As of November 1, the caps on cash transactions involving natural and legal persons have severely decreased in Romania, with a declared purpose of fighting tax evasion.

The vast majority of customers prefer paying by cash as opposed to cards, the owner of a major online construction materials store reported recently in media, and this was just an example.

Cash will not be banned, prime minister Marcel Ciolacu commented on the topic that was high on the public agenda recently, but he admitted that any purchase in excess of RON 5,000 (EUR 1,000) should be paid by other means (by card or online banking), Hotnews.ro reported. 

Even Mihai Tudose (currently MEP), famous for his reluctance to have a debit card while a prime minister (2017-2018), admitted that the measure is good for combating tax evasion. But he still insisted that having a card should remain a personal decision and somehow questioned the limitations that came into force.

"I agree that you cannot go and buy a car, a house, with cash. On the other hand, I want to be able to go and buy a piece of land in the countryside. Guess what? Seller doesn't have an account? What are we doing? Do I force that one to account? You can't ban cash altogether. The size of the threshold, be it RON 2,000 or RON 5,000, is another discussion," Tudose said in October this year, quoted by Digi24.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Vlad Ispas/Dreamstime.com)