The ATF silencer tax stamp is still required, but as of January 1, 2026, it costs $0 instead of $200. You still have to submit an application, pass a federal background check, provide fingerprints, and wait for ATF approval before you can legally possess a silencer. The tax that used to sit on top of that process is simply gone.
What Changed on January 1, 2026
P.L. 119-21, signed on July 4, 2025, amended 26 U.S.C. § 5811 (the transfer tax) and 26 U.S.C. § 5821 (the making tax) to set the rate at $0 for all National Firearms Act items except machineguns and destructive devices.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5811 – Transfer Tax2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5821 – Making Tax Silencers fall outside those two excluded categories, so both the tax to transfer a silencer and the tax to manufacture one dropped to zero on January 1, 2026.3Federal Register. Changes to National Firearms Act Tax Remittance Provisions
Everything else about the process stayed the same. Silencers remain “firearms” under the NFA, listed alongside machineguns and short-barreled rifles.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 5845 – Definitions That classification is what triggers the whole registration system, and it hasn’t changed. The forms, the background check, the fingerprint cards, the notification to your local law enforcement — all still required. The government removed the toll but kept the gate.
Who Can Register a Silencer
You need to be a legal U.S. resident who can pass a federal background check. Anyone barred from firearm possession under the Gun Control Act of 1968 is also barred from possessing a silencer. That includes people with felony convictions, certain domestic violence misdemeanors, active restraining orders, unlawful drug use, and the other disqualifiers listed in the statute.
Age depends on how you acquire it. Buying from a federally licensed dealer requires you to be 21. Making your own silencer under a Form 1, or receiving one through a non-dealer transfer, requires you to be 18. These minimums come from the Gun Control Act’s rules on dealer sales, not the NFA itself.
Which Form to File
Two forms cover almost every situation:
- Form 4 (ATF Form 5320.4) is what you file when a licensed dealer transfers a registered silencer to you. This is the standard route for buying one from a shop.
- Form 1 (ATF Form 5320.1) is what you file when you want to build your own silencer. ATF approval has to come before you begin manufacturing, not after.
Both are available through the ATF’s eForms portal.5Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. eForms Applications Individual applicants supply their name, Social Security number, and address, which feeds into the background check.
If you’re registering the silencer to a gun trust, LLC, or corporation instead of yourself, every “responsible person” — the trust’s grantor, all trustees, and any beneficiary with authority to handle the firearm — has to complete ATF Form 5320.23, submit two fingerprint cards, and include a passport-style photograph.6Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Background Checks for Responsible Persons (Final Rule 41F)
Whether you file individually or through an entity, every applicant and every responsible person also has to send a copy of the completed form (or Form 5320.23) to the chief law enforcement officer in their jurisdiction. That’s the local chief of police, county sheriff, head of state police, or district attorney.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Firearms Questions and Answers It’s a notification. The CLEO doesn’t have to approve anything.
How to Submit and What Happens Next
Most applicants file electronically through eForms. You complete the form online, upload your photo, and apply a digital signature. The system generates a cover sheet, which you mail along with two completed FD-258 fingerprint cards to the ATF’s NFA Division. The cards need to reach ATF within 10 business days of your electronic submission or the application risks disapproval. Fingerprints must show clear ridge detail; smudged prints, low-resolution scans, and mismatched personal information are among the most common reasons applications get kicked back.
Paper submissions are still accepted through the ATF’s National Services Center, but they historically take longer to process, and with the tax at $0 there’s no cost savings to justify the slower route.
Once your application is complete, it enters pending status while the ATF runs your background check through NICS and reviews the paperwork. As of early 2026, electronically filed Form 4 applications for individuals have been clearing in under a week, trust filings take a few weeks, and Form 1 applications tend to run around 40 days. These numbers move with ATF workload, so treat them as snapshots rather than promises.
Approved eForms applicants receive a digital PDF of the approved form. Paper filers get their original form back with a physical stamp affixed. Either version is your proof of registration, and you should keep it accessible whenever the silencer is in your possession.
Denials come with a stated reason. Denials tied to the FBI’s NICS background check can be challenged directly with the FBI.8Federal Bureau of Investigation. Challenges / Appeals The ATF makes the final call on NFA applications, though, and can deny an application even when NICS doesn’t flag anything.
States Where Federal Approval Isn’t Enough
Federal registration only gets you halfway. Eight states prohibit civilian silencer possession outright, regardless of any federal paperwork: California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Living in one of these states means a federally approved silencer is still contraband under state law.
The other 42 states allow private ownership, though some impose additional registration or restrict hunting with suppressors. Verify state and local law before you buy.
Traveling With a Registered Silencer
Silencers get one small break compared to other NFA items. Short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, machineguns, and destructive devices all require you to file ATF Form 5320.20 before crossing state lines. Silencers don’t. You can travel freely with a registered silencer as long as it’s legal in every state you pass through and at your destination.
That last clause is the trap. Driving from Virginia to Vermont is fine. Cutting through New York on the way is not, because New York bans silencers regardless of your federal stamp. Plan around prohibition states, or ship the silencer to your destination through a licensed dealer.
Passing a Silencer to an Heir
When a registered owner dies, the silencer can pass to a lawful heir through ATF Form 5. These transfers are tax-exempt, which matters less now that the tax is already $0, but Form 5 is still the distinct path because it doesn’t require dealer involvement the way a Form 4 does. Interstate transfer directly to an heir is permitted.
The heir has to be legally eligible to possess NFA items under federal and state law, and the silencer has to already be registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. An unregistered silencer discovered during probate is contraband. It can’t be registered after the fact — the executor has to contact the local ATF office to surrender it.
If the silencer is held in a gun trust, the trust document controls. A named heir usually files Form 5. Someone not in the trust goes through the standard Form 4 transfer.
Penalties for Skipping the Stamp
Even at $0, the registration is not optional. Possessing an unregistered silencer, receiving one transferred outside the proper process, making a false statement on an NFA application, transporting an unregistered silencer across state lines, or altering a serial number are all federal crimes under 26 U.S.C. § 5861.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5861 – Prohibited Acts Conviction carries up to 10 years in federal prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 5871 – Penalties The mandatory registration system means there is always a paper trail, or a conspicuous absence of one, for investigators to work from.