If you are considering owning a new or used NFA weapon, you are going to want to get your paperwork in order. Getting a NFA tax stamp is a lengthy process, but you are actually able to monitor it well with an NFA tracker. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) ensures that this process is not quick, but the NFA tracker will help you to determine roughly how much longer you’ll be waiting.
You will also want to be able to track your progress, and you can see what the average wait times for certain stamps are on the NFA Tracker website.
The NFA Tracker is a comprehensive site dedicated to showing you accurate wait times for certain forms, and when you will likely receive the tax stamp for an NFA gun or gun accessory. Use the NFA Tracker to determine if this is the best current option for you.
Nailing the paperwork can be tough, even for the most experienced gun owners. Doing the proper research with the help of this comprehensive guide will help you obtain a firearm legally under the ATF.
Thanks to modern technology, registering for a gun has never been easier, and you can simply print out forms to mail to the proper governmental factions. There is even NFA Tracker data that will tell you your potential wait time and the current status of your application.
There are many regulations and stipulations that can occur when you are obtaining or building a firearm, and you want to make sure to do your homework to nail the proper paperwork.
Applying for a tax stamp can be a lengthy process depending on the current market. The process can seem a little tired and worn at times, but legally obtaining NFA approved specialized firearms must happen, if you intend to use the firearm legally.
You will want to make sure to do some research into submitting the right forms and being meticulous enough to handle the system. Here are the five things you need to know when moving forward with an application to get your ATF tax stamp.
1. Layout of Tax Stamp Forms
There are 4 main forms you’ll need to look at when applying for a tax stamp, and they are listed below:
- ATF 5320.1 Application to Make and Register for a Firearm
- ATF 5320.4 Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of a Firearm
- ATF 5320.5 Application for Tax-Exempt Transfer and Registration of a Firearm
- ATF 5320.5 Application for Beneficiaries to obtain a tax stamp
The first option to apply for a tax stamp is the ATF 5320.1 which will assist you in custom building a certain weapon, and to register a new firearm.
There are many laws and regulations about every type of weapon, and you want to make sure to file the right form for your specific needs. Corporations will also need to fill out the ATF 5320.1 form when they need to register to manufacture a new type or edition of a weapon series.
You will also want to check out the ATF 5320.1 form if you are planning to alter the current configuration of an existing weapon through a registered gun specialist called a Special Occupational Tax Dealer (SOT).
Any modern-day arms dealer has a SOT. You may buy from a reputable dealer, or you may buy from an individual, in which case you will submit for an ATF 5320.4 form that will assist you in a tax paid transfer and registration of a firearm.
If you have had a firearm transferred to you, you may be in luck and want to resubmit papers on the gun to ensure proper and legal use of said weapon.
You also may be the beneficiary of an existing gun trust, but you may need to submit the correct legal forms to ensure that your tax stamp will be delivered on time, and you will be able to track that with an NFA Tracker.
If you are applying for a tax stamp as an individual, you will not have to fill out the ATF 5320.5 because you will only have to fill out that form if you are applying for a tax stamp as a gun trust.
The trustee will file the other paperwork, but the beneficiaries must be involved in the registration process. This is when you will use the ATF 5320.5 application form for beneficiaries.
These forms may seem intimidating at first, but there are a lot of online options that will help you fill out the forms, including our own walk-throughs.
2. Benefits of Applying as an NFA Gun Trust
If you are a true gun enthusiast, you may have heard of an NFA gun trust before. Perhaps you even are already benefiting from one. If you aren’t, we highly recommend that you establish one, for a variety of reasons.
The advantages of being a trustee or beneficiary in a gun trust scenario give you more leverage over the overall usage and longevity of the gun purchase and ownership.
What Is an NFA Gun Trust?
A gun trust is an agreement to certain ownership and usage rights given to certain individuals who want to apply for joint ownership of a registered NFA approved firearm.
The agreement is split between two general parties: the trustee and the co-trustees. The trustee is the main owner and possessor of the gun, but any co-trustees will also be able to use the gun or take the gun in place of you in case of an emergency.
You will be able to transfer your weapon much more easily when you apply for an NFA approved firearm or firearm accessory if you fill out the correct paperwork and choose your beneficiaries wisely.
Reasons to Apply as an NFA Gun Trust
- You can easily adapt the number of co-trustees and beneficiaries you have
- You define what happens to the weapon after you die
- Multiple people can be authorized to use your weapon
- If you are ever seen as unfit to own a certain firearm, a beneficiary can hold the gun for you
- Your firearm will avoid the process of probation when you die
- Your beneficiaries will not have to pay the transfer fee when you die
As you can see, there are many things to gain if you go through the registration process as an NFA gun trust. This will increase the longevity of the weapon and will make transfers easier.
Trusts are also private documents and are treated as a will and testament and will not be able to be seen by any unwanted individuals.
You will want to consider purchasing the firearm as an NFA gun trust before you start looking into filling out your paperwork, as you do not wish to prolong the process by user error. Additionally, having a gun trust will save you having to pay for a new tax stamp if you ever want to move a firearm into the trust after the fact.
3. Purchasing an NFA Firearm
Now that you understand the benefits to establishing a gun trust and are aware of the general process (as well as how to track it via the NFA Tracker tool), you are all ready to purchase your NFA firearm.
Do some research, and make sure that the gun you are trying to buy is a certified NFA firearm. Guns that are certified NFA firearms include:
- Short barreled shotguns (SBS)
- Any other weapon (AOW)
- Suppressors (Silencers)
- Short barrel rifles (SBR)
- Destructive devices
- Machine guns
As you can see, there are many reasons why you may find yourself needing to file for paperwork for an NFA firearm or firearm accessory. And thanks to NFA Tracker, you can now trace your process of obtaining an NFA firearm or firearm accessory with ease.
If you are a licensed dealer, you may want to manufacture a certain series of new weapons for your inventory or your personal collection.Perhaps you are trying to make modifications to any of the listed gun types.
If you have ever been curious about making such modifications to your weapons, manufacturing certain items, or buying specialized weaponry, now is the perfect time to do so.
The only thing standing in your way is the paperwork and tracking your tax stamps progress through an NFA Tracker.
If you are looking into legally obtaining a suppressor, you are going to want to file the proper forms and track them with the NFA Tracker. When it is a good season, your results may take a couple of months, but in a bad season, it could be up to a year’s process.
Wherever you buy an NFA gun, make sure that you will be able to get the correct tax stamps, because if you are using the weapon at a range without the stamp, you can be filed with serious and expensive repercussions for that action. It is best that you do your homework before making a decision and going through with the paperwork for a certified NFA firearm or firearm accessory.
4. Submitting Your Paperwork
When you are filing the paperwork to register your new ATF approved firearm, you will want to scrape meticulously over the paperwork when you are registering the firearm. The devil is in the details, as they say. If you happen to overlook a mistake or flaw in the filing of your forms, you may risk a longer delay wait time.
With the proper research and an investment in time and money, you are a few short forms away from owning your own NFA firearms such as a machine gun or certain types of suppressors.
You can even file official paperwork for shotgun suppressors and obtain them legally through filing forms and getting an NFA approved shotgun silencer. With the current political status, we advise you to buy now, because you never know what kind of legislation that could be passed that you can be grandfathered into.
There are many options out there to help with the paperwork registration process. There are comprehensive walkthrough guides, video tutorials, and books dedicated to the knowledge and research of owning approved NFA firearm and firearm accessories.
You do not want to risk having your forms rejected, for this will ultimately negatively affect your waiting times significantly for making the weapons transfer. The reasons why an agent would reject your forms are listed below.
Top 9 Reasons why Your Paperwork May Be Rejected
- There may be an endorsement missing, a place, or several places where you forgot to sign
- Payee is not acceptable, or if your check was not properly made out to BATFE
- You may have forgotten to attach the check to your documents
- There may have been a typing error in the number pattern for your credit card
- Your credit card expiration date is overdue or is invalid
- Your credit card payment was declined by a third party
- The transferee’s information was incomplete within certain articles of the document
- A correct serial number for the gun or gun accessory was not properly documented
- The form you may be trying to submit is an outdated version of the correct form
As you can see, there are many reasons why your paperwork may be rejected when applying to obtain an NFA approved gun or gun accessory, so you should be very thoughtful when you are filling out the applications and forms.
Make sure to use your most frequently used and trusted credit card or make a direct payment with a check. Make sure there aren’t any clauses that you mulled over or signatures that you have skipped.
You do not want to wait an excessive amount of time knowing if you will get approved, for you can check the status of your tax stamp when using an NFA Tracker, which will tell you your progress at all times as well as giving you an expected time range.
You will also need to send three copies of your paperwork, for two of the copies of forms will go to the ATF for processing, and one copy will go to the Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO).
There used to be stricter legislation on NFA firearms and firearm accessories, and your CLEO would also need to approve your forms, but now, you just need to let your CLEO know that you are submitting the forms. This is an essential step for carrying out legally obtaining and registering your NFA approved firearm and firearm accessories, so be sure to complete it properly.
5. NFA Tracker – Track Your Stamp to Ensure a Safe Sale Transfer
When you apply for your gun or gun accessory tax stamp, you are going to want to know the prospective status at all times.
Luckily, this information can be readily available to you through online tools such as the NFA Tracker. When you apply for a tax stamp form through your gun trust or as an individual, you will want to use the NFA Tracker to best estimate how long you’ll be waiting for the tax stamp to be turned around.
The NFA Tracker tells you the expected time of approval and the expected time your stamp will be delivered. It uses data that has been currently modified and updated to keep up with the tax stamp traffic flow.
With the NFA Tracker, you will be able to see if now is the best time to apply for a tax stamp for your NFA approved weapon or weapon accessory.
The NFA Tracker is responsive to current orders and will give you a pretty accurate picture of exactly when you will receive your tax stamp after registering for an ATF approved weapon or weapon accessory. The NFA Tracker will also track your status and give you a standard wait time for the specific form that you are preparing to fill out.
Even if you have several forms to fill out, and need to register multiple NFA items, you can get an accurate time frame of when you will receive your tax stamp for each form with the NFA Tracker.
Don’t give yourself any unwanted or unexpected surprises because getting approved for an NFA firearm is already hard enough. You will have to fill out the correct forms diligently before you are able to track your status effectively with the NFA Tracker.
NFA Tracker Conclusion
Now that you know how to properly apply for a tax stamp, and know the benefits of using the NFA Tracker, you are ready to buy your own NFA approved firearm or firearm accessory. Decide whether you will apply as an individual or with a gun trust.
Gun trust applications currently take a longer time to complete, according to the NFA Tracker, but you may want to still apply as a trust for the specific benefits of the beneficiary relationships available with a trust.
Check out a few NFA gun items and the NFA Tracker with its standard wait times for each type of form and decide if and when it is the right time for you to apply for a tax stamp. Want to learn more about NFA items, weapon reviews, and general ATF info? Look no further than the Gun Trust NFA blog. Enjoy utilizing the NFA tracker, and stay safe out there!
