Can this cash go into my bank?

[Badleg87]

A relative of mine has some cash, the type who has hidden it under the mattress for years, luckily it's all in the new type notes but she's now concerned that money will change with king Charles and despite being told her money will be good for years she's decided to start giving some to GC now. There's not loads of loads and she's highly likely to live longer than 7 years.

She's said she'd like to gift me 5k, however I'm self employed so I'm wondering if I can put this into my bank without it looking dodgy or someone trying to tax me on it pr trace the money? I just don't use a lot of cash. I could save it until I need a big purchase like a car or something but ideally I'd like to bank it

You can pay in up to £ 5,000 at a large post office branch. What if she needs it in future, though? doesn't she have a bank account at all?

review42.com/uk/resources/how-much-cash-can-you-deposit-in-a-bank-uk/

I'm more worried about paying it in without flagging as looking dodgy as I'm self employed

If she ever needed it I'd give it back, as a family we all look after each other.

She has a bank account but I think she's just from a very old train of thought and has kept a lot of cash hidden and doesn't want people knowing her business

Do you not have a business account and separate personal account?

If all your income goes into one pot that you also use for personal items then when you do your tax return just don't count it. Get her to write a note that says she's gifted it to you. Then you have something to produce should anyone ask.

Just pay it in, if there's any questions tell the truth. You're not doing anything illegal.

Probably best she pays it into her account and then sends it to your account.

What about using the cash gifted to pay for which items you can in cash, then save the cash in the bank ?

@Hawkins001 completely what I would do- start paying cash for all my shopping etc as much as possible and move an equivalent amount gradually over to a savings account, so that I eventually had the £5000 in the bank but without the cash going through the bank.

A much better idea. Keep it separate from your business account, as well. I checked the money laundering regs and it seems anything over £ 10k might trigger a check, esp in cash, so a bank transfer might be better.

Sure you must have a business bank account and a personal bank account??

Yep this. Go with her if she is nervous.

*What about using the cash gifted to pay for which items you can in cash, then save the cash in the bank?

Yes, this. DH is self employed and has done this when he received cash from his dad - he didn't want to pay it into his personal account in case it looked like a tax dodge from his business.

You can pay utility bills in cash too. DH suspended our council tax, water and energy DD's for 3 months and paid them in cash at the post office which turned £500 each month from cash to an account balance.

Why do it on the first response?

Surely you have seperate business and personal accounts...? Just pay into personal...