If you found a bag with a huge amount of cash, say 10 million yen, would you hand it in to the authorities or keep it?

I would hand it over. Now if I were in the US and found it, I would keep it or at least some of it. ^_^

Keep it. No question.

no fuss just keep it :)

What money, dont know what money your talking about ;-)

Destiny, absolute destiny,the right place, at the right time, for me the right person,,Keep it, ABSOLUTELY..

Keep it, no regrets.

I would hand it in. Could not respect myself otherwise. But if it is a Billion, ........ it would be painful.

"keep it"

But then you would have no self-respect.

zichi - If you turn it in you have to wait 6 months and then it's yours minus around 30-40% tax, I believe.

"if it is a Billion,.... it would be painful"

Heck, if it is 5,000 yen it would be painful for me. But... turn it in, no question.

I would love to be able to say I would keep it but there is no way my conscience would let me. It is SUCH a bitch, having ethics and morals!

looks like most of us would keep it for sure if there was not fear of getting caught ;) I guess I would keep it. 10M is pretty easy to conceal no? Or if in doubt keep it yourself for a while, see if there is any news.... if not then who would know?

Hand it in. If the owner shows up, you typically get 10 to 20% "thank you" money. That way you get 1 million yen and you're guilt-free. Or, get all of it if the owner doesn't show up.

You might as well keep it right away. It would be difficult to prove who the owner is anyway and it is yours after 6 months anyway.

I would keep it depending on the source. If I heard that some poor old lady or young family had lost it I would return it without hesitation.

I admit I would be possibly tempted to help myself to some, but I hope that the honest side of me would prevail and I would hand it in. I am still haunted by the shame of being caught eating grapes from the Harvest festival display at my Primary school in England and that was 55 years ago.

Depends on the yen rate...

It is absolutely impossible to prove who is the legitimate owner of paper money, so if you hand the money over to the police, it is most than likely than you will get part of it after 3 months (after government looting through inheritance taxes).

On the other end, such amounts of money in cash most likely comes from illegal or criminal activities. Nobody stores such big amounts as savings from legit activity (salaries are never paid cash except in shaddy businesses). I wouldn't have any moral problem keeping the cash knowing that I would do better use of it than criminals, but I would probably be scared to do so (by fear of being caught), so I would probably give it to the police. Also, there is a chance this money would be counterfeit, so it is safer to give it to the police (even though the government does not deserve getting its share of it through taxes).

Hand it in. 1) You don't know where it came from, it could be stolen, and when you try t spend it, they'll come after you. 2) It could be another in the recent spate of anonymous donations for Tohoku. 3) If someeone claims it, it's because they were absent-minded / doddery enough to forget it,but it is theirs. 49 If nobody claims, it, it is, as many posters have laready said, yours, minus tax. All in all, keep it, and either you'll be shafted, or you've shafted someone else.

I'd keep it. Throw it in my closet for 6 months. Wouldn't spend any of it.

After 6 months.. if no one came looking. I'd start spending it.

if you hand the money over to the police, it is most than likely than you will get part of it after 3 months (after government looting through inheritance taxes).

If no one claims it, you get the lot, not part of it. There is no 'inheritance tax' on money you find. It isn't inherited.

Picking up dropped money counts as 'occasional income', so you are taxed on half what is left after expenses (usually 0) and the basic allowance on occasional income of 500,000 yen. In other words, if you find up to ¥500,000, there is no tax to pay. If you find more than that, half of the difference is added to your other income for the year. So if you find 10 million yen, after 6 months you get your hands on the money and will be liable to pay ordinary income tax on (10 million - expenses (0) - 500,000)/2 = 4,750,000. If you have no other income that year, you will be liable to pay 20% less 427500, which comes to ¥522,500 leaving you with ¥9,477,500 to spend. If you earn enough that the extra puts you in a higher tax bracket for that year - hey, it's still a windfall.

Don't want to keep it. It's unlucky money. If I take it, I'll lose a whole lot more. Besides, taking what's not mine will give me anxiety that someone is coming for me.

thanks cleo for the practical information. My mistake.

@cleo

It still means the government will loot some money from you (almost 50% in case of 10 million yen).

oh I read too fast... again my apologies. Obviously, the effective tax rate is much lower than I wrote above.

I would donate it to charity anonymously. It is only ¥10,000,000

I would turn it in...the same as what we told our boy when he found a few 10,000 notes one day. After 3 months, the police handed him HIS money. He was so happy, he took our family out to eat and blew it all! :-)

I would, take my boy and the family out to eat, keep some, and give most away to local charity.

It still means the government will loot some money from you

If it's not your money in the first place, how can the government be 'looting' it from you?

My answer depends on who is reading this :p

Let's stop pretending as perfect people here. It's going to be a different opinion once we find ourselves in this situation in reality. I will keep the money with me for one year and if unclaimed then I will use and avoid any unnecessary tax to uncle Sam. Reporting such a huge sum of money to the police will raise eyebrows and insiders might leak info and the money might end up in the wrong hands which will render your honesty futile.

...which will render your honesty futile

How can honesty be futile?

With all the posts here saying people would keep it, I find that sad. Shows me and should show all of you that you cannot trust people.

It happens in all countries and not just in Japan. Please look in your own back yards.

3 months ago i was out walking my dog and came across 2,000yen lying on the ground, looked around no one near or watching so picked it up and carried on with walking the dog.

Later took it to the police and handed it in and they game me a receipt and later was able to go back and collect it and keep it. It was only 2,000yen but if some small kid or old lady had lost it i would hate to think i had been the benefactor of that and deprived them of the money maybe they really needed.

If it was 10 million yen i think i would hand it in, after you get it back later if unclaimed, it's good for your conscience and your spirit and you're doing the right thing by some one else and yourself. Too many people only think of themselves these days.

At the very least if you hand it in you will get the finders % and self respect which is priceless.

I asked my wife what most japanese would do if they found the 2,000yen and she said leave it where it was as it becomes troublesome. 10 mill yen though wouldn't be troublesome.

I wish I could say I'd take the kids on a long trip abroad,incuding Hawaii, Disneyland and every destination attractive for kids/ Infortunately, most likely money this big belong to yakuza, and they'll eventually find me...so handing it out to the police is the best , I guess.

all depends.................

crisp new bills in consecutive serial numbers ? any eye witness ? If both negative to above.................KEEP IT.

In a sense of poetic justice, I hope all of those who said they would keep it without a thought, lose something of value to them and the one that finds it keeps it.

"it isn't inherited"

Of course it's inherited, Cleo, if you find something someone lost, you inherited it from that person even if you don't know who the person is.

Return the money - absolutely. For me personally that would be the right thing to do, since it is not MY money. I need to be able to look myself in the mirror the next day with a straight face..... You do not need to do something for someone but do the RIGHT thing.

Turn it in to police, besides under Japanese law you are entitled between 5-20 percent of the amount as a reward payment if the rightful owner is found.

I have done this 2wice and always got the money !!!

Worth doing it for a clean conscience too!

I would behave precisely as I would wish someone else to behave who has found something I may have lost or had stolen: I would turn it in.

Hahahahaha !!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I would be buying a plane ticket somewhere.

Turn it in to police, besides under Japanese law you are entitled between 5-20 percent of the amount as a reward payment if the rightful owner is found.

Wow - did not know about that law! Do they really have to legislate here to encourage people to hand wallets in? That stinks!

All I can say is several years ago I would have handed anything in that I found. However, having lost 2 wallets and a cell-phone in my town here over the years (all with names and details in Japanese in them) and never finding any trace of them via Koban, JR, city office - these days I may be in two minds if I found this $10M bag... Karma never worked for me!

＞Do they really have to legislate here to encourage people to hand wallets in? That stinks!

Read the posts, there's a disturbing proportion of people who apparently live by the principle of 'Finders keepers'. And they're not all 'here'.

I have to admit I would keep it.

I would donate 25% of it to charity and do what I want

People are honest to a certain point. Everybody has their limitations of honesty. Wallets are a different story

I would return a wallet but if I found cash belonging to a drug dealer or a banker that stole millions like the ponzi scheme guy. I would definitely take the money.

First, I need to check if the money is counterfeit or not Than I would take it, without a second thought

self righteous have their limitations just like everbody else

Everybody has their own setting when it comes to their MORAL COMPASS

10 million? it was 5 I tell you and I handed it in.

I would turn it in. If I didn't turn it in I would give it to a charity. I might do the latter if I thought it was "dirty" money or something. Better the money goes to good use rather than to criminals.

But I wouldn't keep it for myself for sure. Not worth the bad karma.

I can't tell till I actually got it in my grubby paws and weigh the odds compared living standard, needs, etc at that time.

Reason people act different to scenarios in their minds and when they are actually there and confronted with the choices.

Turn it in. 1. It is illegal to do otherwise. 2. You'll probably get the money eventually. I found 20,000 yen once took it to the police. Got it back after the waiting period.

Turn it in, I can't imagine that anybody who walks around with 10 million yen is going to waltz into a police office and ask for it back. Plus, with that kind of money there's a fair chance it may be counterfeit and I wouldn't want to be caught with it if it were.

I 'll would dig a hole and bury it.

A person may have left the money as a gift for a stranger in need to find it.