Depositing large amounts of money

**disneysteve** · 10-01-2010, 09:07 AM

Cash deposits of $10,000 or more get reported to the government. Nothing bad happens. They just do it to track suspicious activity due to the drug trade. They look for patterns. In your case, most of the money is probably checks, not cash, if they were wedding presents. That is no problem at all.

As for gift tax, that only applies if you received a single gift from one person exceeding $13,000. It doesn't matter what the total gift amount is if it came from multiple people.

**akim1220** · 10-01-2010, 09:40 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

Cash deposits of $10,000 or more get reported to the government. Nothing bad happens. They just do it to track suspicious activity due to the drug trade. They look for patterns. In your case, most of the money is probably checks, not cash, if they were wedding presents. That is no problem at all.

As for gift tax, that only applies if you received a single gift from one person exceeding $13,000. It doesn't matter what the total gift amount is if it came from multiple people.

Most of it is actually cash. But I am assuming that whether it's all checks or cash the same rule applies. Thanks for the response, definitely cleared that up.

**KTP** · 10-01-2010, 10:34 AM

I have always wanted to walk into a bank with a duffel bag full of cash just for kicks. Awhile back when I sold some $60K of stock in my fidelity account and needed to get the cash into my wells fargo account, I thought about cashing it all out first and doing the duffel bag thing just to watch the reaction of the bank employees. Then I thought about the government and just decided to do a wire transfer.

**disneysteve** · 10-01-2010, 10:40 AM

Originally posted by akim1220 View Post

Most of it is actually cash. But I am assuming that whether it's all checks or cash the same rule applies.

No. Cash is different than checks. Checks can be traced. Cash can't. Drug dealers and terrorists don't deposit checks.

**akim1220** · 10-01-2010, 10:55 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

No. Cash is different than checks. Checks can be traced. Cash can't. Drug dealers and terrorists don't deposit checks.

So if I deposited 15k in checks the bank/government wouldn't give me any problems but if it was all cash the government would get involved?

I understand that for security reasons why the government would get suspicious with all that cash. But what would happen? Would the money getting deposited into my account take longer?

**disneysteve** · 10-01-2010, 10:58 AM

Originally posted by akim1220 View Post

So if I deposited 15k in checks the bank/government wouldn't give me any problems but if it was all cash the government would get involved?

I understand that for security reasons why the government would get suspicious with all that cash. But what would happen? Would the money getting deposited into my account take longer?

That's correct. Checks are no problem. Businesses deposit thousands of dollars in checks on a daily basis. 10K in cash, though, requires the bank to file a government form. I don't believe it delays anything. It is just done for tracking purposes. A one-time deposit doesn't raise any red flags but if you start doing it regularly it will.

**akim1220** · 10-01-2010, 11:00 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

That's correct. Checks are no problem. Businesses deposit thousands of dollars in checks on a daily basis. 10K in cash, though, requires the bank to file a government form. I don't believe it delays anything. It is just done for tracking purposes. A one-time deposit doesn't raise any red flags but if you start doing it regularly it will.

Thanks for clarifying that. Hopefully one day I will have the income to be able to make multiple large deposits.

**kork13** · 10-01-2010, 11:22 AM

I've done that a couple times as well... $15k-$20k deposits... It's freaky to have that kind of money on you. The couple times I've had it happen, I made a beeline for the mailbox to send it to my bank -- I'm just not comfortable holding that on my person, even if it's just a check!

On the huge wad of cash, however, I have done, and the teller's reaction truly is priceless. I've been running the snack bar for my unit while I'm still the 'new guy', and when I got here there was about $700 just in $1-bills and USD/JPY coinage (let alone the larger bills) sitting around in our lockbox. So I throw it all into a paper lunch sack and head off to the bank to exchange everything. When I started laying everything out on the teller's counter, it was like Mary Poppins' bottomless bag. Hilarious watching her expression and even the reactions of the people around me. Priceless.

**disneysteve** · 10-01-2010, 11:23 AM

FYI, the same is true if you visit a casino. Any cashier transaction of $10,000 requires the same report to be made. Doesn't matter if you won money or lost money. If you cash in $10,000 in chips or purchase $10,000 in chips, it is a reportable transaction.

**KTP** · 10-01-2010, 11:33 AM

Originally posted by kork13 View Post

On the huge wad of cash, however, I have done, and the teller's reaction truly is priceless. I've been running the snack bar for my unit while I'm still the 'new guy', and when I got here there was about $700 just in $1-bills and USD/JPY coinage (let alone the larger bills) sitting around in our lockbox. So I throw it all into a paper lunch sack and head off to the bank to exchange everything. When I started laying everything out on the teller's counter, it was like Mary Poppins' bottomless bag. Hilarious watching her expression and even the reactions of the people around me. Priceless.

This reminds me of the time I brought back 40 pounds of coffee from Costa Rica (they have really cheap good coffee) in my regular luggage. It took 20 minutes and two sniffing beagle dogs to clear customs...

**minnie1928** · 10-01-2010, 12:31 PM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

No. Cash is different than checks. Checks can be traced. Cash can't. Drug dealers and terrorists don't deposit checks.

Steve is correct.

The bank is required to fill out a CTR (Currency Transaction Report) for the transaction if it is cash. Even if you split the amount into multiple deposits, they will still file the report.

Honestly, it won't impact you either way. Just deposit it the same as any other deposit.

**akim1220** · 10-01-2010, 01:18 PM

Thanks everyone for the info. One last question, at the end of the year when my wife and I do our taxes, the amount we received as gifts has to be included correct?

**frugalgirl** · 10-01-2010, 01:49 PM

Originally posted by akim1220 View Post

Thanks everyone for the info. One last question, at the end of the year when my wife and I do our taxes, the amount we received as gifts has to be included correct?

Not if it is less than $13,000 per gift giver.

**snshijuptr** · 10-02-2010, 08:29 AM

Originally posted by frugalgirl View Post

Not if it is less than $13,000 per gift giver.

Also that tax is paid by the giver not the receiver. It's the governments way of saying "Mazel Tov".

BTW, if someone threw the wedding for you, that does not count as a gift unless they wrote a big old check directly to you.

(Do you guys remember when they had to make a special exception for that guy that caught Mark McGwire's last home run? He should have paid a ridiculous amount in taxes because he "gifted" the ball back to McGwire, but the IRS let him off the hook.)

Depositing large amounts of money