The Finance Ministry posted the bill for a public anti-corruption expertise on its website. The bill sets the level of one-time payments in cash with 600,000 roubles for individuals. The prices on expensive goods and the housing prices on the secondary housing market may grow. The number of potential tax dodgers in the real estate sales may increase.
The draft amendment in the Civil Code bans people to pay with cash, if the price of goods or services exceeds 600,000 roubles, the Vedomosti daily noted. No restrictions for individuals exist and the limits of 100,000 roubles are set for legal persons now. The explanatory note of the Finance Ministry does not rule out that the upper level will be brought down gradually for people: for instance, the limit is set at 1,500 euros in Greece and 1,000 euros in Italy.
This reading of the bill introduces the limits on settlements in cash not only between companies and individuals, but also between individuals, Nerr partner Ilya Rachkov noted.
The Finance Ministry stated in the explanatory note that the measure mainly embraces the sales of cars and flats, “bringing down their criminal level.” The restrictions will hit the second housing market, on which 99% of deals are paid in cash, head of the secondary housing market department Incom-Nedvizhimost Mikhail Kulikov said.
The prices on cars may also grow over banking commissions, the newspaper cited Genser commercial director Igor Bogatyrev as saying.
The promotion of non-cash settlements will affect the shadow economy, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel. The size of the shadow economy is large over a major supply of cash (25% of money supply and not more than ten percent in developed countries).
The debates over the introduction of such measures lasted several months, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily reported. The Finance Ministry did not state until recently whether the ministry will take such steps. The Finance Ministry has taken the final verdict. But the businesspeople were given some time for preparations, as the Finance Ministry offers to put new provisions in practice starting from January 2014. The limit on the maximum cash payments may be even lowered, the authors of the bill made a hint. The Finance Ministry hopes that the introduction of new measures will make the expenses on expensive consumption goods and services more transparent.
In the current variant the bills can affect substantially only the car trade and what is more serious the settlements on the real estate market: popular schemes with cash payments for flats through the safety deposit boxes in case of the law enactment will pose an additional risk, the Kommersant daily noted. A heavier load on business is related with the liabilities to accept the banking cards in the retail trade starting from 2014. The bill leaves an opportunity to avoid this load only to small enterprises with the annual turnover of up to 60 million roubles, as well as to the enterprises, the tax status of which make them possible not to use cash machines.