IRS Form 8300 (Rev. 8-2014)
Page 4
FinCEN Form 8300 (Rev. 8-2014)
Penalties. You may be subject to
penalties if you fail to file a correct and
complete Form 8300 on time and you
cannot show that the failure was due to
reasonable cause. You may also be
subject to penalties if you fail to furnish
timely a correct and complete statement
to each person named in a required
report. A minimum penalty of $25,000
may be imposed if the failure is due to
an intentional or willful disregard of the
cash reporting requirements.
Penalties may also be imposed for
causing, or attempting to cause, a trade
or business to fail to file a required
report; for causing, or attempting to
cause, a trade or business to file a
required report containing a material
omission or misstatement of fact; or for
structuring, or attempting to structure,
transactions to avoid the reporting
requirements. These violations may also
be subject to criminal prosecution which,
upon conviction, may result in
imprisonment of up to 5 years or fines of
up to $250,000 for individuals and
$500,000 for corporations or both.
Definitions
Cash. The term “cash” means the
following.
• U.S. and foreign coin and currency
received in any transaction; or
• A cashier’s check, money order, bank
draft, or traveler’s check having a face
amount of $10,000 or less that is
received in a designated reporting
transaction (defined below), or that is
received in any transaction in which the
recipient knows that the instrument is
being used in an attempt to avoid the
reporting of the transaction under either
section 6050I or 31 U.S.C. 5331.
Note. Cash does not include a check
drawn on the payer’s own account, such
as a personal check, regardless of the
amount.
Designated reporting transaction. A
retail sale (or the receipt of funds by a
broker or other intermediary in
connection with a retail sale) of a
consumer durable, a collectible, or a
travel or entertainment activity.
Retail sale. Any sale (whether or not
the sale is for resale or for any other
purpose) made in the course of a trade
or business if that trade or business
principally consists of making sales to
ultimate consumers.
Consumer durable. An item of
tangible personal property of a type
that, under ordinary usage, can
reasonably be expected to remain useful
for at least 1 year, and that has a sales
price of more than $10,000.
Collectible. Any work of art, rug,
antique, metal, gem, stamp, coin, etc.
Travel or entertainment activity. An
item of travel or entertainment that
pertains to a single trip or event if the
combined sales price of the item and all
other items relating to the same trip or
event that are sold in the same
transaction (or related transactions)
exceeds $10,000.
Exceptions. A cashier’s check, money
order, bank draft, or traveler’s check is
not considered received in a designated
reporting transaction if it constitutes the
proceeds of a bank loan or if it is
received as a payment on certain
promissory notes, installment sales
contracts, or down payment plans. See
Publication 1544 for more information.
Person. An individual, corporation,
partnership, trust, estate, association, or
company.
Recipient. The person receiving the
cash. Each branch or other unit of a
person’s trade or business is considered
a separate recipient unless the branch
receiving the cash (or a central office
linking the branches), knows or has
reason to know the identity of payers
making cash payments to other
branches.
Transaction. Includes the purchase of
property or services, the payment of
debt, the exchange of cash for a
negotiable instrument, and the receipt of
cash to be held in escrow or trust. A
single transaction may not be broken
into multiple transactions to avoid
reporting.
Suspicious transaction. A suspicious
transaction is a transaction in which it
appears that a person is attempting to
cause Form 8300 not to be filed, or to
file a false or incomplete form.
Specific Instructions
You must complete all parts. However,
you may skip Part II if the individual
named in Part I is conducting the
transaction on his or her behalf only. For
voluntary reporting of suspicious
transactions, see Item 1, next.
Item 1. If you are amending a report,
check box 1a. Complete the form in its
entirety (Parts I-IV) and include the
amended information. Do not attach a
copy of the original report.
To voluntarily report a suspicious
transaction (see Suspicious transaction
above), check box 1b. You may also
telephone your local IRS Criminal
Investigation Division or call the FinCEN
Financial Institution Hotline at
1-866-556-3974.
Part I
Item 2. If two or more individuals
conducted the transaction you are
reporting, check the box and complete
Part I on page 1 for any one of the
individuals. Provide the same
information for the other individual(s) by
completing Part I on page 2 of the form.
If more than three individuals are
involved, provide the same information in
the comments section on page 2 of the
form.
Item 6. Enter the taxpayer identification
number (TIN) of the individual named.
See Taxpayer identification number (TIN),
earlier, for more information.
Item 8. Enter eight numerals for the date
of birth of the individual named. For
example, if the individual’s birth date is
July 6, 1960, enter “07” “06” “1960.”
Item 13. Fully describe the nature of the
occupation, profession, or business (for
example, “plumber,” “attorney,” or
“automobile dealer”). Do not use general
or nondescriptive terms such as
“businessman” or “self-employed.”
Item 14. You must verify the name and
address of the named individual(s).
Verification must be made by
examination of a document normally
accepted as a means of identification
when cashing checks (for example, a
driver’s license, passport, alien
registration card, or other official
document). In item 14a, enter the type of
document examined. In item 14b,
identify the issuer of the document. In
item 14c, enter the document’s number.
For example, if the individual has a Utah
driver’s license, enter “driver’s license”
in item 14a, “Utah” in item 14b, and the
number appearing on the license in item
14c.
Note. You must complete all three items
(a, b, and c) in this line to make sure that
Form 8300 will be processed correctly.
Part II
Item 15. If the transaction is being
conducted on behalf of more than one
person (including husband and wife or
parent and child), check the box and
complete Part II for any one of the
persons. Provide the same information
for the other person(s) by completing
Part II on page 2. If more than three
persons are involved, provide the same
information in the comments section on
page 2 of the form.
Items 16 through 19. If the person on
whose behalf the transaction is being
conducted is an individual, complete
items 16, 17, and 18. Enter his or her
TIN in item 19. If the individual is a sole
proprietor and has an employer
identification number (EIN), you must
enter both the SSN and EIN in item 19.
If the person is an organization, put its
name as shown on required tax filings in
item 16 and its EIN in item 19.
Item 20. If a sole proprietor or
organization named in items 16 through
18 is doing business under a name other
than that entered in item 16 (for
example, a “trade” or “doing business
as (DBA)” name), enter it here.