In all probability, it will in all probability no longer be allowed to pay large amounts in cash. A bill to this end was passed by the Council of Ministers last weekend. Payments above € 3,000 must be made by bank transfer or pin. Car sellers will also notice this.
In the fight against money laundering, the cabinet has accepted the proposal to prohibit cash payments above € 3,000 for professional and business activities. According to the government, it should of course provide more insight into the financial actions of companies. Additional matters should support this: “data sharing by banks, other financial institutions and notaries will become easier and there will be a legal option for joint transaction monitoring by banks.”
This also has consequences for car dealers. At the moment it is not a problem – of course depending on the wishes of the selling party – to pay for cars over € 3,000 in cash. Trade association Bovag is a thorn in the side. Bovag would even prefer to see cash payments disappear completely in the car trade. “Then leave that cash payment completely, unless we as an industry get clarity where the duty of investigation of a car company ends. A car company is now expected to be a kind of detective and to search for criminal money,” explains Bovag spokesman Tom. Huyskens opposite Techzle. According to Bovag, bona fide traders are now also unintentionally associated with money laundering practices and are getting the tax authorities on their roof. Banks and lenders then take their hands off a company at the slightest thing, while there is sometimes nothing to blame for the car company.
It remains to be seen when the upper limit of € 3,000 will come into effect. Although the Council of Ministers has now approved, the bill still has to be approved by the Lower House before it is legally enacted, followed by the Upper House. At the moment, companies from € 10,000 in cash are already subject to a notification obligation and mandatory customer identification.