Israel adjustment cash and check daily transaction limit

Xinhua News Agency, Jerusalem, August 1st (Reporter Wang Zhuolun Lu Yingxu) A law that has been adjusted on August 1 has affected the nerves of many Israelis. The revised "Reduction of Cash" will be legally used to legally use cash and checks for daily commercial transactions from 11,000 new Shekl (1 new Shekl, about 2 yuan) to 6000 new Shekl. The Israeli Taxation Bureau said that the move aims to crack down on organizational crimes, money laundering and tax violations.

The Israeli Taxation Bureau said in a statement that this amount is limited to daily commercial transactions, and the payment objects include individual operators and freelancers. In addition, the cash payment limit for purchasing and renting real estate has also been adjusted from 50,000 new Shekl to 15,000 new Shekl. Tax Board official Tama Bulaha told media reporters that criminal organizations often rely on cash transactions, so they must be restricted.

The Global Daily reported that since the implementation of the "Reduction of Cash" in January 2019, approximately 12,500 commercial subjects have been fined a total of 5 billion new Shekl for illegal. Cash transactions are regarded as "fuels" to promote the shadow economy because it is difficult to track. The shadow economy refers to economic markets that are difficult to implement tax management and monitoring, and often associate economic crimes such as money laundering and tax evasion.

A previous report released by the World Bank states that the size of the Israeli shadow economy is equivalent to 22%of the country's GDP. The Israeli media generally believes that the amendment to the "Reduction of Cash" will monitor transactions more efficiently, crack down on tax evasion, and suppress black market activities.

However, restrictions on cash transactions are more controversial for cracking down on money laundering. The "Jerusalem Post" quoted a lawyer's words that since the "Reduction of Cash" three years ago, the market cash circulation has only increased, and the legal effect is obviously limited. In addition, about 9.45 million people in Israel have no bank account, restricting cash transactions will undoubtedly have more impact on them.

It is a little "gratifying" that Israeli law restricts citizenship transactions, but it has no restrictions on cash holdings. The Israeli administration has set up clauses in an economic arrangement bill attached to the National Budget Institute to prohibit citizens from holding more than 200,000 new Shekl at home, but this clause has been deleted in the final bill.

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