Law on buying cars with cash
Discussion
I bought a car from auction for £11,000. Tried to pay in cash but the woman behind the desk said that the most she could take in one go is £9000 because that was the 'money laundering' limit! She got around this by taking the whole 11k but putting it down on invoice as a 9k deposit and then a final payment of 2k!
I thought this was strange at the time but she said it was the only way to do it because of the money laundering laws! Anyone else experienced this??
I thought this was strange at the time but she said it was the only way to do it because of the money laundering laws! Anyone else experienced this??
mel said:
I can, It's not unusual for me to have upto £5K ish around and avaliable, I tend to simply collect and squirrel it then buy daft things or go on holidays, add into that the sale of a couple of toys (I've often privately sold cars and bikes and been paid upto £5K in cash) it wouldn't be hard if someone was a bit more extreme than me for them to have that sort of money kicking around.
£5K isn't £16K though. OK, someone *could* amass £16K in cash, but it isn't a normal thing to do. And if you can explain it, then it's fine.mel said:
It also depends on what industry you work in I know several people who work in legitimate trades from sparkies, builders, roofers, plumbers even carpet fitters who struggle to spend their cash pots. They often get paid cash,
Of course they do. It's not legitimate though, otherwise they'd pay it into the bank.mel said:
(now days remember that copper is up around £4-£5K / tonne for scrap and scrap is always paid in cash)
...and why would any private individual have several tonnes of scrap copper?okenemem said:
How long do u think it will take before they contact him
They might not. Generally I don't think they are interested in "small fry" however if he suddenly started purchasing a few items for in excess of 5k cash they might get interested.Gallen, yes it is not quite right but it is a fairly hard law to try to cut down on drug dealers and proceeds of crime. I agree that it can be a challenge but if you work hard and get paid well then you will be able to explain it easily enough. It's those people who are on say JSA but purchasing a few items a year for 5-10k cash.............. i.e. there is no reason why they should have that money. Of course, they may have an inheritance which again can be easily squared away.
I don't think it's unusual to have that sort of money outside of the bank be it in cash, or in assets that are bought and paid for. The latter of which, if I sold would not go back in to the bank as I wouldn't want those stealing b
ds taking charges out of it, or come to think of it, trust myself not to dip in to it for non-boys-toys stuff!
SO. if I ever got stopped with that sort of cash I doubt I could show where it came from, but as I've worked since I was 17, never signed on or claimed for anything and don't spunk cash on lavish annual holidays, I'd be fking pissed off if it was taken from me just because there were no large lump-sum withdrawals on my bank statements.
ds taking charges out of it, or come to think of it, trust myself not to dip in to it for non-boys-toys stuff!SO. if I ever got stopped with that sort of cash I doubt I could show where it came from, but as I've worked since I was 17, never signed on or claimed for anything and don't spunk cash on lavish annual holidays, I'd be f
king pissed off if it was taken from me just because there were no large lump-sum withdrawals on my bank statements.Having 16k in cash and no means whatsoever of showing where it comes from is a bit unusual. However it's rare for anyone with an actual job and business to fall foul. It's normally bloke who is unemployed but drives a brand new rangie every few months. Normal those who also have criminal convictions.
Proceeds of crime stuff is not easy to prove.
Proceeds of crime stuff is not easy to prove.
Indeed, there is no law against buying a £16k car for cash. There is an obligation on the dealer to report the transaction as it is over the notifiable limit but that doesn't necessarily happen
It is not unheard of for the dealer to avoid the hassle of reporting by putting it through as cash deposits on, say, 3 cars.
Also, one transaction of £16k is very unlikely to cause anyone to be investigated ime
It is not unheard of for the dealer to avoid the hassle of reporting by putting it through as cash deposits on, say, 3 cars.
Also, one transaction of £16k is very unlikely to cause anyone to be investigated ime
It seems a slightly strange rule anyway. Surely bob the builder who doesn't like tax paying just purchases his first car for £7000 cash, and then trades it in after 6 months for car2 with another £7000 cash. After a few years he has a nice motor with no alarm bells ringing at HMRC and no need to prove where the cash came from. Maybe I'm just Mr Cynical.
Reminds me of a girl friend's father who'd recently come into some money (this was about 1970).
He'd always wanted to own a racehorse, so flew over to Ireland to talk to a couple of breeders. Mind made up, he said "OK, I'll have that one! Will a cheque be OK?"....
"Well, now sorr, 'tis not quite as easy as that. Oi'll need to speak to your bank."
"OK - could I have a whiskey whilst I wait?"
"Aaah - sorry sorr, but oi don't tink so..."
Much "Hello Paddy, would yer be puttin' me through to England, please" type conversations went on. Finally:
"Ah really? Well now, well now, and dere's a ting... (click) Ah, could I be gettin' you a drink, sorr?"
GF's dad had just sold half his business for about £4M. A tidy sum in 1970! The racehorse did well - and his delightful daughter is now a grandmother and just as sweet and lovely as ever she was when she was 17!
If ever I came into significant wonga, I'd play it as cool as possible when paying it in to the bank, just for the hell of it!
He'd always wanted to own a racehorse, so flew over to Ireland to talk to a couple of breeders. Mind made up, he said "OK, I'll have that one! Will a cheque be OK?"....
"Well, now sorr, 'tis not quite as easy as that. Oi'll need to speak to your bank."
"OK - could I have a whiskey whilst I wait?"
"Aaah - sorry sorr, but oi don't tink so..."
Much "Hello Paddy, would yer be puttin' me through to England, please" type conversations went on. Finally:
"Ah really? Well now, well now, and dere's a ting... (click) Ah, could I be gettin' you a drink, sorr?"
GF's dad had just sold half his business for about £4M. A tidy sum in 1970! The racehorse did well - and his delightful daughter is now a grandmother and just as sweet and lovely as ever she was when she was 17!
If ever I came into significant wonga, I'd play it as cool as possible when paying it in to the bank, just for the hell of it!
Edited by nickwilcock on Thursday 5th May 21:22
a mate of my bro had a gramp in ireland,minted he was called him over as he had somthing for him,gave him 20 large in euros.he brought it back in his pockets ,now how the fk do you explain that away.he then went and changed it in the travell agents in a couple of smaller amounts, said hed one on the horses or somthing like that
k do you explain that away.he then went and changed it in the travell agents in a couple of smaller amounts, said hed one on the horses or somthing like that okenemem said:
Mate of mine bought a audi tt , from a car dealer. He paid 16 grand cash notes.
My understanding of the law is that if you go to a car dealer with that amount of cash police would be called and you would be arrested for money laundering.
well your understanding is wrong, although questions may be asked ... My understanding of the law is that if you go to a car dealer with that amount of cash police would be called and you would be arrested for money laundering.
Deva Link said:
...and why would any private individual have several tonnes of scrap copper?
i know we( my brother and I) weighed in over 100 kg of copper when my dad passed away, there were several sacks of old stripped wire and plumbing fittings that had been accumulated over the the 20+ years he'd lived in that house from DIY ( and had he not died early icould only see it growing) ... I can see a sparkie or plumber amassing quite a few kilos of offcuts and the like a week ... and saving it up until there's enough to fill the van / trailer to take to the scrappie...
eskidavies said:
a mate of my bro had a gramp in ireland,minted he was called him over as he had somthing for him,gave him 20 large in euros.he brought it back in his pockets ,now how the fk do you explain that away.
One of my colleagues got several €K for one of our French guys and he thought nothing of it when the bank gave it him in €500 notes. French guy went bonkers - no-one will take them in France in case they're forged and if you try to change them in a bank they want to know where you got them.k do you explain that away.Apparently the US Government is calling for them to be done away with as they make transporting large values of cash too easy.
Not just cash transactions either, mates girl sold her R32 and the guy she sold it to was her pals b/f, they both banked with HBOS so he did a 20K transfer and both their accounts were frozen and all kinds of hassle ensued! Took over a month to get it sorted out despite showing the bank the V5 tear off with the new keeper bit filled in, incompetence was unbelievable!
Gary
Gary
TomJS said:
After a few years he has a nice motor with no alarm bells ringing at HMRC and no need to prove where the cash came from.
...unless of course HMRC in the meantime undertake a Personal Tax or VAT inspection and decide that the value of his assets does not readily equate with his declared income 
Deva Link said:
Gallen said:
Not really a strange position to be in is it really??? (I dont think it is anyway)
I think that's a very strange position to be in.OK, you can make up scenarios, but I can't think of a legitimate reason why a normal person would have £16K in cash.
It's OK if you're a certain religion though, because they don't use banks so only deal in cash.
£16K seems alot of money to most people, but I bet the butty wagon outside Rolls Royce in Derby turns over that in 2 week in cash, with 10,000 tame employees and a crap canteen.
Deva Link said:
It's OK if you're a certain religion though, because they don't use banks so only deal in cash.
If that's the religion I think you're talking about, they have their own banks that do various things to provide the services they want while getting around their prohibition on lending money with interest- and given how much money some followers of that religion have, a lot of ordinary banks are opening special divisions to get in on the act. They certainly don't "only deal in cash"- I mean a few might, but you get people who don't trust banks and keep their cash under the mattress everywhere.If a follower of this religion wants to buy a car that they need finance on, instead of going to the bank for a loan they go to the bank and say "I want to buy this car". The bank then buys it, sells it on to them at a markup, and lets them pay by instalments. The net result is the same (person gets car, payments spread out, bank makes profit), but the bank's not charging interest- it's selling something at a profit.
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