oversea transfer money for a house of my friend

[Claireyang]

My friend has green card. She wants to buy a small townhouse in the states. She lives oversea now. The title company doesn't receive oversea wire transfers, so my friend is asking me a favor. She transfers the $230,000 in my US account, then I wire all the money to the title company, so it is a domestic wire transfer.    Should I report to IRS when I report my tax return next year? I don't make any money from her. It is just a helping.

[xmasbaby0]

This sounds convoluted.  Why does your friend not have their own bank account to which the overseas funds can be wired?  Why involve you at all?   This strange plan could look like money laundering to the IRS or to your bank.

[rjs]

This sounds like a scam. How well do you know this friend, and how long have you known her? Have you been friendly with her in person, or only online? Be very careful.

The way the scam works is that the overseas "friend" transfers the money to your account. You wire the money to the title company, using the information that your "friend" provides. Then you find out that the transfer into your account didn't clear, so it is reversed or canceled. You have then lost $230,000, or you owe that amount to your bank. The title company is fake. You sent your money to the scammer.

The scammer now also has your bank account information, and could possibly take more money out of your account.

This is a common type of online scam.

[Opus 17]

If we assume this is not a scam, and you have known this person all your life and would trust them to babysit your kids, then:

The fact of the wire transfers will be reported to the IRS because they are more than $10,000.  This is routine and nothing to be worried about.  Nothing gets reported on your tax return.  If the IRS asks questions, keep proof of what happened, that it was always your friend's money, not a gift or loan, and you were acting as an agent.

The only thing that would be taxable to you is if the money earned interest while it was sitting in your account in between the 2 transfers.

I do agree with the suggestion that you use extreme caution.  I also agree that it would be preferable for your friend to open an account with a bank that operates in their country and the US.  Citibank and HSBC are two possibilities, there may be others.  If your friends contacts the US Consulate office closest to them, the Consul's office should have some banking suggestions.