Failure of attempt to impose further restrictions on cash payments

The upper limit on cash payments remains at BGN 10,000 (approx. 5,000 Euro)

Not a single national government has to deal with distrust of cash payments. As of 2011, statutory restrictions have been enacted in Bulgaria that ban cash payments of debts over a certain amount. Payment of these debts may be made by bank transfer only. Moreover, the aspiration towards gradual decrease of the upper limit to minimum levels imposed on regular day-to-day transactions is clearly evident.

Thus, upon implementation in 2011, the upper limit amounted to 15,000 (fifteen thousand) BGN. In 2015, the limit was lowered to 10,000 (ten thousand) BGN. In 2017, the Bulgarian government lodged a draft bill with the Parliament for even stricter restrictions on cash payments. The draft bill envisaged implementation of a two-stage reform because since the beginning of 2018 the maximum admissible limit should be lowered to 5,000 (five thousand) BGN, and further decreased to 1, 000 (one thousand) BGN as of 2019.

However, the proposed legislative amendment was voted down at the second hearing in the Bulgarian Parliament. Critics of the reform raise the argument that no proper economic analysis has been provided as to the effectiveness of the measure in the fight against the shadow economy and corruption.

Source: Act restricting cash payments; Tax-Insurance Procedure Code

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