The payment limit was changed by the Act amending the Act on Mortgage Loans and Supervision of Mortgage Loan Brokers and Agents and the Act amending the Act on Personal Income Tax, the Act on Corporate Income Tax and certain other acts.
The new regulations stipulate that cash transactions with entrepreneurs may be made only up to a certain amount. Above this amount – the transaction must be made cashless. In addition, they also introduce a cash payment limit for transactions where the paying party is the consumer.
Ban on paying with cash: what new limits
In transactions between entrepreneurs, the limit will be reduced from PLN 15,000 to PLN 8,000. The new obligation will be in force from January 2024.
If the transaction was made in a currency other than Polish – it will be necessary to use the average foreign exchange rate announced by the National Bank of Poland on the last working day preceding the day of the transaction.
The changes will also cover transactions between consumers and entrepreneurs. Above PLN 20,000, it will not be possible to pay in cash.
The consumer is obliged to make payments via a payment account if the one-off value of the transaction with the entrepreneur, regardless of the number of payments resulting from it, exceeds PLN 20,000 or the equivalent of this amount, while transactions in foreign currencies are converted into PLN at the average exchange rate announced by the National Bank of Poland.
The Act further specifies that it is the exchange rate on the last working day preceding the day of the transaction. If several payments result from one transaction and the total value of the transaction exceeds PLN 20,000, the above limit will apply.
Why should we give up money and go cashless
Non-cash transactions are financial settlements made with money in the form of digital signs, i.e. without the use of cash. Cashless payment involves the electronic transfer of funds between two bank accounts.
Cezary Kaźmierczak, president of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, believes that it is best as it is now. If they brought you a window, you have the option to pay for it on the spot. In many cases, this custom has become established in relations between entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs and customers. This also applies to other deliveries of goods. The changes will have a negative impact on economic turnover. The second reason is much more dangerous and it is the desire of the banking lobby to eliminate cash. This is systematically progressing, although not directly.
As he explains, attempts to eliminate cash have appeared before.
“They turned out to be too radical. Step by step, these are minor changes to eliminate cash. It has nothing to do with fiscalism or honesty. Banks just want to make money this way, he says.
As he adds, liquidation of cash has two dimensions.
– The first is the question of personal freedom. The state or the bank knows exactly what we are doing. It deprives people of elementary freedom. Not everyone wants someone else to know what I bought and from whom. Then I pay in cash and I’m not talking about some illegal things – emphasizes Cezary Kaźmierczak, president of ZPP.
As the president of the Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers emphasizes, if cash is liquidated, banks will introduce commissions on each transaction.
– For a payment below, for example, PLN 5, they will wish for something. Then it will be possible to impose very specific commissions on the consumer. If we manage to liquidate cash, we will have commissions for everything. Each payment will be “taxed” by the bank. At the moment, banks do not charge money for transfers and card payments in most cases. If they started charging – then each of us can pay in cash. We have an alternative. It will be different if you can’t pay in cash – explains Cezary Kaźmierczak.
The legislator, in turn, believes that limiting cash circulation eliminates the gray area – it makes it impossible to avoid paying taxes and employing without contracts. In addition, it facilitates the fight against terrorism, as well as money laundering by organized crime. ([email protected]) ot.pixabay
