Cash threshold going back up soon?

As is generally known, since 1 January 2014 the cash threshold has been limited to an amount of 3,000 EUR, meaning that merchants may not accept any cash amounts above 3,000 EUR from their customers. The previous government had designed this rule as part of its fight against black money. However, State Secretary Elke Sleurs, responsible for fraud control, recently announced that this ceiling for cash transactions will be raised to 7,500 EUR.       There are several arguments in favour of increasing the threshold. For example, it has been pointed out that several sectors - such as the jewellery sector, the auction houses and sellers of used cars – had been hit hard by the measure. In order to give them more breathing room, an increase would be welcome, according to its advocates. They also point out that the competent European institutions are preparing a directive that will establish 7,500 EUR as the new standard (currently, this European standard is 15,000 EUR). The Belgian rule is therefore much stricter than that in our neighbouring countries.      Nevertheless, the media and political world is filled with criticisms of this proposal. The opposition points out that such measure will only facilitate the black economy and represents a serious weakening of fraud control. To be perfectly clear, however, right now the increase is merely a proposal of the State Secretary and has not yet been cast in the form of a bill, to say nothing of having been approved by the Parliament. For the time being, therefore, 3,000 EUR remains the standard. Given the controversy surrounding the State Secretary’s proposal, it’s an open question whether the increase will in fact ultimately be adopted.