Utilize your financial knowledge, give your answer or opinion to the input question or subject . Answer format is not limited.

What should we consider when withdrawing a large amount of money from a bank account?
withdraw in cash - bank reports it to IRS no matter what. Would this   affect my tax filing in the coming year? No, and no. The bank doesn't report to the IRS. In the US - the bank will probably report to FinCEN. It has nothing to do with your tax return. withdraw in check - bank does not seem to report it. Is this correct? Doesn't have to. Still might, if they think it is a suspicious/irregular activity. wire-transfer to another person's account - would this always be   slapped with a "gift tax"? If this is a gift it would. Regardless of how you transfer the money. Is it? Answers to your follow up questions: In the US, what documents do we need to prepare in case our large sum   withdraw from the bank triggers a flag in relevant government (local   and/or federal) divisions and they decide to investigate? Depending on what the investigators request. FinCEN would investigate money laundering, the IRS would investigate tax evasion, the FBI would investigate terrorism sponsorship, etc. Depending on who's investigating and what the suspicions are - different documents may be required. But the bottom line is that you should be able to explain the source of the funds and the destination. For example "I found $1M in cash and sent it to some drug lord because he's such a good friend of mine" will probably not fly. Does the (local/federal) government care if we stash our money (in   cash or check) under our mattress, if we purchase foreign properties   (taxable? documents needed for proof?), or if we give it away (to   individuals or organizations - individual: a gift tax, organization:   tax waivable) ? The government cares about taxes, and illegal activities. Stashing money under a mattress is not illegal, but earning cash and not paying income tax on it usually is. In many cases money stashed under the mattress was obtained illegally and/or income taxes were not paid. It seems that no matter what we do (except spreading thin our assets   to multiple accounts in multiple banks), the government will always be   notified of any large bank transaction and we would be forever flagged   since. Is this correct ? Yes, reportable transactions will be reported. Also spreading around in multiple accounts/transactions to avoid reporting is called "structuring" and is on its own a crime. This is for cash/cash equivalent transactions only, of course. Not sure about the "forever flagged since", that part is probably sourced in your imagination.