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What does “cash” mean for the purposes of Form 8300?
Cash is money. It is currency and coins of the United States and any other country. Cash is also certain monetary instruments - a cashier’s check, bank draft, traveler’s check, or money order - if it has a face amount of $10,000 or less and the business receives it in:
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A “designated reporting transaction” as defined in Treas. Reg. section 1.6050I-1(c)(iii) (generally, a retail sale of a consumer durable, a collectible, a travel or entertainment activity) or
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Any transaction in which the recipient knows the payer is trying to avoid the reporting of the transaction on Form 8300.
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Is a personal check considered cash for reporting on Form 8300?
Personal checks are not considered cash.
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What is the definition of a transaction?
A transaction is the underlying event resulting in the transfer of cash. Examples include:
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Sale of goods, services or real or intangible property
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Rental of goods or real or personal property
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Cash exchanged for other cash
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Establishment, maintenance of or contribution to a trust or escrow account
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A loan repayment
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Conversion of cash to a negotiable instrument such as a check or a bond
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What is a designated reporting transaction?
Generally, a designated reporting transaction is the retail sale of any of the following:
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A consumer durable, such as an automobile or boat. Property is generally a consumer durable if it is tangible personal property (not real or intangible property) that:
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Is generally suited for personal use,
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Is expected to last at least one year under ordinary use, and
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Has a sale price of more than $10,000.
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A collectible (such as a work of art, rug, antique, metal, gem, stamp, or coin)
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An item of travel and entertainment (if the total sales price of all items for the same trip or entertainment event is more than $10,000).
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Would a Mobile Home be classified as personal or real property for purposes of filing Form 8300?
A retail sale of a mobile home is personal property. A mobile home qualifies as personal property and a consumable durable for determining any required Form 8300 reporting, regardless of how the purchaser intends to use or ultimately uses the mobile home.
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Who must file Form 8300?
Any persons who receive more than $10,000 while conducting their trade or business must file a Form 8300. The $10,000 may occur in a single transaction, or a series of related transactions.
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What is a related transaction?
Transactions between a buyer, or agent of the buyer, and a seller that occur within a 24-hour period are related transactions.
In addition, transactions more than 24 hours apart are related if the recipient of the cash knows, or has reason to know, that each transaction is one of a series of connected transactions.
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Does the 24-hour period mean one day such as all day Tuesday or does it mean literally 24 hours such as from 11:00 am on Tuesday to 11:00 am on Wednesday?
A 24-hour period is 24 hours, not necessarily a calendar day or banking day.
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A customer purchased a vehicle several months ago for $9,000 cash. Within the next 12 months, the customer paid the dealership additional cash of $1,500 for items relating to the vehicle such as a repair to the vehicle's transmission, purchase of accessories and a customized paint job, etc. Is the dealership required to file a Form 8300 for these transactions?
No, unless the dealer knew or had reason to know the sale of the vehicle and the subsequent transactions were a series of connected transactions (for example, if the dealer and the customer agreed, as a condition of the sale of the vehicle, that the customer would be obligated to pay the additional $1,500).
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What payments must be reported?
A business must file Form 8300 to report cash paid to it if the cash payment is:
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Over $10,000,
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Received as:
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One lump sum of over $10,000,
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Two or more related payments that total in excess of $10,000, or
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Payments received as part of a single transaction (or two or more related transactions) that cause the total cash received within a 12-month period to total more than $10,000.
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Received in the course of trade or business,
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Received from the same buyer (or agent), and
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Received in a single transaction or in two or more related transactions.
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A customer wired $7,000 from his bank account to the dealership's bank account and also presented a $4,000 cashier check. Does the dealership complete Form 8300?
A wire transfer does not constitute cash for Form 8300 reporting. Since the remaining cash remitted was below $10,000, the dealer has no filing requirement.
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When is the Form 8300 due?
A business must file Form 8300 within 15 days after the date the cash was received. If there are subsequent payments that are made with respect to a single transaction (or two or more related transactions), the business should file the form 8300 when the total amount paid exceeds $10,000. Each time the payments aggregate in excess of $10,000 the business must file another form 8300 within 15 days of the payment that causes the additional payments to total more than $10,000.
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If the business is unable to obtain the Taxpayer Identification Number of a customer making a cash payment of over ten thousand dollars, should the business file Form 8300 anyway?
Yes, the business should file Form 8300 with a statement explaining why the Taxpayer Identification Number is not included.
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Does a wholesaler report transactions paid in US (or foreign) coins and currency only?
Yes, if the wholesaler receives payment in the form of coins or currency. A wholesaler, however, need not report transactions paid with cashier’s checks, bank drafts, traveler’s checks, or money orders.
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What if a retailer also does some wholesale transactions, must the business report all transactions, or just the retail ones?
If the trade or business of the seller principally consists of sales to ultimate consumers, then all sales, including wholesale transactions, are considered “retail sales” and are subject to the Form 8300 reporting requirements.
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A taxi driver makes weekly payments in cash to a taxi company as a lease payment. During a twelve-month period, these payments total more than $10,000. Are these payments considered related transactions and is the taxi company required to file a Form 8300?
Yes, the weekly lease payments constitute payments on the same transaction (the leasing of the cab). Accordingly, the taxi company is required to file Form 8300 when the total amount exceeds $10,000. Each time the payments aggregate in excess of $10,000 the taxi company must file another form 8300 within 15 days of the payment that causes the additional payments to total more than $10,000.
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A husband and wife purchase two cars at one time from the same dealer and the total cash received $10,200. How many Form 8300s should the car dealer file?
The transaction can be viewed as either a single transaction or two related transactions. Either way, it warrants only one Form 8300.
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If a customer purchased a cashier’s check at the bank for over $10,000, would the bank report the transaction? Does the seller of a vehicle need to report the transaction if the same cashier’s check is subsequently used to purchase a vehicle?
The bank is required to file a Currency Transaction Report (not a Form 8300) in this scenario. Generally, the purchase of a vehicle with a cashier’s check that is over $10,000 should not be reported on Form 8300. A cashier’s check, bank draft, traveler’s check, or money order with a face amount of more than $10,000 is not treated as cash and a business does not have to file Form 8300 when it receives them. These items are not defined as cash because, if they were bought with currency, the bank or other financial institution that issued them must file a Currency Transaction Report (CTR).
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Regarding related transactions, if a customer purchased an item, then eight weeks later the same customer purchased a different item, are these amounts aggregated and reported on the Form 8300?
No, if the two payments are for separate unrelated transactions.
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A customer deposited over $10,000 in cash into his bank account, which was obtained from a sale of heavy equipment. Is there a form the bank has to file?
The law requires the financial institution that receives a deposit of more than $10,000 to submit a Currency Transaction Report (CTR) to the Treasury. The fact that this was a result of a sale of heavy equipment has no bearing.
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Must a business notify its customer that the business has filed a Form 8300 regarding the cash transaction with the customer?
Yes, a business must notify its customer, in writing, by January 31 of the subsequent calendar year.
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Can a copy of the Form 8300 be given to the customer as a written notice?
Yes, since the Form 8300 contains the name, address, contact telephone number of the filer, aggregate amount of reportable cash received and informs the noticee that the paryment(s) are being reported to the IRS, the Form 8300 would be acceptable as written notification. However, if during the calendar year, the filer has transactions with the noticee which were included on more than one Form 8300, furnishing copies to the noticee of multiple Forms 8300 does not meet the notice requirement because it is not a “single” statement. In this situation, the Form 8300 filer should provide a single written notice for all of the transactions. It should be noted that while the practice of using a copy of the Form 8300 as a notice may be convenient, it may not be advisable because of the sensitive information contained on the form; e.g. Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Social Securiy Number (SSN).
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If a business filed a Form 8300 on an individual and checked the suspicious transaction box and an 8300 report was not required, does the business have to inform the individual by January 30 about the fact that it filed Form 8300?
No, because reporting of the suspicious transaction in this instance is voluntary. A business is only required to provide a statement to individuals if the filing of the Form 8300 is required. A business is prohibited from informing the buyer that the suspicious transaction box was checked.
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Instead of sending the customer a separate notification letter, can the dealership use the sales invoice as the notification requirement, if the sales invoice has language printed on it that the IRS will be furnished with information for cash sales over $10,000?
There is nothing in the code or regulations mandating a specific format for the customer statement. The regulations, however, establish certain minimum requirements. As long as these minimum requirements are met, there would be no problem if the seller chose to print the required language on an invoice. Treasury Regulation section 1.6050I-1(f)(2) states:
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Form of statement. The statement required by the preceding paragraph need not follow any particular format, but it must contain the following information:
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The name and address of the person making the return;
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The aggregate amount of reportable cash, received by the person who filed the Form 8300 during the calendar year, in all related cash transactions; and
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A legend stating that the information contained in the statement is being reported to the Internal Revenue Service.
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How can a business get Form 8300?
Form 8300 is available in English or Spanish:
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Are there any publications that will help with filing Form 8300?
Yes. Publication 1544, Reporting Cash Payments of Over $10,000 (Received in a Trade or Business) explains why, when, and where to file Form 8300. It also explains key issues and terms related to Form 8300. This publication is available in English or Spanish:
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Where does a business file Form 8300?
A business should mail Form 8300 to:
Internal Revenue Service
Detroit Computing Center
P.O. Box 32621
Detroit, MI 48232
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How can a filer confirm that a filed Form 8300 has been received by IRS?
The filer can confirm the IRS received the Form 8300 by:
If a customer (the buyer) about whom the Form 8300 was filed wants a copy of the form, they must contact the filer.
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Does the IRS have an email address to send questions regarding Form 8300?
You can send questions concerning Form 8300 to 8300QUESTIONS@IRS.GOV.
The email system will not accept actual Forms 8300.
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