Yes they could; but, how do you get around this
From the Article Further, the $50 gold coins and the silver dollars Kahre used for payroll are designated by Congress as legal tender, so people are entitled to value them at their stamped denominations, he also contends. Taken at face value, each defendant's annual coin income placed him below the threshold for filing a federal tax return.
Yeah, that is their big stumbling block. It’ll be interesting to see how it shakes out.