What tax year do I file this under?

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filmguy123

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I got a check for work done in December 2012, but won't be able to deposit into my account until 2013.
Can I file it as income for either year, or is it suppose to go to one or the other?
 
The issuer will most likely report it as required for 2012. So regardless of when you deposit it will still show up as earned income in 2012.
 
should it not be based upon the date it was deposited? might be different in different countries, but a piece of paper is a piece of paper until it can be deposited and even then it's not money until the money is transferred into the account, is it not? if it's not in the account it would not have much value. what if when he went to the bank the check did not go through, or his account was frozen, or the check went missing before he had the chance to deposit? check is not deposited until the money is transferred. when you make a contract for a year or 5 years and receive checks, they don't equate money until they go through the bank and get processed right? you would not say the company earned x amount today, you might say it made a deal for x amount for the next 5 years, but you only get the first check that is due. that's the only real money that you actually have as income.
 
sorry, kept repeating the same thing, but if the money is still in the other person's account, he did not pay anything yet. and if the money is not in your account, you did not earn anything.
 
Amr Rahmy said:
should it not be based upon the date it was deposited? might be different in different countries, but a piece of paper is a piece of paper until it can be deposited and even then it's not money until the money is transferred into the account, is it not? if it's not in the account it would not have much value. what if when he went to the bank the check did not go through, or his account was frozen, or the check went missing before he had the chance to deposit? check is not deposited until the money is transferred. when you make a contract for a year or 5 years and receive checks, they don't equate money until they go through the bank and get processed right? you would not say the company earned x amount today, you might say it made a deal for x amount for the next 5 years, but you only get the first check that is due. that's the only real money that you actually have as income.
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Sorry. Doesn't work like that. The issue comes down to when you have constructive receipt of the money, not actual possession. So when you have the check in your possession, you have control of the money. You can deposit it today, tomorrow, next week. You're in control of the money.

Think of it another way.... When can the person/company that pays you take the money off their books? When can they count it as an expense and deduct it for THEIR tax purposes? When you finally decide to deposit the check? No. The moment they drop the check in the mail, they can expense it on that calendar year for taxes. For this same reason, a lot of people will pay their property taxes on December 31st even though they may not be due until the next calendar year (or make their January mortgage payment in December even if it isn't due until sometime in January).

Finally, consider this.... If the person writing the check asked the person receiving the check if they wanted to come pick up the check or have it mailed to them, the person receiving the check could be deemed to have constructive receipt of the money as soon as the check was ready for pickup.

Amr Rahmy said:
sorry, kept repeating the same thing, but if the money is still in the other person's account, he did not pay anything yet. and if the money is not in your account, you did not earn anything.
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Constructive receipt may not be a concept you like, but it is still the way it works.
 
but a check is not a receipt. there are 2 kinds of checks i can make, and the regular one says something to the fact "can be processed as of <date>, to <name or the holder of the check> of amount <amount>" or something similar, but that does not change, transfer, hold, freeze, alter anything in both accounts, the bank it not aware that the check is written until the holder of the check goes to the bank to process it. it says can be processed, it's not a receipt, when i print an invoice for x money, does not mean i made x money today, the person receiving the invoice needs to pay it for product or service rendered, but it's not received yet. if i have a check for 2015, i can't change it into money today, it's not income today.

the other kind freezes the amount of money in the bank(the bank holds the money and the account's user cannot benefit or withdraw the money), is only made by calling the bank or inside the bank.

a check is not the same as for example a money transfer, where the bank is aware that money is in fact being processed between account a and account b(and tells you that it needs 5 working days to be processed, which seems to mean, the bank will take your money, make some interest and you can check back in 15days - a month and 3-5 support calls later to make sure money actually entered your account and the bank will also take some processing fees for all their troubles).
 
Amr Rahmy said:
but a check is not a receipt. there are 2 kinds of checks i can make, and the regular one says something to the fact "can be processed as of <date>, to <name or the holder of the check> of amount <amount>" or something similar, but that does not change, transfer, hold, freeze, alter anything in both accounts, the bank it not aware that the check is written until the holder of the check goes to the bank to process it. it says can be processed, it's not a receipt, when i print an invoice for x money, does not mean i made x money today, the person receiving the invoice needs to pay it for product or service rendered, but it's not received yet. if i have a check for 2015, i can't change it into money today, it's not income today.

the other kind freezes the amount of money in the bank(the bank holds the money and the account's user cannot benefit or withdraw the money), is only made by calling the bank or inside the bank.

a check is not the same as for example a money transfer, where the bank is aware that money is in fact being processed between account a and account b(and tells you that it needs 5 working days to be processed, which seems to mean, the bank will take your money, make some interest and you can check back in 15days - a month and 3-5 support calls later to make sure money actually entered your account and the bank will also take some processing fees for all their troubles).
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This may be fine for the purposes of philosophical discussion, but for the purposes of tax law, it's just not correct.

In any case, as these matters require professional consultation, and debating what should and shouldn't be doesn't help with the question, it's time for this thread to end.
 
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