Overview
- The Presidency of the Council has flagged to the Economy Ministry an amendment applying a flat €500 stamp duty to cash payments between €5,001 and €10,000.
- The mechanism would effectively permit cash use up to €10,000 without directly rewriting the current legal ceiling.
- The proposal sits in the prioritized package of government amendments for the 2026 budget and has not been enacted.
- Opposition parties PD and Avs/Europa Verde denounce the plan as encouraging evasion and laundering, warning it would expand the shadow economy.
- Economists say the duty could aid fiscal monitoring only if linked to Revenue Agency systems; the draft also adds safeguards such as an invoice requirement and echoes EU discussions of a €10,000 threshold.