The 15 days requirement. Does that mean that the bank should mail the CTRs within 15 days of date of transaction. Or that the IRS should actually receive them within the 15 days of date of transaction?

Good question. The instructions say "Filed" within 15 days. I think that a reasonable person would say that this means you have until day 15 to drop it in the mail box, but some banks have been criticized by their examiners (mostly FDIC from what I hear) that the CTR's must be RECEIVED by FinCEN by the 15th day.

You've got a good argument that you have until the 15th day to mail the CTR, but it is just that . . . an argument.

Dottie, David gave you a good answer. If you're supervised by the FDIC and want to move beyond an "argument" status, a call to your main examiner might help.

This is first hand experience. An FDIC examiner brought to me a handful of CTRs where the date of signature was 13 to 14 days from the date of the transaction. She was very annoyed that the bank would wait so long to file the CTRs in this case, but she said that at least we sent them on time. If that bank waited 13 to 14 days before the CTR was completed and sent, I know it takes more than 1 or 2 days for mail to get from New Orleans to Detroit. Of course, that is only from one examiner's POV.

Thank you both. We have the IRS stamp a confirmation receipt letter and send it back. The auditors are looking at the transaction date and the date of the receipt stamp and not when they were actually sent. There is actually only one day they documented that it was sent on the 15th day. The others they documented were sent a few days before. Why say we have 15 days, if we don't really have 15 days? I really think I need to argue this one.

I would point out the standard time requirements for IRS filing is based on postmark. You don't have to ensure that your tax returns get to the IRS by the 15th of April. Have them show you in black and white where it says they have to received by them by that date - they can't. I would fight this one too.

Actually, the reg says "filed by the financial institution within 15 days following the day on which the reportable transaction occurred." I was counting the day the transaction occurred, so we definitely sent them "within" 15 days. Thanks everyone for your help.

OCC also made note that we should have CTRs mailed out by the 13th day - any CTRs dated after the 13th day are always brought to our attention. Along the same lines of filing CTRs - has anyone been criticized for not having any type of verification that the IRS has received the CTR? Dottie mentioned that she has a confirmation sent back - I've heard chatter that it's a "good idea" and I don't disagree, however we just send them standard mail - we don't have a lot - about 10/week but just curious if anyone has heard whether examiners have been suggesting that confirmation be requested? We're hoping to begin filing electronically in the near future but in the mean time...? THANKS!

This past year we changed from standard paper filing to electronic filing. I have to say electronic filing is extremely easier and more simple; and you get an automatic email confirmation from the DCC that the CTR/SAR/DEP were received. When we had paper copies filed we did not have examiners question about an acknowledgement. In our opinion the CTR's were mailed within the appropriate time frame and it's out of our hands once the CTR hits the mailbox. It shouldn't be the bank's fault if the mailed CTR doesn't arrive at the DCC. One other item I wanted to inquire about for those who file via paper filing - does it really take you up to the 15th day to file CTR's? I know we generally file within 1-2 days of the CTR transaction. Wasn't sure why some people wait until the last minute to file CTR's. Just my thoughts.

FDIC definately beat that drum here too. We are all the way out in New Mexico and discovered that if we didn't mail it within about 8 days, they would consider it "late." I've switched to electronic filing and absolutely love it.

As far as waiting until the "last minute," if it is multiple transactions and the tellers didn't realize at the time that a CTR would need to be filed . . . let's just say some folks aren't real fast getting back to us with their info.