Italy: Renzi raises cap on cash use to EUR 3,000

Geronimo Emili, president of CashlessWay, referring to the Italian Prime Ministers reaction, advocated a prompt reaction from Europe for such a scenario would mean a step backwards in Italy’s path of modernisation and boost for the domestic underground economy.

Renzi’s stance is in direct opposition to the one taken by his own government, which was stated by Pier Carlo Padoan, the Minister of Economy, in November 2014. Carlo argued that cash use limit helps developing electronic payment instruments that can yield positive effect on the economy.

The decision to raise the ceiling on cash payments would be in contrast to the provisions of the EU, which on the contrary, recently decided to lower the limit of available cash as a way to combat money-laundering, tax evasion and the financing of terrorism. The new European guidelines, for example, have established (in July 2015) the lowering of the limits of cash use by foreign nationals (non-EU) in EU countries by more than 30%, from EUR 15,000 to EUR 10,000 per capita.

Italy established the EUR 999.99 ceiling in August of 2011 during the Monti government, a decision that France has now also followed, lowering its ceiling from EUR 3,000 to EUR 1,000.