How safe are putting money in safe boxes.Do banks keep a record of what you keep in there.A while back a friend tould me that the people working at bank would steal from boxes. I dont know if she was just pulling my tail?
How safe are putting money in safe boxes.Do banks keep a record of what you keep in there.A while back a friend tould me that the people working at bank would steal from boxes. I dont know if she was just pulling my tail?





A bank safety deposit box is 99.999999% safe from theft, by bank employees as well as anyone else. However a bank safety deposit box is NOT safe from the prying eyes of the IRS or other gov't agencies, if they should have reason to want to look. For example, if your club should be investigated for some reason, if your name and SS# show up in club applications and on club work schedules, and if IRS computers don't turn up a tax return with your name and SS# to match, this might constitute a reason for the IRS to request that your bank forward a copy of your bank account transactions. Your rental of a safety deposit box would appear in that transaction record, which could then lead to an inspection of your safety deposit box and a report of its contents being sent to the IRS.
I trust them enough. I had an "inspection" after a death in my family. That was cool, as i had nothing to hide.
Pamela
I wouldn't use a safety deposit box to hide money...
But, I have one for all of my important papers (titles on the cars, title on my home, daughter's birth certificate, etc).
Thanks for the advice.
I've been strugling with this question too. I'm still at a point financially that every dime I make becomes a money order to pay off my bills and debt, but I should be out of the red by the end of next month (check out to watch my progress).
At that point I had intended to use a safe depoist box. But judging by what Melonie says, they are not the Swiss Bank around the corner that I had hoped... Mel, is it true that there is acually 'inspections' on behalf of the IRS by bank employees? Is this first hand info that you've actually known someone who had this happen? It sounds a bit hokie, but I suppose its possible.
I was planning to get a safe deposit box at a bank other than where I keep my account, so there would be no record of the withdrawal for the 'rent' as I'd pay cash. But maybe this won't work...
I can't keep a safe in my house. There was a girl from a local club that had a safe in her house, and someone saw it (under the bathroom sink) and figured she musta had a load of cash in there. She was robbed at gun point and they scared her so bad she didn't cooperate with cops afterwords so they never got caught. She's lucky they didn't kill her.
I'm going to think of some other ideas, but I think the SD box is still a good one.
Then I'd have to switch all my $20s into $100s otherwise it would fill up too quick. Bank might ask questions about where all the $20s are from, I dunno...
PS:
CHECK MY BLOG!!!





In regard to secrecy, if the IRS is given a reason to investigate someone's finances, then the contents of a bank safety deposit box are no more secret than the transactions of their bank savings and checking accounts. Perhaps even more importantly, if the IRS chooses to play 'hardball' with a non-cooperative citizen whom the IRS feels has not reported/under reported/ or otherwise owes them money, the contents of a bank safety deposit box can be seized in the exact same way as bank savings and checking account balances.But judging by what Melonie says, they are not the Swiss Bank around the corner that I had hoped... Mel, is it true that there is acually 'inspections' on behalf of the IRS by bank employees? Is this first hand info that you've actually known someone who had this happen? It sounds a bit hokie, but I suppose its possible.





Use a sdb for important papers that you would not need immediately , I dont think they are good to stash cash in . Remember that baks are closed on Holidays and weekends so if you will need any papers better get them out .I dont use one I have a safe at home . I never have large amounts of cash at home.





I was thinking about getting a safe deposit box at the bank to store my cash in, but it sounds like it's not a good idea. I don't want to keep a safe at home either. I have renter's insurance, but my renter's insurance only covers up to $200 in cash so if there's a burglary or anything else happens to it, then I'm screwed. For now I've been keeping my cash in my checking account in the bank, but I haven't been paying taxes the last couple of years (I know, I know, bad, but I'm going to start doing them this year), so I don't want to keep too much money in the bank. Where does everyone else keep their savings? I was thinking of opening up a savings account (right now I just have a checking account)-is that a good idea?
The IRS doesn't send a request to every bank that says, "Excuse me...would you happen to have someone by the name of Pan Dah who holds an account there? Please send records of all accounts."
They can pull information based on your SS#. If you have an account in Kansas, California, and somewhere off shore, they'll find it. If you used your SS# to obtain an account, you can be assured that the IRS will be able to access it at any time they deem appropriate.
NOW...the IRS doesn't go around "checking" up on people. If you are honest on your taxes and don't do anything that would put you above the radar...then you should never have to worry about the IRS sending a supeona for any of your bank records. However, if you do something foolish like claim $20,000/year and then purchase an expensive car, a huge house, and furnish it with no financing...or finance everything with amounts that someone who is making $20,000/year could never afford...then watch out. The only time this wouldn't be a big deal is if you are married/engaged/shacking up with someone who is super rich...and hope that they are being honest on their taxes.
The IRS isn't going to "spy" on every single person...they simply do not have the time...but, if you give them a reason to audit you, then you can rest assured that if you have an account somewhere, the IRS has already requested info on it.![]()





You're absolutely right that there is a gargantuan behind the scenes network of financial info based on Social Security #'s, which includes the credit rating agencies plus all banks, credit card processors, investment houses etc, plus at least 40 state govt's who signed an info sharing agreement with the IRS, plus a number of foreign countries who signed the terrorist anti-money laundering treaty.
Just to throw a tidbit out there for what it's worth, private companies like Mailboxes Inc. were NOT part of this network. They can still be forced to provide customer info but to the best of my knowledge it takes a judge issuing a warrant instead of a few keystrokes.
Also, keep in mind that in the case of the girl who was ripped off for the entire $10,000 in her home safe, that this was not the worst case scenario. If the girl had instead put that cash in a bank safety deposit box, and if subsequently her club was busted with a record check of dancers - or an irate customer/ex-boyfriend/neighbor made an anonymous tip to the IRS - or she was simply part of the 1.5% of Americans chosen at random for audit, there's pretty good odds that the cash in her safety deposit box would be discovered. At that point, the cash serves as legal proof that she was evading taxes. This in turn provides grounds for the IRS to 'reconstruct' her actual income for at least the past 3 years. Say the IRS decides that she underreported by $30,000 a year during those 3 years. This would mean that she'd receive a bill from the IRS for somewhere around $25,000, plus penalties and interest. They'd sieze the $10,000 as partial payment, and still expect her to cough up another $15k in back taxes + $10k in penalties and interest.
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