does it mean? and is the settlement shipping for the check, or the returned stones, or both. thanks in advance. HH Steve

Might have overlooked it but...

Does anyone know how Midwest treats any stones that are still in the jewelry you send it, are they bought? returned? I am soon to sell but want the best value of the scrap and/or stones

Thanks,
Thomas

bunkydaze said:

Does anyone know how Midwest treats any stones that are still in the jewelry you send it, are they bought? returned? I am soon to sell but want the best value of the scrap and/or stones

Thanks,
Thomas

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From what I've heard Midwest doesn't return the stones. You'll need to remove them yourself if you want to keep them. A lot of stones are not real gemstones anyways so might be worrying for no reason ...unless of course you have genuine diamonds.

some have diamonds but most are small... how about rubies and such?

If they now require a SSN does that mean they are turning over the info to SS on how much you money you make off turning in gold?

hillbillydigger said:

If they now require a SSN does that mean they are turning over the info to SS on how much you money you make off turning in gold?

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Yes, get ready to get taxes on that

You know what I have been curious about? I wonder if someone has done a NO B.S. adding up of ALL the taxes collected within the U.S. and see what it ALL brings in With the amount of people that live in the U.S. and pay taxes it's GOTTA BE in the few billions MAYBE more Pretty soon, we're gonna be responsible for the amount of times we take a shi_ per day Just UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Do they take out taxes?

hillbillydigger said:

Do they take out taxes?

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How would THAT work as well Wouldn't THEY need to take out a certain percentage for THEIR state as well as take out a certain percentage for outside states Or is it a "one lump sum" tax percentage Things like this I don't know/understand too much about how it works Thanks for reading and the help/input on the question, assuming my question is answered

JunkInTheTrunk said:

How would THAT work as well Wouldn't THEY need to take out a certain percentage for THEIR state as well as take out a certain percentage for outside states Or is it a "one lump sum" tax percentage Things like this I don't know/understand too much about how it works Thanks for reading and the help/input on the question, assuming my question is answered

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See all this doesn't make sense and I doubt they really take out taxes because you the customer would have to fill out a W-4 in order for them to do that. And not everyone has to pay income tax period. For instance look at someone who is retired and drawing a small soc sec check then they would have to turn in a heck of a lot of gold before they would make enough to put them over the limit where they would have to pay income tax on the meager added income from refining a few pieces.

Use American Recycling Associates if you want to be paid for stones or keep any. Midwest doesnt return them.

Glad I saw this post...$$$$

Suddenly cashing in jewelry doesn't seem like a grand idea after seeing that not only silver has plummeted in value, but now gold has too.

Beginner here with a question. When weighing your gold to get a idea of how much the refiner owes you, do you deduct from your actual weight 10%, 15% for the other alloys in the gold. Also what about stones. I just sent (my first) small order to ARA to see how things work and was wandering if you used some conservative calculation.

If you mean by other alloys in gold that you have gold plated or gold filled jewelry then they don't take those because it costs too much to extract the gold from it. If its not stamped as karat gold, sterling silver or platinum then its worthless as far as refineries are concerned. ARA removes stones from jewelry and returns them.

dave64ms said:

Beginner here with a question. When weighing your gold to get a idea of how much the refiner owes you, do you deduct from your actual weight 10%, 15% for the other alloys in the gold. Also what about stones. I just sent (my first) small order to ARA to see how things work and was wandering if you used some conservative calculation.

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Ok...Here is how it works ....you buy gold/silver by the gram or pennyweight, DWT. 95 perent is very good...I want to know 95 percent of what? need to here how many grams were sodl and the market price and then i can tell you if it was a good price or a great one. I have 30 plus years in the precious metal business.

Midwest gets a big thumbs up from me! They are in MI too so I'm sure that helped the turnaround time.

I mailed in a box last Wednesday, they got it on Friday and I got a check today!

Amounts were close enough to what I figured so hat's off and great job Midwest refinery!!