Form 8300 Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business is required to be filed by a person who in the course of a trade or business receives a cash payment of $10,000 or more from a buyer as a result of a single transaction or two or more related transactions. Installment payments which cause total cash received within one year of the initial payment to exceed $10,000 are also reportable on Form 8300.
A “person” for the purposes of Form 8300 includes an individual, a company, a corporation, a partnership, an association, a trust or an estate. A transaction includes: the sale of goods, services, or property; cash exchanged for other cash; a contribution made to a trust or escrow account; a loan made or repaid; or cash converted to a negotiable instrument, such as a check or bond. It is important to note, that Form 8300 must only be filed for transactions occurring in the course of your trade or business, so for example a jeweler who sells his personal automobile for more than $10,000 in cash does not need to file Form 8300 for that transaction. Transactions do not need to be reported if they occur entirely outside the United States, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and any possession or territory of the United States.
Cash includes coins and currency of the United States or other countries, or a cashier’s check, bank draft, traveler’s check, or money order if the face amount is $10,000 or less and it is received in: (1) a designated reporting transaction; or (2) any transaction where you know the payer is trying to avoid reporting under Form 8300. A designated reporting transaction for the purposes of Form 8300 are retail sales of:
(1) A consumer durable, such as an automobile or boat. A consumer durable is property, excluding land and buildings, that: (a) Are suitable for personal use; (b) can reasonably be expected to last at least 1 year under ordinary use; (c) has a sales price of more than $10,000; and (d) can be seen or touched (tangible property).
(2) A collectible (artwork, rare stamps, antiques, etc.)
(3) Travel or entertainment where the total sales price of all items sold for the same trip or entertainment event in one transaction (or related transactions) is more than $10,000.
