The fight against cash: the government’s plan

Government finance staff are trying to put an end to cash transactions over €500 in a bid to crack down on tax evasion.

With the new tax bill coming into force at the beginning of 2024, a complete ban on the use of cash will be introduced for transactions worth more than 500 euros.

Under the new regulation, those who accept cash payments over this limit will be fined double the transaction amount. In other words, if enterprises or specialists If they accept 2000 euros in cash from a client, they will lose 4000 euros!

Increasing the fine for using cash on transactions over €500 to double the transaction amount was considered necessary as the €100 fine did not stop many from choosing to pay in cash.

At the same time, with By spring 2024, cash will be replaced by “POS everywhere.” Each time you pay by card, a receipt is automatically generated at the store’s checkout, and a “bell” is also sent to AADE, what and how was paid by card.

According to the Bank of Greece, card payments in Greece (especially after capital controls in 2015 and the 2020 pandemic) continue to develop rapidly: the average bill per card transaction fell well below 50 euros (in the first half of the year the amount was 46 euros) in 2023 , as well as 48 euros in the second half of 2022 and more than 50 in 2021.

The Governor of the Bank of Greece, Yiannis Stournaras, in his speech on the topic: “Fiscal events – the fight against tax evasion” at the 19th Tax Forum at the Atheneum InterContinental Hotel, emphasized that “the fight against tax evasion and a fairer distribution of the tax burden must receive a priority”.

Mr. Stournaras presented a number of policy proposals aimed at addressing this problemto ensure increased tax revenues, including further expansion of electronic transactions through the distribution and use (POS) of more types of services and economic activities.

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