CTR Filing

tcgcompliance: You absolutely need to file a CTR in this situation! Anytime someone gives you or takes over $10,000.00 in Cash it has to be reported. The question here is "What is Reasonable"? You MUST report the individual conducting the transaction. Multiple transactions are defined a few different ways... not one of them being 'cashing several checks'. As far as you know his workers may owe him money and signed their checks over to him and now he is cashing them (one transaction). Regardless, he must be reported and then comes the question of 'whats reasonable'. I can't see that the IRS would want you to send them 100 pages each with only section A of Part 1 filled out for an individual who needed to cash a $500 payroll check. That itself is a question only the IRS DCC could answer.

I would file for the individual that conducted the transaction and consider it a single transaction.

Section 103.22 (c)(2)

Multiple currency transactions shall be treated as a single transaction

if the financial instituion has knowledge that they are by or on behalf of any person

and result in either cash in or cash out totaling more than $10,000 during any one business day.

BrendaC is correct; that is the proper way (as ugly as it might be) to prepare the CTR. Next time, insist on all of the information from the conductor when the transactions are being done, or else refuse it.

I spoke with FINCEN this morning and was told to only file a CTR on the individual who took the cash. She referred me to FINCEN ruling 2000-1 http://www.fincen.gov/reg_rulings.html

The ruling that Floridian refers to doesn't address the question head on. To complete the CTR correctly, you have to know on whose behalf the checks are being cashed at the bank.

If each check is individually cashed and the proceeds separated from the proceeds of the other checks, such that it is plain that the courier is taking back a separate cash amount to each check payee (separate envelopes, perhaps), the transaction is clearly being made on behalf of the individual check payees, and there should be a separate Section A entry for each such payee.

If, on the other hand, the checks are added up and the total is given to the courier without any attempt to make separate amounts for each payee, it's apparent that the employer cashed the checks out of its own currency, and is now replenishing that cash for itself. The employer gets listed in Section A, the courier in Section B, and the individual check payees are not listed.

I'll add a suggestion: Don't allow the employer to do this again unless the employer completes all of the CTR information in Part I for you, including all the extra sheets necessary. Refuse to cash any check for which there isn't complete information (warning the employer that's your requirement). I predict it won't happen again.

Your suggestion is well taken and believe me it won't happen here again. Thanks so much for your advice and input.

I've ran into this situation many times. In most cases we convinced the business to cash one check to cover payroll. Then you can indicate the business name in Section A and the name of the person taking the cash in Section B.

If you continue to cash the checks made payable to the employees, you will need to collect information about each employee for Section A of the form.

This question came up at a recent BSA seminar. The issue of who endorses the checks should be taken into account. If your single customer signs the back of all of those employees checks, yes file the CTR, but with only one person in section b. Thats my two cents worth!!

In the scenario I described above, we knew who was benefiting from the cashed check transactions based on information provided by the individual cashing all of the checks. The proceeds of each check was placed into a separate envelope with the name of the payee for distribution by the individual when he returned to the job site. He was serving as the runner and the payees were the individuals ON WHOSE BEHALF the transactions were conducted.

If we are faced with this type of situation, we should ask who is benefiting if we don't know. The information provided by the individual can be compared to the specifics of the situation (how the checks are signed, etc.) and the CTR completed accordingly.

Thanks to all of you who responded. I am going with the FINCEN recommendation and not filing the CTR.