How to File Form 8300 Online via BSA E-Filing

To file Form 8300 online, register your business as a Supervisory User on the BSA E-Filing System run by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, complete the four-part electronic form with payer and transaction details, sign it with the PIN tied to your account, and submit within 15 days of receiving the cash. Since January 1, 2024, e-filing is mandatory for any business that files at least 10 other information returns (W-2s, 1099s, and the like combined) in the calendar year; the Forms 8300 themselves do not count toward that 10.¹ Businesses under the 10-return threshold can e-file voluntarily, and the process below is the same.

Register on BSA E-Filing First

One person at your business must enroll as a Supervisory User through the BSA E-Filing System at FinCEN’s website before any filing can happen. That person acts as the liaison between the system and your organization. Registration asks for organizational details and creates the login credentials you’ll use to sign forms.²

Do this before a reportable transaction lands. The 15-day filing clock starts the moment you receive the cash, and you don’t want any of that window burned waiting for an account to be approved. The system accepts filings from sole proprietors, personal service corporations, publicly traded companies, financial institutions, car dealers, and dealers in precious metals, among others.²

Gather Your Information Before You Log In

Restarting a partial form wastes hours you don’t have. Before opening the filing, pull together everything the form will ask for:

Full legal name and permanent street address of the individual who physically handed you the cash.
That person’s taxpayer identification number: a Social Security Number for individuals and sole proprietors, or an Employer Identification Number for corporations, partnerships, and other entities.³
The payer’s government-issued ID: document type (driver’s license, passport, and so on), issuing authority, and document number. You are required to examine the ID and verify the name and address against it.³
The exact date you received the cash and the dollar amount actually received (not the total price of the goods or services if those differ).
Your business’s legal name, EIN (sole proprietors also need their SSN), address, and a plain description of what your business does.³

Complete the Four Parts of the Form

The electronic Form 8300 is divided into four sections, each covering a different piece of the transaction.

Part I: Who Handed You the Cash

Enter the name, address, taxpayer identification number, and ID document details of the individual who physically delivered the cash. If that person was acting on someone else’s behalf, Part I still describes the person in front of you, not their principal.³

Part II: Who the Transaction Was Really For

Fill in Part II only when the person from Part I was acting as an agent or representative. If a personal assistant drops off $15,000 for their employer, Part I captures the assistant and Part II captures the employer. When the payer and the beneficiary are the same person, leave Part II blank.³

Part III: The Transaction and How It Was Paid

Describe what was sold or what service you provided, and record how the customer paid. Enter the total cash amount and note any portion received in $100 bills or larger denominations. If the payment included cashier’s checks, bank drafts, or traveler’s checks with a face value of $10,000 or less, identify the issuer and serial number of each instrument.³

Part IV: Your Business

Enter your business’s legal name, EIN, address, and a clear description of what it does, such as “jewelry dealer” or “auto dealership.” Match your other tax filings exactly. A mismatch between the name or EIN on Form 8300 and your income tax return can trigger an automated inquiry.³

Sign, Submit, and Save Your Copy

Once the four parts are complete, the system prompts a review screen. Check the entries, then digitally sign the form using the PIN tied to your BSA E-Filing account. The signature certifies that the information is true and complete. Click submit to transmit the form to FinCEN and the IRS.⁴

Before you finalize the submission, print the completed form or save it as a PDF. The confirmation email that follows submission is not a substitute for the form itself, and you’ll need the form for your records. After you submit, the system displays a confirmation screen with a unique BSA E-Filing tracking ID and a date-and-time stamp, and a confirmation email arrives separately.⁵

The 15-Day Deadline

You must file within 15 days after receiving the reportable cash. If the 15th day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. For payments aggregated under the 12-month rule, the 15-day clock starts on the date you receive the payment that pushes the running total past $10,000.⁵

Send the Customer Notice by January 31

Filing with the government is only half of the obligation. By January 31 of the year after the cash payment, you must also send a written statement to every person named on the Form 8300. A form filed in 2026 requires the customer notice by January 31, 2027.⁵

The written statement has to include your business name and address, a contact person and phone number, the total reportable cash you reported over the 12-month period, and a sentence stating that the information is being furnished to the Internal Revenue Service.⁵

One exception: do not send a customer notice when you filed voluntarily to report a suspicious transaction (box 1b). Alerting the customer would compromise a potential investigation.³

Fixing a Form You Already Filed

To correct an e-filed Form 8300, start a new filing, check box 1a (“Amends prior report”), and complete the entire form with the corrected information. Do not attach a copy of the original. If the correction itself is late, write “LATE” in the Comments section.³

Catching an error yourself is cheaper than having the IRS find it. Civil penalties are tiered by how quickly you correct a return, so the sooner an amended filing goes in, the smaller the exposure.

What to Keep, and for How Long

Keep a copy of every filed Form 8300, the supporting documentation, and the written customer notification for at least five years from the date the form was filed. The five-year clock runs from the filing date, not the transaction date.⁵

The confirmation email is not your retained copy. The IRS requires the form itself, which is why saving or printing the PDF before you finalize submission matters more than any single step after it. Five years is a long stretch to reconstruct a filing from memory.⁵

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8300 and Reporting Cash Payments of Over $10,000
2
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. BSA E-Filing System – Becoming a Registered E-Filer
3
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8300
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6050I – Returns Relating to Cash Received in Trade or Business
5
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Form 8300 Reference Guide