§6867 Presumptions where owner of large amount of cash is not identified

Summary

If a person is holding more than $10,000 in cash and does not say it is theirs or name someone the government can easily find who admits it is theirs, the government will count the whole amount as income for the tax year when they had the cash. That income is taxed at the highest rate listed in section 1. For tax collection rules, the possessor is treated as the taxpayer for purposes of chapters 63 and 64 and section 7429(a)(1), unless later changed as below. If the government later stops that assessment and instead assesses the true owner, the new assessment is treated as if it began on the date of the first assessment. Cash includes cash equivalents. A cash equivalent means foreign money, bearer obligations, or other kinds of exchange often used in illegal activity and listed by the Secretary. Bearer obligations count at face value; other cash equivalents count at fair market value.