26 U.S.C. § 6050I and 31 U.S.C. § 5324 address prohibitions on structuring payments to assist in tax evasion.  Specifically, any person who receives $10,000 or more in cash is required to report this receipt to the IRS via Form 8300.

The typical structuring scheme involves taxpayers making multiple deposits below the $10,000 threshold in order to avoid having to fill out Form 8300 and report said receipts to the IRS.

The statutory penalties for violation of the structuring transactions can be severe and are contained in 31 U.S.C. § 5324(d) as follows:

(d) Criminal Penalty.—

(1) In general.— Whoever violates this section shall be fined in accordance with title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.

(2) Enhanced penalty for aggravated cases.— Whoever violates this section while violating another law of the United States or as part of a pattern of any illegal activity involving more than $100,000 in a 12-month period shall be fined twice the amount provided in subsection (b)(3) or (c)(3) (as the case may be) of section 3571 of title 18, United States Code, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.

If you need assistance in defending claims of structuring payments or cash receipts, please contact experienced, aggressive tax attorneys today for a free consultation.  Call Norman D. McKellar toll-free at 1-877-4-TAX-SOS.

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