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There are certainly a lot of people who use it for tax evasion, to be sure. One interesting tangible example that this problem exists is the recent removal of l
by Godel_unicode 6y ago
There are certainly a lot of people who use it for tax evasion, to be sure. One interesting tangible example that this problem exists is the recent removal of large bank notes by the Indian Central Bank, which was done expressly to combat tax evasion and money laundering.
The fact that lots of people in India have had serious issues because they were unbanked does seem to indicate that there's a sizable population of people using cash for everything*. I'm curious if there's any research into whether that's for tax-evasion reasons or for some other reason.
My personal belief is that the number one use is for money laundering, and that people who are using it that way would be willing to pay taxes on the money they are laundering from some other illegal activity. For instance, there are all-cash drug dealers who pay taxes on their drug money. I'm sure Al Capone wishes in retrospect that he'd paid taxes...
- tekknik 6y ago> My personal belief is that the number one use is for money laundering... Have you ever experienced a natural disaster? One thing you realize quite quickly is that your debit card is useless. That doesn’t mean transactions stop, people are still buying and selling, those with cash at least. If there’s runs on banks, infrastructure outages, etc, those relying entirely on debit and other payment cards won’t be buying food!
- willis936 6y agoThat's a reason why you might have cash, not why you would use it. For example, you might own a gun in case society collapses. It stays locked in a hard to find place in your house. You don't walk down the street with it on your hip. Similarly, you don't pay for goods and services with cash when you're not in a crisis unless you're breaking some law, whether or not you want to figure out if you are or not.
- saalweachter 6y agoThere's something like $13 trillion in consumer spending in the US each year, and something like 9% of that is in cash. That's like $1.2 trillion in boring, normal, law-abiding cash transactions each year.
- Godel_unicode 6y agoWhat makes you think that it's law-abiding? You're aware that literally the entire goal of money laundering is to appear law-abiding, yes?
- tekknik 6y agoWhat country are you from? I’ve only seen this kind of hate towards cash in the European countries. Last time in Sweden and ask to use cash they looked like they were about to kick me out of the store.
- Godel_unicode 6y agoYou should get out of your bubble more?
- tekknik 6y agoHeh, I’ve been to about 30 countries, how about you?
- Godel_unicode 6y ago112, disaster response is a great way to see the world.
- Godel_unicode 6y agoDo you seriously think that even a large minority of cash transactions are somehow related to natural disasters...?
- tekknik 6y agoSo logically we get rid of it since most transaction don’t happen for those reasons? Is my point invalidated in any way if a majority of cash transactions are not during a natural disaster?
- Godel_unicode 6y agoYou replied to, and quoted, a comment about the majority of cash transactions. Your point is entirely irrelevant to that discussion. Also, for the record, I have been in and responded to a number of natural disasters in the "first world". With the exception of a few hours here and there, using cards was never a problem. If the infrastructure is so wrecked that cards don't work, food/water is coming from people in high-vis vests.
- tekknik 6y agoNo my point is relevant and struck a nerve, hence the hostile replies. Keep loving digital currencies tho. Try a hurricane, or something serious enough to be registered as a natural disaster.
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