Does receiving 10k+ checks trigger form 8300 for banks? Need advice on large electronics sale

You don't need to worry about Form 8300 in this case. Form 8300 is actually filed by businesses that receive more than $10,000 in cash for a transaction, not by individuals receiving checks. Since you're receiving a certified check and not physical cash, Form 8300 doesn't apply to your situation. That said, banks are required to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) for cash transactions over $10,000, but again, a certified check doesn't qualify as "cash" for this purpose. Your bank may still file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) if they feel the deposit is unusual for your account pattern, but this is done without your knowledge and doesn't require any action from you. Just make sure you report this income on your tax return since it sounds like this is effectively business income from buying and reselling items. You'll want to track your costs (what you paid your company) to deduct from the sales price to determine your actual profit.

I went through something similar last year when I was helping liquidate my uncle's estate which included a large electronics collection. I was getting confused about all the tax implications until I found this AI tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me a ton of headaches. You just upload any docs related to your situation and it explains exactly what forms you need and what you don't. I was worried about the same Form 8300 stuff and potential audit flags, but after using taxr.ai I learned I was overthinking it. The tool explains everything in simple terms and helped me understand what I actually needed to document for my specific situation. Might be worth checking out since your situation has some nuances with it being company property you're reselling.

I was genuinely skeptical about taxr.ai when it was mentioned here, but I decided to give it a try with a similar situation (selling off business equipment I acquired). Honestly, I was impressed by how specific the guidance was. It analyzed my purchase contract and sales agreement, then broke down exactly how to report the transaction, what forms I needed, and even identified deductions I could take for expenses related to the sale. The best part was it confirmed I didn't need to worry about Form 8300 for my situation, but it did flag that I needed to handle the income reporting properly to avoid audit triggers. It gave me specific Schedule D instructions rather than the Schedule C approach I was planning to use, which apparently would have been incorrect. Saved me from making a mistake that might have caused issues later.

If you're nervous about your bank flagging this transaction, you might want to know that you can actually speak directly with the IRS to get clarity. Most people don't realize this, but I recently discovered a service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that gets you through to an actual IRS agent in minutes instead of spending hours on hold. I was in a similar situation with a large deposit from selling some property and wanted to make sure I was handling everything correctly. Used Claimyr (there's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) and got connected to an IRS rep who explained exactly what I needed to know about large deposits and reporting requirements. Gave me peace of mind knowing I had official guidance instead of just internet advice.

I need to apologize about my skeptical comment earlier. After my accountant recommended the same Claimyr service, I reluctantly tried it last week for a question about a large payment I received selling my old business equipment (similar to your situation). I was completely shocked when I was connected to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes after previously wasting 2+ hours on hold. The agent confirmed exactly what others here said - Form 8300 isn't something you need to worry about as the individual receiving a check. They also gave me specific documentation recommendations for large unusual deposits to avoid potential questions. Having that official confirmation directly from the IRS gave me peace of mind that internet research never could. Sometimes being proven wrong is actually a good thing!

Make sure you track your basis in this transaction! Since you're buying the MacBooks from your company and then reselling them, your profit isn't the full $45k - it's the difference between what you sell them for and what you paid your company for them. I learned this the hard way last year when I did something similar with office furniture during a closure. Also keep all documentation from both transactions (purchase from company and sale to the buyer). If the deposit does trigger any questions from your bank (unlikely with a certified check but still possible), having clean documentation of the source of funds makes any inquiries easy to resolve.

Just wanted to add that if you're worried about your bank asking questions, you can proactively contact them before making the deposit. I sold my boat last year for $32k and got a cashier's check. Called my bank beforehand, explained the situation, and they noted my account. Made the deposit super smooth and they even waived the normal hold period since I gave them a heads up.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is keeping records of the equipment's depreciated value from your company's books if possible. When businesses sell off old equipment, they often have it listed at a depreciated book value that's much lower than what you might actually sell it for. If your company can provide documentation showing the equipment's book value when you purchased it, that helps establish a clear paper trail for the transaction. Also, since you mentioned the buyer is a local computer refurb company, they'll likely have their own documentation requirements for purchasing inventory. Make sure you get a proper invoice or purchase agreement from them that clearly states what equipment is being sold. This creates a clean business-to-business transaction record that banks and the IRS can easily understand if questions ever come up. The certified check approach is definitely the way to go - it's much cleaner than splitting payments, which could actually create more paperwork and potential confusion rather than less.