Possibility of sheltering cash transactions from IRS

[liposuction]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Washington

I recently signed a consulting contract with a Fortune 500 company to do some analysis for them. It's a one time deal for three months of work and I'll be paid essentially as straight cash (about 35K total). The company has decided to treat me as a vendor and cut me regular Purchase Order checks. I haven't incorporated myself since it's really only a one time gig and additionally the company will be reimbursing all of my expenses so I wouldn't have much to deduct if I did register as a small business.

So the question is can I simply not report this to the IRS at all? The key paper trail to the IRS obviously will be the set of payments made to me by the company for my work and expenses and which will be on the company’s books. However, this is an $8 billion company with hundreds of vendors so my $35K will almost certainly be lost in the noise.
The other key issue that comes to mind is the Form 8300 issue with the specter of incurring criminal liability for failing to report any cash transaction over $10,000. However this could be mitigated by breaking up the payments into smaller chunks and dispersing those over several bank accounts. Is there any other way for the IRS to track this routinely? Obviously if they did a comparison between the company’s books and my individual return it would be caught, but I doubt that happens routinely.

Thoughts?

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Originally Posted by liposuction

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Washington

I recently signed a consulting contract with a Fortune 500 company to do some analysis for them. It's a one time deal for three months of work and I'll be paid essentially as straight cash (about 35K total). The company has decided to treat me as a vendor and cut me regular Purchase Order checks. I haven't incorporated myself since it's really only a one time gig and additionally the company will be reimbursing all of my expenses so I wouldn't have much to deduct if I did register as a small business.

So the question is can I simply not report this to the IRS at all? The key paper trail to the IRS obviously will be the set of payments made to me by the company for my work and expenses and which will be on the company’s books. However, this is an $8 billion company with hundreds of vendors so my $35K will almost certainly be lost in the noise.
The other key issue that comes to mind is the Form 8300 issue with the specter of incurring criminal liability for failing to report any cash transaction over $10,000. However this could be mitigated by breaking up the payments into smaller chunks and dispersing those over several bank accounts. Is there any other way for the IRS to track this routinely? Obviously if they did a comparison between the company’s books and my individual return it would be caught, but I doubt that happens routinely.

Thoughts?

My response:

Thoughts? Yes, here's my "thought" - - you're an idiot.

This isn't FreeViolateTheLaw. It's FreeAdvice - - as in, Free Legal Advice.

What the hell is wrong with you, anyway? What could possibly make you think that any one of us is going to assist you to commit tax fraud? Hey, if you want to relocate to, and spend about 4 years in Kansas, that's your business; just don't involve this site.

Go away, idiot.

IAAL

[anteater]

Originally Posted by liposuction

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Washington

I recently signed a consulting contract with a Fortune 500 company to do some analysis for them. It's a one time deal for three months of work and I'll be paid essentially as straight cash (about 35K total). The company has decided to treat me as a vendor and cut me regular Purchase Order checks. I haven't incorporated myself since it's really only a one time gig and additionally the company will be reimbursing all of my expenses so I wouldn't have much to deduct if I did register as a small business.

So the question is can I simply not report this to the IRS at all? The key paper trail to the IRS obviously will be the set of payments made to me by the company for my work and expenses and which will be on the company’s books. However, this is an $8 billion company with hundreds of vendors so my $35K will almost certainly be lost in the noise.
The other key issue that comes to mind is the Form 8300 issue with the specter of incurring criminal liability for failing to report any cash transaction over $10,000. However this could be mitigated by breaking up the payments into smaller chunks and dispersing those over several bank accounts. Is there any other way for the IRS to track this routinely? Obviously if they did a comparison between the company’s books and my individual return it would be caught, but I doubt that happens routinely.

Thoughts?

And, you don't think that the company will ask you to complete a W-9? And then issue a 1099 to you and the IRS by 1/31/06? By the way, don't you think that those expense reimbursements will show up on that 1099?

Best spend your time reading up on estimated tax payments, self-employment taxes, and Schedule C instead of dreaming about defrauding the Feds.