[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 235 (Monday, December 7, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78932-78933]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26883]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Renewal; 
Comment Request; Renewal Without Change of Reports Relating to Currency 
in Excess of $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business, or Received as 
Bail by Court Clerks; Form 8300

AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Treasury.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: As part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and 
respondent burden, FinCEN invites comments on the proposed renewal, 
without change, of a currently approved information collection found in 
existing Bank Secrecy Act regulations. Specifically, FinCEN invites 
comment on a renewal, without change, of existing information 
collection requirements for reports of currency in excess of $10,000 
received by a trade or business, or by court clerks as bail. These 
transactions are reported on Form 8300. This request for comments is 
made pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: Written comments are welcome, and must be received on or before 
February 5, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Federal E-rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Refer to Docket Number 
FINCEN-2020-0014 and the specific Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
control number 1506-0018.
     Mail: Policy Division, Financial Crimes Enforcement 
Network, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, VA 22183. Refer to Docket Number FINCEN-
2020-0014 and OMB control number 1506-0018.
    Please submit comments by one method only. Comments will also be 
incorporated into FinCEN's review of existing regulations, as provided 
by Treasury's 2011 Plan for Retrospective Analysis of Existing Rules. 
All comments submitted in response to this notice will become a matter 
of public record. Therefore, you should submit only information that 
you wish to make publicly available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The FinCEN Regulatory Support Section 
at 1-800-767-2825 or electronically at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Statutory and Regulatory Provisions

    The legislative framework generally referred to as the Bank Secrecy 
Act (BSA) consists of the Currency and Financial Transactions Reporting 
Act of 1970, as amended by the Uniting and Strengthening America by 
Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct 
Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT Act) (Pub. L. 107-56) and other 
legislation. The BSA is codified at 12 U.S.C. 1829b, 12 U.S.C. 1951-
1959, 31 U.S.C. 5311-5314 and 5316-5332, and notes thereto, with 
implementing regulations at 31 CFR Chapter X.
    The BSA authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, inter alia, to 
require financial institutions to keep records and file reports that 
are determined to have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, 
and regulatory matters, or in the conduct of intelligence or counter-
intelligence activities to protect against international terrorism, and 
to implement anti-money laundering (AML) programs and compliance 
procedures.\1\ Regulations implementing the BSA appear at 31 CFR 
Chapter X. The authority of the Secretary to administer the BSA has 
been delegated to the Director of FinCEN.\2\
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    \1\ Section 358 of the USA PATRIOT Act added language expanding 
the scope of the BSA to intelligence or counter-intelligence 
activities to protect against international terrorism.
    \2\ Treasury Order 180-01 (re-affirmed Jan. 14, 2020).
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    31 U.S.C. 5331 of the BSA and 26 U.S.C. 6050I of the Internal 
Revenue Code require that certain transactions be reported to both 
FinCEN and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the form and manner 
prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Specifically, reporting is 
required by any person engaged in a trade or business who, in the 
course of such trade or business, receives more than $10,000 in coins 
or currency in one transaction or two or more related transactions.\3\ 
Reporting is also required by any clerk of a federal

[[Page 78933]]

or state court who receives more than $10,000 in currency as bail for 
any individual charged with a specified criminal offense.\4\ Reports 
filed under these authorities are made through the joint FinCEN/IRS 
Form 8300.\5\ Furthermore, verification requirements apply to 
transactions requiring the filing of Form 8300.\6\ Reports filed under 
31 CFR 1010.330 and 31 CFR 1010.331 must be maintained for five years 
after the date of filing.\7\
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    \3\ 31 CFR 1010.330. Pursuant to 31 CFR 1021.330(c), non-gaming 
businesses at casino hotels and resorts are separate trades or 
businesses in which the receipt of currency in excess of $10,000 is 
reportable under 31 U.S.C. 5331 and 31 CFR 1010.330.
    \4\ 31 CFR 1010.331.
    \5\ Currency transactions reportable under 31 U.S.C. 5313 or 31 
CFR 1010.311, 1010.313, 1020.315, 1021.311, or 1021.313 are excluded 
from the Form 8300 reporting requirement. There are also several 
exceptions to the reporting requirement included in the regulation.
    \6\ 31 CFR 1010.330(e)(2); 31 CFR 1010.331(c)(2).
    \7\ 31 CFR 1010.330(e)(3); 31 CFR 1010.331(c)(1) (incorporating 
the requirements of 26 CFR 1.6050I-2(c)(3)(i)).
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II. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) \8\
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    \8\ Public Law 104-13, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A).
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    Title: Reports Relating to Currency in Excess of $10,000 Received 
in a Trade or Business, or Received as Bail by Court Clerks; Form 8300 
(31 CFR 1010.330 and 31 CFR 1010.331).
    OMB Control Number: 1506-0018.
    Report Number: Form 8300.
    Abstract: FinCEN is issuing this notice to renew the OMB control 
number for the requirements for (1) any person in a trade or business 
who, in the course of the trade or business, receives more than $10,000 
in coin or currency in one or more related transactions to report it to 
FinCEN, and (2) any clerk of a federal or state court who receives more 
than $10,000 in currency as bail for any individual charged with a 
specified criminal offense to make report of information with respect 
to receipt of that currency.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit institutions, and 
non-profit institutions.
    Type of Review:
     Renewal without change of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Frequency: As required.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 32,500 respondents.\9\
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    \9\ In 2019, FinCEN received form 8300s from 32,462 unique 
filers based on their tax identification numbers (TIN). FinCEN is 
conservatively rounding this estimate to 32,500 respondents 
annually.
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    Estimated Recordkeeping and Reporting Burden:
    The information required to be reported on the Form 8300 is basic 
information to which a filer would have access to in the course of 
doing business. For instance, the Form 8300 requires a trade or 
business or court clerk to report identifying information about the 
individual from whom the cash was received, as well as any person on 
whose behalf the transaction was conducted. The Form 8300 also requires 
the filer to report a description of the transaction and method of 
payment, as well as identifying information for the business that 
received the cash. As this information is readily available to a trade 
or business or court clerk, FinCEN estimates that reporting this 
information will take 20 minutes on average. Additionally, while the 
Form 8300 may be filed electronically, which allows the filer to save 
an electronic version of the form and satisfy the recordkeeping 
requirement, many filers choose to file a paper copy of the Form 8300. 
Therefore, FinCEN estimates that the recordkeeping requirement will 
take 10 minutes on average. FinCEN estimates total hourly burden of 
reporting and recordkeeping for each Form 8300 is 30 minutes.
    Estimated Total Annual Responses: 323,067 Form 8300s were filed in 
calendar year 2019.
    Estimated Total Annual Recordkeeping Burden: The estimated total 
annual PRA burden is 161,534 hours (323,067 Form 8300s filed in 
calendar year 2019 multiplied by 30 minutes and converted to hours).
    Estimated Total Annual Recordkeeping Cost: FinCEN estimates the 
following annual burden cost: 161,534 x $30.60 per hour \10\ = 
$4,942,940.
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    \10\ The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational 
Employment Statistics-National, May 2019, available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. The most recent data from the BLS 
corresponds to May 2019. For the benefits component of total 
compensation, see U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer's Cost 
per Employee Compensation as of December 2019, available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. The ratio between benefits and wages for 
financial activities is $15.95 (hourly benefits)/$32.05 (hourly 
wages) = 0.50. The benefit factor is 1 plus the benefit/wages ratio, 
or 1.50. Multiplying each hourly wage by the benefit factor produces 
the fully-loaded hourly wage per position. The May 2019 Bureau of 
Labor Statistics average hourly wage for ``43-3099 Financial Clerk'' 
is $20.40. ($20.40 x 1.50 = $30.60).
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    An Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless the collection of 
information displays a valid OMB control number. Records required to be 
retained under the BSA must be retained for five years.

General Request for Comments

    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will 
become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (i) Whether 
the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance 
of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall 
have practical utility; (ii) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of 
the burden of the collection of information; (iii) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (iv) 
ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology; and (v) estimates 
of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and 
purchase of services to provide information.

Michael G. Mosier,
Deputy Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
[FR Doc. 2020-26883 Filed 12-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-P