Australia is finally moving towards the digital society as it announces the ban on the cash purchase of over $10,000 AU from June 2019.
Australia encourages a move to the cashless & digital society
The Liberal Party government of Australia recently announced that purchasing anything for over $10,000 AU i.e. $7,500 US with cash will soon become illegal. According to the government, the step has been to crack down on the tax evasion and encourage the transition to a digital society.
The ban on cash purchase over $7,500 will start on July 1, 2019. In order to enforce this directive, the government will allocate about $300 million for the Black Economy Standing Taskforce. The goal here is to make approximately $3 billion over the next four years in the new tax revenue.
Talking about Australia’s relationship with cash, about 37 percent of the commercial transactions are made with cash in the country. Whereas, Sweden only accounts for 15 percent and 32 percent in the US.
From 2019 onwards, the authorities will officially start its war on cash by implementing this measure.
As per the government document:
“The Government will introduce a limit of $10,000 for cash payments made to businesses for goods and services from 1 July 2019. As part of the implementation process, the government will consult on the detail of this measure.”
The document further clarifies that:
“Currently, large undocumented cash payments can be used to avoid tax or to launder money from criminal activity. This measure will require transactions over a threshold to be made through an electronic payment system or cheque.”
However, the exemption will involve “transactions with financial institutions or consumer to consumer non-business transactions.”
Also, read: China Bent on Leading the Blockchain Race, “National Standards” Coming by 2019
It’s time for cryptocurrencies to replace cash
This move is certainly a good news for the cryptocurrency market as a cashless society will lead businesses and individuals to turn to bitcoin.
This ban might not be a big deal for individuals but a number of small businesses are affected by this plan, especially those that deal majorly in cash as one business owner shared:
“It’s going to screw me—95 percent of my business is cash collections.”
Another section of the society that will be majorly affected by this news are the criminals as stated by Treasurer Scott Morrison in his speech:
“This will be bad news for criminal gangs, terrorists and those who are just trying to cheat on their tax or get a discount for letting someone else cheat on their tax. It’s not clever. It’s not OK. It’s a crime.”
This small step will eventually lead to moving away from the cash and the adoption of advanced options like Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies in the near future.
What are your views on Australia planning to go cashless? Let us know your views in the comment section below!
Being an active participant in the Blockchain world, I always look forward to engage with opportunities where I could share my love towards digital transformation.
