A business mails a check by year end, so it's as an expense for that year. The new year comes, and the check expires / never deposited. How does the business report this?

[rls85]

My understanding is that a check is considered an expense on the date it is mailed, not when it is actually deposited by the recipient. But what happens if the recipient NEVER deposits the check or returns it?

Example: Check mails out on 12/31. Business closes books for the year and files taxes accounting for that check/expense. 180 days later, the check expires and was never deposited for whatever reason. That money never left the bank account, so was it really an expense?

If the business already filed its taxes declaring it as an expense, should it file NEXT year's taxes declaring it as income for that year (the year the check expired)? What is the appropriate way to report this?

[Anonymous_ · Accepted solution]

Income when the expense has been irretrievably reversed.

You need to exercise caution because stale checks are quite often negotiated despite the fact that they should not be cashed.

[rls85]

Thanks. So assuming the check will 100% not be cashed, you are saying we should declare it as income the following year when it became irretrievably reversed (when the check expired)? NOT an amended tax return for the previous year to correct & reverse the expense (when the check was written)?

[Anonymous_]

You can amend the return if you prefer that method.

However, it is not improper to simply report the expense as income in the subsequent tax year.

[kashblack1953]

Doesn't amending the return extend the 3 year statute of limitations on an audit to the filing data of the amended return?