Was planning on hitting the bank after work today, thought I would ask just in case there was something I was unaware of. Will deposit it all and not worry about it. All good, thanks guys!
What bank, what time and what type of vehicle do you drive? Just feeding my curiosity. 😉
I have known people from 'the old country' and they have kept ridiculous amounts of cash in their home. One guy had hundreds of thousands because he just didn't trust the banks (or basically anyone else for that matter). Some people just grew up in different times and different worlds really.
I know lots of people from 'the old country' that do the exact same thing. The vast majority of Eastern Europeans have an inherent distrust of Governments and banks.
The older ones have decent reasons, but Canada in 2014 isnt Cold War, Soviet Era Ukraine either.
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I know lots of people from 'the old country' that do the exact same thing. The vast majority of Eastern Europeans have an inherent distrust of Governments and banks.
The older ones have decent reasons, but Canada in 2014 isnt Cold War, Soviet Era Ukraine either.
yeah but who the fk are your or anyone else to question what someone does with their cash. If they want to stack a million dollars under their bed who cares. It's nobodies business why they're doing it, where it came from or anything else. I don't go up to someone and ask them "hey do you own a home? how much money do you have in equity in it. oh, 400,000 in equity? Where the heck did you get $400,000. Its ok in that case, but a few thousand in cash under your bed is "suspicious". What's suspicious is people with billions of dollars in net worth shuffling money around with high priced lawyers and accountants, not a few random people from eastern Europe that are distrusting of government and banks that stack cash or a few gold coins. Yet those are the people that get the shifty eye look and fingers pointed at. Rather ridiculous if you ask me.
if I go to the bank and they ask me where I got the money from. That's the exact same as asking me to prove where I got it from. it's a distinction without a difference. If I don't have to prove anything than I shouldn't have to answer anything. Either I'm accused of something or I'm not. ...
You've got it all wrong. The teller is not in a position to accuse you of anything when you deposit cash. His/her obligation is to get the FINTRAC form filled to comply with the regulations. The form is your declaration to the Government that your cash is not illegal, that's it. The source of cash is NOT a question on that form, I believe, but even if asked, any reasonable and true answers (i.e. I had it accumulated over years, I've had someone repaid his debt to me, sold my car for cash etc.) are OK and could not be challenged by a bank teller. Even when they personally think that you are lying and acting suspiciously, all they'd do is they would report you later for further investigation, which may or may not result in any follow-up action by authorities unless they too believe that you may be involved in illegal activities.
yeah but who the fk are your or anyone else to question what someone does with their cash. If they want to stack a million dollars under their bed who cares. It's nobodies business why they're doing it, where it came from or anything else. I don't go up to someone and ask them "hey do you own a home? how much money do you have in equity in it. oh, 400,000 in equity? Where the heck did you get $400,000. Its ok in that case, but a few thousand in cash under your bed is "suspicious". What's suspicious is people with billions of dollars in net worth shuffling money around with high priced lawyers and accountants, not a few random people from eastern Europe that are distrusting of government and banks that stack cash or a few gold coins. Yet those are the people that get the shifty eye look and fingers pointed at. Rather ridiculous if you ask me.
Okay.
In case you were unaware, I'm an accountant who specializes in Income Taxes.
So, yeah. In this day and age people, be they Government or otherwise, are suspicious about the movements of large sums of cash.
No one is saying that the Gestapo or KGB are going to search your house.
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I this day and age its idiotic to hoard massive amounts of cash in your home. Theres a reason people target specific ethnic groups for burglaries, because these people have tons of cash hidden in their homes, which is a pretty easy target.
yeah but who the fk are your or anyone else to question what someone does with their cash. If they want to stack a million dollars under their bed who cares. It's nobodies business why they're doing it, where it came from or anything else. I don't go up to someone and ask them "hey do you own a home? how much money do you have in equity in it. oh, 400,000 in equity? Where the heck did you get $400,000. Its ok in that case, but a few thousand in cash under your bed is "suspicious". What's suspicious is people with billions of dollars in net worth shuffling money around with high priced lawyers and accountants, not a few random people from eastern Europe that are distrusting of government and banks that stack cash or a few gold coins. Yet those are the people that get the shifty eye look and fingers pointed at. Rather ridiculous if you ask me.
All of this is fine, except being part of society means you submit to certain processes to avoid worse outcomes. One of those is that banks must report large cash transactions as part of normal course compliance reporting to assist in the deterrance of money laundering proceeds of crime, etc. Since the bank has to file a report, they are also obligated to ask the question as to where the source of the money was. They don't usually give a #### what the answer is, they are just a conduit for the information to the regulators and investigators. It's normal for people to have non-cash equity in assets. It's more unusual, albeit not illegal, to keep cash in such large quantities. When something is unusual, it tends to be subject to slightly more scruntiny - that's just the way things work. It's like those people in the states who proudly open carry and make a point of going into walmart with their rifles on the backs - sure, it's legal to do so, but it's atypical behavior and most people expect a higher level of due diligence when people act outside of the societal norms. In the case of cash, the societal norm is that carrying around > $10k is unusual, and most normal people feel comfortable being asked to explain the source. Taking a stance that it's none of anyone's business etc etc would be atypical for most people.
We'll skip the part where you compared standard financial reporting regulations to nazi germany.
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Anything over $1000 they may ask a question. I'm pretty sure it's protocol.
I've had no issues depositing around 1-2k. A few questions at the till, nothing more. I'm sure your financial levels in your bank account may be indicative as well. If they have your work info telling them you make $80k a year, $10k might not be as much of a flag if making that in comparison if you're only making $30k a year.
In this day of terrorism, and drug dealers, of course the government is going to look at cash basically appearing out of nowhere, they might not care if it happens once or twice, but they're certainly looking for patterns of deposits.
Its not like a terrorist group is going to wire transfer several hundred thousand dollars directly to their people in the field. Its usually moved in cash amounts and deposited in a bunch of little bank accounts.
Haha! Interestingly enough, one of my clients walked into the bank just a few minutes ago to cash a cheque from one of his less-reliable clients and was told that they cant cash his cheque because of possible laundering.
This was confirmed by the branch manager.
It appears some regulations may have recently been tightened up.
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if I go to the bank and they ask me where I got the money from. That's the exact same as asking me to prove where I got it from. it's a distinction without a difference. If I don't have to prove anything than I shouldn't have to answer anything. Either I'm accused of something or I'm not. When the Nazis were asking "papers please", it wasn't just a polite optional suggestion if you felt like it. Look at Realtor1 account. He said he had to go home and get the bill of sale to PROVE to the bank where he got the cash from. Was he lying?
What a strange sense of justice you have.
Also, Godwin's law fulfilled on the first page of a thread about depositing money at the bank is truly impressive.
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I work in a bank and I will just say yes it is our responsibilty to ask where your cash comes from. The regulators require it. And for the most part these questions protect teh client more than anything else. If you have nothing to hide who cares?
To be honest, suspicious deposits happen more behind the scene. We dont have to tell you we are filing a FINTRAC report. And most of the time nothings comes of it. But when you are withdrawing a lot cash we are definitely looking out for your own safety.
I work in a bank and I will just say yes it is our responsibilty to ask where your cash comes from. The regulators require it. And for the most part these questions protect teh client more than anything else. If you have nothing to hide who cares?
To be honest, suspicious deposits happen more behind the scene. We dont have to tell you we are filing a FINTRAC report. And most of the time nothings comes of it. But when you are withdrawing a lot cash we are definitely looking out for your own safety.
I've definitely had more questions on withdrawals than anything else. The teller just not-so-casually asking "so did you... Buy a property...??". Yes. And the mortgage is with you guys too so don't worry. You still own my soul.
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I have known people from 'the old country' and they have kept ridiculous amounts of cash in their home. One guy had hundreds of thousands because he just didn't trust the banks (or basically anyone else for that matter). Some people just grew up in different times and different worlds really.
I've dealt with this quite a bit with my job. A lot of people not originally from Canada keep large amounts of cash in their house because like you said, they don't trust the banks. So then we run into real problems when I tell them they cannot use cash for a down payment on a home, to which they cannot comprehend.
I asked my wife about this today. She's a former teller at a First Calgary branch. She said they were never required to ask a client where they got the money (though they might ask for small talk reasons) but at the end of the day, if there were any deposits over $10,000, the info was passed on to FINTRAC.
Besides making sure you aren't a criminal doesn't this help Revenue Canada keep track of any income tax dodgers? I guess if your dodging income tax you are technically some level of criminal anyways.
So, yeah. In this day and age people, be they Government or otherwise, are suspicious about the movements of large sums of cash.
No one is saying that the Gestapo or KGB are going to search your house.
To an extent, I see from where lorenavedon is coming. If we let the authorities go a bit further every so often, aren't we gradually eroding our freedoms? Are we approaching a point where we can worry?
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