Dr. Deth said that would be structuring.
I think doing that will bring scrutiny from the IRS.
If you did it once…not structuring (how could it be?).
But now you have to explain yourself.
It is not necessarily illegal but you had better be able to explain it.
He is not complying with the law. It is perfectly legal to have transactionsover $10000. The illegal part is when you structure your transactions to be under $10K.
Is your intent to keep the government nose out of your business? Np. Is your intent to structure the transaction so that it avoids the CTR requirement? Then that is illegal. A $9999 transaction is pretty much evidence on it’s own about structuring, unless you have a daily cash deposit around $10000, ranging from 9K to 11k and just happens to be $9999 one day and maybe $10001 the next week or something. if you really want to keep the governments nose out of your business, then follow the law.
This is my subject of expertise. Not only 30 years of experience but ACAMs certification.
Now that being said- you are not going to jail for one structured transaction. A SAR will be filed. A FBI agent and a IRS agent will separately look at possible criminal connections or possible tax issues. Both agencies understand there are a lot of stupid people out there. The info will go into a database. Most likely, nothing will come of it.
I only know of one time a single SAR (actually a short series) had disastrous consequences. A foreign national on a green card ran a antiques business. He was on the Customs watchlist, the FBI watchlist, the IRS watchlist and even Interpol. They all knew he was smuggling stuff- most likely stolen/looted antiquities. They used that as a excuse to deport him.
It is structuring. But that would be like going 1MPH over the speed limit, is that not speeding? You very likely won’t be cited.
Say the IRS find you deliberately failed to report a couple thou on your 1040. Is that tax fraud? Sure. Are you going to have criminal sanctions? Not likely. (a fairly large civil fine, sure).
Thank you for your post and I read all of it. Take this hypo which contains no true facts. My elderly widowed mother dies. I clean out her house and find $30k in cash hidden in the bookshelves. I have it on the couch beside me. I am redneck rich and want to go to the casino.
I decide that I want to piss away half of it, $15k. But wait. I know that anything over $10k will result in a report to the government. I don’t want my name on that. It is too embarrassing. So I decide $9,900.
Then I read Dr. Deth’s post and see that would be illegal structuring so I don’t want that, so I say $9k. But that is still illegal because I am doing it to evade the reporting requirements. Even if I follow the turtles down, I am still doing it to evade the reporting requirements even if I decide on $100. How do I follow the law?
Oh simple. Just bring in all 15K.
Do not concern yourself with a CTR. CTRs do not pop your name out. You do not get examined due to a CTR by itself. There are millions of them. Do not worry about having one filed on you.
If you got audited for another reason, (say that office in the home or that Amway “business”) , then the auditor would have that record of the CTR and would ask you about it- along with many other prying questions. Just say the truth, it will be fine (inheritances are tax exempt) , and the auditor will start on that office in the home issue. Which he or she will disallow, you will owe $1000, and everyone will leave satisfied. 
I think it is important to note that withdrawing/depositing $9,999 is not illegal the issue is triggering US law enforcement or the IRS to start taking notice of you.
Is the same true when you do this with $100? Sure. But they will likely ignore you. Small potatoes.
No. I don’t want my name on any forms. My highly fundamentalist Christian mother (false) will see this from Heaven. I want my name on no forms. Can I do this without being a federal felon? Would it have made a difference if my initial determination was to only gamble $5k?
It depends. Do you tell the cashier you are only doing $5K at a time as you want to avoid filing a CTR?
You name is already on more forms than you can possible imagine.
No, this hypo is a one time thing. Is there seriously a difference if I originally wanted to gamble $15k but decided on $5k to avoid the reporting requirement instead of deciding on $5k to begin with?
That seems to me to be a “how dare you comply with the law” law.
You can deposit/withdraw any amount of money you like at any time 100% legally.
You just need to be ready to explain to the IRS where that money came from and went to.
Suppose you telephone your banker, then go to your branch the next day, pick up $1 million in cash, stuff it in a backpack, and head to the airport where you take a flight to South America. Nothing illegal about any of that, but at the same time your name will still be on “forms”, for starters you had to arrange the initial cash delivery in the first place.
ETA I can see how a true professional gambler might often walk around town with $15k in cash, never know when you might want to get in on a good poker game. Like @Whack-a-Mole says, it is 100% legal. Tax evasion wouldn’t be, though.
I get all of that and understand all of that, but the replies are fighting the hypo. It seems that once I decide that I would like to spend more than $10k in cash, then anything else I do is illegal unless I continue with that plan.
If I had originally decided to spend less than $10k, then I am perfectly fine and not a potential felon.
You are complying with the law by NOT structuring. See the magic words there are " avoid the reporting requirement". You can gamble 15K and you are perfectly complying with the law. You seem to think by keeping the transaction UNDER $10K you are complying whereas if you are over-then you are complying. Allowing the CTR to be filed is complying. Avoiding the CTR is not.
There are some issues there, you have to report cash over a certain amount taken out of the country.
Exactly! By George, I think he’s got it!
Now maybe people will understand why there is a special certification just for Money laundering experts.
Well, I’ve already hijacked the thread enough, but I don’t know how this is constitutional at all. It’s a fucking thought crime. I should be able to obey the law by obeying the law. If $10k plus in cash is bad enough to need a report, then I should be able to spend under that amount without reporting.
As I said earlier, does any other law do that? We set a limit and we see that you are skirting right up to the edge. Yes, I am. I would like to go above the limit, but I am complying with the limit.
You said 70mph on the interstate. I would love to go 85, but I am complying by going 69. Nobody then punishes you for abiding by the limit that they set.
I would like to drink at 16, but you said 21. If I am 21 years and three days old, nobody chastises you for wanting to skirt the law. You followed the rules, so you can now buy booze. If it should have been 22, then make it 22. If the law should have been $9,900 then make it that. Don’t punish people for following the law.
There is no limit on cash. You can deposit $1,000,000. There will be a form or two.
The CTR is not a limit, the $10K is not a limit.
Lots of laws go by intent.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-criminallaw/chapter/4-2-criminal-intent/
However, I am afraid George is wrong- you don’t get it. It is confusing.
Quite a few things are legal if you file the proper disclosure form, but illegal if you do not. It is generally legal to add a bathroom to your house, but you have to file a form. No form- illegal bathroom. Form- legal bathroom.
I understand. My hypo was that I want to use cash without any forms or government knowledge. And they have set $10k as the limit. But they want to punish me for pushing on that limit and even using my intent.
Why shouldn’t I be allowed to intentionally abide by a law?
The Government: If you use $10k or more in cash, there must be a report.
Me: Cool. I’ll do $9,900 in cash.
The Government: No!
Me: $9k?
The Government: Maybe, we’ll just see if we want to prosecute.
Because you are not, you are intentionally breaking the law.
Dudes- I am sorry about this. I won’t respond to him any more. I am clearly not getting through. I only lasted this long as one thing I make my living from is answering questions like this from taxpayers and people in my classes.
Yes, I am breaking a law which says that if you strictly comply with another law it is illegal.