Tl;Dr - in-laws make high ticket purchases on eBay using my account and they pay me for the purchases. Makes me feel uneasy doing it but unless it's illegal I can't easily just say no. Am I getting myself into future trouble?

My in-laws have seasoned, fluid cash that is gotten legally from 1099 contract jobs, and they also have expensive tastes. They frequently find items on ebay that are high ticket amounts and they total way over the CTR limits.

Since they don't have an ebay account of their own and only a basic credit union account, they are putting the cash in my account (with a national association traditional bank) and I make the purchases on their behalf using my debit card. 

We've never structured the transactions, but they total easily over $25k over a month or so.

My personal financial picture is very different usually, and this amount is equal to half my yearly salary(!) - very uncharacteristic for my usual deposit activity.

Am I opening myself up for liability? Would FinCEN refer the CTR to the IRS and trigger them to want to tax me on these deposits as earned income? I only want to assist them in purchasing the things they want as they can't make the transaction on their own, I don't want to trigger any sort of money laundering investigation.

It makes me feel uncomfortable though, but without any sort of legal framework suggesting this is a breach of my banks terms and conditions or federal law, I find it difficult to say no to their requests. Any money they deposit is a 100% pass-through and I do not earn anything from doing this.

Any constructive advice is appreciated. Thanks.
It's understandable you'll feel uneasy about this situation. While it may not necessarily be illegal, it can certainly raise red flags with financial entities, including your bank, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the IRS. 

Here are some potential issues:

1. **Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR)**: Banks are required to file SARs for any suspected fraudulent or unusual activity. Large, inconsistent deposits into your account from others could certainly qualify. This could lead to your account being flagged, frozen or even closed.

2. **Gift Tax**: If the IRS views the money your in-laws are depositing into your account as gifts, they might be subject to gift taxes if they exceed the annual exclusion limit ($15,000 per person for 2021).

3. **Income Tax**: The IRS could potentially view the money your in-laws are transferring to you as income. This could lead to you being taxed on this income, even though you're not actually keeping the money.

4. **Money Laundering**: While you know the source of the money is legitimate, large transfers of money can raise suspicions of money laundering, especially if they are regular and over certain amounts.

5. **Fraud**: If your in-laws were to dispute the transactions at some point, or if they were to become unable to pay you for any reason, you could be held responsible for the debt.

The safest course of action would be to stop facilitating these transactions. Your in-laws should open their own eBay account and link it to their bank account. If they are hesitant or unable to do this, encourage them to seek the help of a financial advisor or consider using a pre-paid card that they can load with their own money for online purchases. 

Remember, it's always important to protect yourself financially. If something feels wrong, it's always worth exploring why that might be and taking steps to rectify the situation.
### Human
Tl;Dr - in-laws make high ticket purchases on eBay using my account and they pay me for the purchases. Makes me feel uneasy doing it but unless it's illegal I can't easily just say no. Am I getting myself into future trouble?

My in-laws have seasoned, fluid cash that is gotten legally from 1099 contract jobs, and they also have expensive tastes. They frequently find items on ebay that are high ticket amounts and they total way over the CTR limits.

Since they don't have an ebay account of their own and only a basic credit union account, they are putting the cash in my account (with a national association traditional bank) and I make the purchases on their behalf using my debit card. 

We've never structured the transactions, but they total easily over $25k over a month or so.

My personal financial picture is very different usually, and this amount is equal to half my yearly salary(!) - very uncharacteristic for my usual deposit activity.

Am I opening myself up for liability? Would FinCEN refer the CTR to the IRS and trigger them to want to tax me on these deposits as earned income? I only want to assist them in purchasing the things they want as they can't make the transaction on their own, I don't want to trigger any sort of money laundering investigation.

It makes me feel uncomfortable though, but without any sort of legal framework suggesting this is a breach of my banks terms and conditions or federal law, I find it difficult to say no to their requests. Any money they deposit is a 100% pass-through and I do not earn anything from doing this.

Any constructive advice is appreciated. Thanks.

### Assistant
It's understandable you'll feel uneasy about this situation. While it may not necessarily be illegal, it can certainly raise red flags with financial entities, including your bank, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the IRS. 

Here are some potential issues:

1. **Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR)**: Banks are required to file SARs for any suspected fraudulent or unusual activity. Large, inconsistent deposits into your account from others could certainly qualify. This could lead to your account being flagged, frozen or even closed.

2. **Gift Tax**: If the IRS views the money your in-laws are depositing into your account as gifts, they might be subject to gift taxes if they exceed the annual exclusion limit ($15,000 per person for 2021).

3. **Income Tax**: The IRS could potentially view the money your in-laws are transferring to you as income. This could lead to you being taxed on this income, even though you're not actually keeping the money.

4. **Money Laundering**: While you know the source of the money is legitimate, large transfers of money can raise suspicions of money laundering, especially if they are regular and over certain amounts.

5. **Fraud**: If your in-laws were to dispute the transactions at some point, or if they were to become unable to pay you for any reason, you could be held responsible for the debt.

The safest course of action would be to stop facilitating these transactions. Your in-laws should open their own eBay account and link it to their bank account. If they are hesitant or unable to do this, encourage them to seek the help of a financial advisor or consider using a pre-paid card that they can load with their own money for online purchases. 

Remember, it's always important to protect yourself financially. If something feels wrong, it's always worth exploring why that might be and taking steps to rectify the situation.<eos_token>