Some of the points made kmf are very true and time tested - such as below $8,000-$10,000 no true laundering is required. However, one note on some of the methods. In court cases in both the US and UK (and probably many other countries too since this is a rather common dispute with precedence set already), it has determined correct reporting of tips is the duty of the employer to keep accurate records since such earnings are not recognised as anything other than regular income payments and so must also be noted on the books of the employer - failing this can land them with a very nasty fine. The tipping culture in the US is far more open and indeed sometimes even expected in many parts, I hear some jobs as a waiter are only $2 an hour with nearly all the income being derived from tips, but elsewhere in the world it is very different and a waiter in the UK earning more than 20% of their wages on tips is doing very well for themselves or is a young female waiter in a pub full of old men.Now, the likelyhood of being caught for simply beefing up as opposed to directly laundering the ill-gotten gains is remarkably low, but if you are ever asked where additional sums came from, especially in tips, your employer will be interviewed as well as fellow staff and if your earnings are above that of other employees and not typical they can still seize some of your assets. Sure you can get them back in court as it is very unlikely they can prove you gained them illegally, but this process can takes years, especially in the US where around half of the cases go on for several years.For the mention of the hot dog stand - that's a poor idea, it just has too many flaws and issues that could go wrong for it. For example, you mention paying for supplies with cash - but this doesn't negate the fact for a business you must keep the receipt of your business expenses, since writing it off as an expense with no proof is actually more suspicious and if the IRS/HMRC/FATF take a look at that, you're screwed for either tax evasion or money laundering, plus a fine for falsely under-reporting income straight off the bat with a full audit due. Christmas trees and most tangible objects will be the same - there's simply so many flaws and risks associated with it, one of the most credible risks being these are known professions, the IRS in conjunction with the FATF publish a list of watched professions based upon seasonal and trending changes, both of which (portable food services and independent seasonal tree salesman) are quite high up.Remember guys - your worst enemy is statistics and if you spike a statistic, your paper trail is going to go under the magnifying glass even if you're not told or aware. If you want to see the extent of that, in the UK, the average person is given a behind-the-scenes audit every 3 years where if they spot anything out of place they automatically refer it to the financial crimes unit for proper investigation. How often this happens with the IRS I don't know, but my sources tell me the US situation after 9/11 is even worse than what the UK's HMRC is like.