Beware of criticism: rounding is turned on

Ban on payments in Cash Above a thousand euros instead of two thousand euros as it was working until last year. In fact, 999.5 euros to be exact, because this is the exact number that should not be exceeded.

What does the list say?

As we discussed in Giornale.it, in fact, it is forbidden to exceed this number between any two subjects, natural and legal persons. The regulation referred to in Article 13 quater of Legislative Decree 50/2017 requires rounding for reasons related to the costs of producing 1 and 2 cent coins (hence €999.5).

Exemption for foreigners

It seems paradoxical, but it is not: as you say IlSole24Ore, in fact, the same rule does not apply to foreigners who are in Italy who can make cash transactions of up to 15mil Euro thanks to an exemption governed by Article 3 of Legislative Decree 16/2012, which later became Law No. 44 of 2012. Therefore, the purchase of goods and services related to tourism by persons with a nationality different from Italian and residing outside the Italian state, can carry out transactions higher with 15 times that of Italians. However, in any case, anyone who sells or buys an asset for such an amount must notify the Revenue Agency and file the collection through a licensed intermediary.

What does the Anti-Money Laundering Law say?

It is clear that cash transactions exceeding this amount are prohibited, even if they are divided into several payments: for higher transfers, one can only resort to the help of banks, the Italian Post Office, electronic money and payment institutions. The Anti-Money Laundering Law defines partial transactions with the definition of “A unitary operation in terms of economic value, in an amount equal to or greater than the limits established by this decree, and carried out by several operations, individually less than the limits, and carried out at different times and in a limited period of time specified in seven days..

Anyone who violates the new restrictions on paying in cash will be subject to an administrative fine of €1,000 to €50,000. The only thing that does not add anything is that it is an exclusive Italian restriction that could conflict with the EU rules that provide the mandatory opinion of the European Central Bank on the matter. The European Central Bank itself had already requested his participation in December 2019 and May 2020, but the government at that time turned on deaf ears.

The measure opposes asofalore, which is the association that brings together transport companies of valuables in Italy, under which it has been established “cH – Restrictions do not work to combat tax evasion and money laundering resulting from criminal activities. If anything, these actions only boost plastic currency for multinational corporations and anyone making money from electronic payments.“.