By Desiree Bradsher - July 25, 2012
This topic falls squarely in to the wonderful world of compliance. As if your job isn’t hard enough, the IRS (and more specifically the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) require you to be compliant with the reporting of cash payments of over $10,000 through use of the IRS Form 8300. The purpose of reporting these payments is twofold; the IRS wants to track people who are possibly evading taxation, while FinCEN is concerned with tracking the flow of illegal drug trade or criminal enterprise monies for laundering activity.
Don’t think that they aren’t concerned with your little BHPH lot. I’m pretty sure IRS’s favorite word is audit and I’ve repeatedly seen how in a matter of minutes they can uncover the lack of compliance and slap you with a hefty fine. In this case, ignorance is not bliss – as civil penalties exist for failure to comply. In addition, if the IRS deems you “intentionally disregard” the requirement to file Form 8300 penalties start at $25,000 and can total as much as $100,000. Even scarier, if they feel you were involved in willfully failing to comply or any sort of fraudulent activity it becomes criminal and the federal offense carries sentencing of up to 5 years in prison and fines that can total $500,000. My recommendation: It’s best to spend a few minutes to get familiar with the filing requirements to ensure accurate compliance.
The publication and form with instructions total 11 pages, so even a brief summarization would drag this blog post into next week. What is important for you to know is that someone has done all the leg work for you to ensure compliance. Option one: Judy from accounting who culls through payment receipts. Option two: Deal Pack. Deal Pack not only has the ability to track all forms of cash payments for your customers, but will generate a report showing who needs an IRS 8300 filed and print it for you – right out of our program. Another example of how Deal Pack streamlines operational processes. Making sales is your job, the rest is ours.