Who counts as a disqualified person?
Federal rules identify categories rather than using an everyday relationship test. They include the IRA owner, fiduciaries, a spouse, ancestors, lineal descendants and their spouses, and entities in which disqualified persons hold specified ownership or control.
The boundaries are technical. A sibling is treated differently from a child, and entity ownership can change the analysis, so a tax professional should review a proposed transaction before the IRA acts.
Why does the definition matter for a metals IRA?
An IRA generally cannot buy metal from, sell it to, lend to, borrow from, or provide personal benefit to a disqualified person. The physical nature of coins and bars makes personal possession, storage payments, collateral, and transfers especially easy to mishandle.
A prohibited transaction can cause substantial tax consequences, potentially including treatment of the account as distributed. The exact result depends on the transaction and applicable rules, not on what a promoter calls the arrangement.
How does a disqualified person issue show up in practice?
It appears when an owner wants the IRA to buy a personal coin collection, store metal at the owner's home, pay a related person, or transact with a controlled company. Pause before money or metal moves and have the custodian and a qualified tax adviser review the parties and documents.