/biz/ - Business & Finance

So you heard the stories about people selling to undercover feds on Local Bitcoins and being arrested for being "unlicensed money transmitters". Thought if you just cash out small amounts to your bank over time through an exchange you will be fine? Maybe... but you should also be warned about this:

WARNING. Cashing out less than $10,000 on a regular basis COULD land you in 5 years in jail and have your money seized based on being suspected of "structuring".

Quick run down on structuring:

>The Bank Secrecy Act requires banks to report customer transactions of more than $10,000 to the IRS.
>If they SUSPECT that you’re breaking up your transactions to amounts less than $10,000 with the INTENT of skirting these reporting requirements, they are required to submit a suspicious activity report.
>This is a crime known as “structuring” or “smurfing”.
>It’s punishable with 5 years of prison and/or a fine.
>Sums of money resulting from deposits less than $10,000 may be seized after a warrant is issued based on a suspicious report.
>They rely on the fact that legal proceedings cost $20,000 or more for an innocent person to retrieve his money to “seize” (steal) people’s money.
>The banks are not allowed to warn their customers that they’re under investigation.
>91% of IRS seizures for “structuring” involved LAWFUL taxpayers.


muh sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structuring
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2017/04/05/91-of-irs-seizures-for-structuring-involve-lawful-taxpayers/#5df274f15123
http://reason.com/blog/2017/04/04/irs-seized-17-million-from-innocent-busi