Receiveing money, Logistics and tax question

[J M.]

I need to know how would you approach the following scenario.

You have a friend that owes your family some money, so he will be giving you 50k. He has the money in his bank account.

Logistics wise, would it be better that he just wires the money to my bank vs going to a local branch and depositing the check into my personal checking at my bank? what would you choose?

What are the implications for me for depositing such amount? Would that be considered a profit? He is not a us citizen, whereas I am. I know abut the gift tax, but if he does not report taxes in the US, why would he pay any for this gift right?

Will I have the IRS asking me how or why I got this money? What if the amount was 120k? would that make a difference?

Anyone?

[Vikram C.]

There is no gift tax on a gift from a non-resident alien to a U.S. citizen if the gift is made outside the U.S.. This means a foreigner can give you as big a gift as he wants. The gift has to be of property outside the U.S. though, which means a wire from abroad (or foreign check given to you when you are abroad) of any amount will be fine.

It is really important that you pay attention to the place of the gift. In this thread and your other thread, I get the feeling that you are not understanding the important of that.