The future of cash is not at all certain. The outgoing government is working on a plan to ban cash payments of more than 3,000 euros. But what are the actual rules of cash?
The Dutch Central Bank (DNB) only partially supports the proposal aimed at combating money laundering. “On the one hand, DNB stands for accessible payment transactions, which also include cash,” says spokesman Tobias Odegans.
According to DNB, it is useful to have cash with you, for example in case of a personal identification number (PIN) or a power outage. “But on the other hand, DNB has a mission to prevent financial economic crimes.”
According to Johan de Jong, a behavioral economist at the Erasmus School of Economics, there are still many people who prefer to pay in cash. “For example, older people who have difficulty with digital transformation.” For example, online banking is not easy for everyone. “Cash is a little easier.”
Distrust of the government
In addition, you also have a group of people who like monetary anonymity. An example of this is prostitution, people don't want to have a trace. Or people who have a joint account and don't want to show certain purchases to their partner. “Distrust of government is growing,” says De Jong. “Since Covid, there is a group of people who don’t like the idea of keeping track of everything. There will undoubtedly be people with large sums of money at home.”
Cash at home
There is (yet) no limit to the amount of cash you have at home, says DNB's Oudejans. However, if it exceeds a certain amount, you must report the funds to the tax authorities. 653 for individuals, or 1,306 for people living together.
The cap on cash payments was already proposed in 2019, but it is not yet clear if and when the proposal will become law. Yesterday, Ministers Steven Van Weyenberg (Finance) and Dylan Yeshilgoz (Justice and Security) told the House of Representatives that they wanted to introduce this limit quickly.
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