Korean Job Discussion Forums

[thomas pars]

I want to send 10,000USD from my Korean Woori account to my
bank account back in the States. Can I do this? Can i do this without
any taxes/excessive fees?

Cheers.

[West Coast Tatterdemalion]

I'm not sure, but I think that $10,000 is the magic number that banks will look at and tend to scrutinize more(perhaps apply taxes, etc...not sure). I think I read that on Dave's someplace once. I've never sent that much at one time from Korea back home. I'm sure someone else that has experience doing it will respond. Good luck.

[willteachforfood]

[West Coast Tatterdemalion]

I've had that amount(and more) in my bank account at one time. I just said that I thought I read somewhere on Dave's of the banks taking a longer look(perhaps on both ends) at such an amount. Damn, chill out...

[Chokse]

It WILL get automatically flagged by the bank and the information WILL be sent to the IRS. I know because my bank informed me that the IRS looked into my account and transfers (I had several transfers of over $10,000, each year for several years).

That being said, as long as you do not send back more in one year than you declare as overseas income on your tax return, everything will be fine (I always sent back about 90% of what I claimed as income on my taxes... and yeah, I know, it makes no sense that you could live on only 10% of your income for a year, but the IRS doesn't seem to care about that).

If you're really paranoid about it, send an non-rounded amount just under $10,000 (like $9,879) and no one will look into it.

[davemon]

[jackson7]

Having the IRS look at your account isn't a bad thing unless you're trying to hide something, but most Americans here are making less than the 90K+ that is tax-free anyway, so it's usually a non-issue. When I worked in Iraq I was making more than the limit, so I had to watch the limit a little more carefully. I mi$$ those day$, but wouldn't trade my Korean life for double the salary!

J7

[Chokse]

Davemon: If humans were the ones flagging this, you would be right. However, in the case of transfers, it is computers that sniff out these transactions, and the computer programs have preset parameters. They cannot be set up to look for every dollar amount. Instead, they look for anything over $10,000, or any nicely rounded number close to $10,000 (like $9,500, $9,600, $9,700, and so on).

There is only so much a computer can do, and the government doesn't have the human resources needed to look at every transaction. The computer algorithms are set to flag any suspicious activities (multiple transfers of the same amount, transactions over a certain amount, etc.).

But, like I said, as long as the OP does not send back over $90,000 in one year, he won't have any problems.

[atwood]

There will be no problem on the Korean end. Make sure and ask for a discount on the exchange rate since you're sending a large amount.

On the U.S. end, your bank may hold it for a few extra few days while they jump through all the hoops Homeland Security now requires. No big deal unless you plan to use the money right after it is transferred.

[AsiaESLbound]

While you have to declare to customs the $10,000 or more cash you are carrying into a country, you shouldn't have any problems transferring any amount as long as it's legally obtained. This means that business people with large profits are transferring 10's of millions of dollars each day at the click of a mouse or by visiting a bank the same as we do. Larger sums draw the attention of authorities, but as long as it's legally obtained and you aren't wanted by the FBI or Interpol, then your money should go through. Who said $10,000 is the limit per transfer? If that were so, rich business people would have to hire someone just to repeat $10,000 transfers all day every day to move money around in their dealings. It's the largest transfers that get the best deal on fees per dollar so go ahead and send all $25,000 you saved up in one transaction. Paying a $70 fee is better for $25,000 than for only $2,000 that can be carried in your money belt.

[dkteachlife]

I thought I read somewhere that you can Fedex travelers checks to a family member and not pay anymore than the cost of FEDEX? It seems like a viable solution. Transfers fees?

[atwood]