NO MORE TAX STAMPS!
With the passing of the Big Beautiful Bill, taxes on silencers, short-barrel rifles, and short-barrel shotguns will be a thing of the past.
Although the application filing fee will no longer mandate a $200 tax for the above items, the rest of the NFA acquisition process remains unchanged. Functionally, it is a $200 drop in overall acquisition costs with no procedural changes. Darmok Firearms still be here for all of your NFA needs including digital fingerprinting, photography and e-form submission. Essentially, this legislation allows $200 to remain in your bank account for each item purchased above.
What does this mean? What’s going to happen?
Supply Struggles. Historically, things such as e-File reintroduced or large drops in approval times have caused the supply to dry up. Any positive action in the NFA world, or fears for that matter, has caused the shelves to be sparse. In the short term, it’s unlikely manufacturers will be able to keep up with the increase in demand. Accessories may also be challenging to obtain. The market will certainly even out in time, but there’s a strong potential for shortages. The length and duration is unknown as we’re venturing into uncharted territory.
Approval Times. The ATF is always unpredictable, but more applications tend to increase wait times. We believe approval times will rise along with the demand. While it was an extreme situation, in 2016, ATF Rule 41F caused approval times to hit nearly 2 years for many applications. Even if the ATF stays on top of applications, there are still changes that must be made. These include new ATF forms, and large-scale revisions to the ATF’s e-Forms systems.
Saving $200. This is the biggest part, and certainly a win for the NFA world. There will no longer exist a completely pointless $200 tax thus allowing you to give less of your hard-earned money to the federal government. That said, the transfer process will be the same. You can think of it like having a $200 coupon for every silencer, SBR, or SBS you purchase.
What Should I do? The options.
1. BUY NOW – FILE NOW. We can submit your Form 4 today and assess the current $200 tax. We’ll process it electronically before the inevitable surge. You’ll start your approval clock immediately while others are still waiting for the free window to open. This means a bit of extra money to the feds, however having your silencer and accessories in hand much sooner than many others. We are seeing both individual and trust Form 4 transfers taking less than one week.
2. BUY LATER – FILE LATER. Hold off until the implementation period of the bill (January 2026) and then file without a $200 tax. Just remember you’ll be competing with every suppressor buyer in America. Supplies may be limited. It will save you some money, but you may run into longer approval times and supply issues, especially with suppressors and accessories.
3. BUY NOW – FILE LATER. If you decide to wait for the free stamp but want to secure your silencer while they are available, just let us know. We can set up an order over the phone with no $200 tax. We will file your Form 4 application when the window opens in early 2026. You’ll save a bit of hard-earned money, but there will be a delay in filing and likely increased approval times. It’s your decision to save some money versus getting your silencers months faster. You should expect a 6-month delay in your application if purchased today since we are still several months away from 2026. That said, we will file your transfer application as soon as the infrastructure is available to us next year.
What Do You Recommend? What are other clients doing?
It’s half-and-half. Some of our clients prefer to buy now and file now. This means getting your silencer in hand many months faster. Waiting to submit on a bogged-down e-Forms system with suspected increases in wait times isn’t worth saving $200 for many NFA enthusiasts. They’re thinking of the $200 as a “6 month quicker fast pass” rather than paying a tax.
The other half have started to purchase suppressors for us to store in our vault until the tax-free period takes effect in 2026. That way they are guaranteed a suppressor at low rates, will not have supply issues, and will not be assessed a $200 transfer tax. If you don’t want to pay the $200 tax and are worried about inventory shortages, we recommend buying now and filing when the new provisions are available. This way, you can secure your silencer and keep $200 in your pocket.
Ultimately, it comes down to whether spending $200 is worth having your silencer in hand months faster and beating the rush. That is a personal choice, and we can facilitate whichever method you prefer.
Feel free to Contact Us for further assistance.
SEC. 70436. REDUCTION OF TRANSFER AND MANUFACTURING TAXES FOR CERTAIN
DEVICES.
(a) Transfer Tax.--Section 5811(a) is amended to read as follows:
``(a) Rate.--There shall be levied, collected, and paid on firearms
transferred a tax at the rate of--
``(1) $200 for each firearm transferred in the case of a
machinegun or a destructive device, and
``(2) $0 for any firearm transferred which is not described in
paragraph (1).''.
(b) Making Tax.--Section 5821(a) is amended to read as follows:
``(a) Rate.--There shall be levied, collected, and paid upon the
making of a firearm a tax at the rate of--
``(1) $200 for each firearm made in the case of a machinegun or
a destructive device, and
``(2) $0 for any firearm made which is not described in
paragraph (1).''.
(c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 4182(a) is amended by adding at
the end the following: ``For purposes of the preceding sentence, any
firearm described in section 5811(a)(2) shall be deemed to be a firearm
on which the tax provided by section 5811 has been paid.''
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to calendar quarters beginning more than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act.