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Thread: Money order?

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    Default Money order?

    Hi ladies I really need your help!
    I hope this hasn't been discussed already...

    i was wondering, if you want to pay your bills (like heat/electricity/internet/cell/etc) or even rent in cash, how do you do it? do you use money orders? prepaid credit cards? Can money orders/prepaid credit cards be tracked?

    any help would be extremely appreciated!

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    Default Re: Money order?

    Why? Trying to live off the grid?

    An account (utilities, etc.) can be tracked.
    Quote Originally Posted by The Snark View Post
    But then I suppose the sort of people who write this kind of crap generally don't allow their opinions to be tainted by things like "facts" and "reality".
    Distortion becomes somehow pure in its wildness
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    Default Re: Money order?

    To factually answer your question, there is no 'automatic reporting' of money order transactions provided that the person doesn't attempt to purchase money orders totalling $1000 or more from the same financial institution on the same day. However, money orders CAN be tracked retroactively if some official investigative agency is given reasonable cause to go snooping. Even so, money orders require far more effort to track than credit card accounts - prepaid or otherwise.

    At one point in my life, when I had potential financial dispute issues with my ex-husband, I closed all checking accounts, all credit card accounts etc. and paid every single bill either in cash (in person) or via money order (through the mail). I did this to avoid creating an 'open book' one stop financial record of my deposits and expenditures that could be easily subpoena'd by a family court. Legally speaking, the same information could be subpoena'd and 'assembled' from money order records - but in practical terms this would require 100 times as much investigative work (and cost) as sending a single subpoena to a bank requesting all checking account and credit card records in my name.
    Last edited by Melonie; 03-28-2009 at 01:18 PM.

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    Default Re: Money order?

    thank you ladies

    Melonie u seem like u know it allllll when it comes to $$
    i enjory reading ur posts a lot!

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    Default Re: Money order?

    Trust me I definitely don't 'know it all'. What I have learned has been the result of personal 'school of hard knocks', combined with lots of years listening to stockbrokers / attorneys / gov't officials / corporate hacks talk amongst themselves in Manhattan VIP rooms !

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    Default Re: Money order?

    Hi Melonie,

    Not sure about what you pay out, but couldn't your income be derived by simply subpoening your tax statements?

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    Default Re: Money order?

    it can be derived other ways, but it is more difficult to do so when people pay mainly with money orders. although, less difficult than was previously true, as money-order companies are often the same as payday loan companies, which are subpoenable easily enough (since they cash paychecks and all).

    paying in cash is fairly hard to trace, but paying via money order is less and less hard to trace. we can kind of thank corporate consolidation for that.

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Money order?

    Not sure about what you pay out, but couldn't your income be derived by simply subpoening your tax statements?
    Technically, yes. However the IRS has had great difficulty trying to subpoena financial information regarding American account holders from Swiss Bank UBS (who has recently placed every single US branch up for sale in order to stay clear of US jurisdiction). Same holds true so far for US account holders in gov't sponsored central American banks that do not conduct any business within the US.

    There's also the IRS fine print which includes a huge legal tax exemption for the first $91,000 worth of income earned outside of the USA ! This can include dividends and cap gain earnings on US stocks and bonds that are held / traded by a brokerage that is located outside the USA with the proceeds being channeled to a non-US bank.

    Between these two 100% legal 'loopholes', as long as I don't spend more than 30 days per year within US borders, my US tax liability (and NY state tax liability) on anything up to $91k of income will be zero !!! In terms of 'cash value' of these tax savings, at a combined tax rate approaching 40%, I'm getting 'paid' about $35k per year to live south of the border.

    Obviously, were I still living and banking in New York, it would be a very simple matter for the IRS or NY tax agency to request my bank and brokerage statements ... which in turn would show a complete paper trail.


    paying via money order is less and less hard to trace. we can kind of thank corporate consolidation for that.
    This is absolutely true ... within the US these days there really isn't any financial transaction that isn't traceable, given sufficient motivation and sufficient investigative effort (and expense). However, using money orders - and particularly using money orders from several different sources in combination (i.e. US Postal Service, American Express, WalMart Bank, local credit union cashier's check etc.) usually makes the difficulty factor high enough to dissuade any 'casual' investigation attempt.

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    Default Re: Money order?

    Melonie, that entire post just blew my mind. lol Where can I find more information in this realm of tax law and overseas living? Any sources you could point us to?

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    Default Re: Money order?

    I'm certainly not advocating the expatriate option, but you'll find a simple overview here ...

    ( this year's foreign income ceiling is $91k ) Note that 'special arrangements' need to be made in order to legally 'convert' foreign capital gains income (which is ordinarily taxable) into foreign salary income ( which qualifies for the $91k income exclusion )



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    Last edited by Melonie; 03-31-2009 at 02:54 AM.

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