3 ms·

> The point is, cash is hard to trace. When I see a business that doesn't take credit, I think... tax evasion.

notch656a 4y ago
If you're in a sketchy area it's possible that a lot of your customers are.... ahemm..... engaging in questionable activity with the cards they happen to have. This can skyrocket the premiums or even result in your processor dropping you.
MichaelCollins 4y ago
Uh huh. When I see somebody with a locked smartphone, I think criminal with something to hide.
- deepspace 4y ago
  Those two are not even remotely equivalent. Tax evasion through cash transactions is rampant, and there is very little actual reason for most law-abiding people to keep their transaction secret. Keeping a smartphone with your secrets locked is just good security.
  - MichaelCollins 4y ago
    Only accepting cash and locking your phone are both perfectly legal decisions that nobody needs to account for. It is your right to do either.
deepspace 4y ago
Exactly. The number of people who NEED to keep their transactions private for non-criminal purposes is miniscule compared to the number of tax evaders. It pains me every time I go to Costco and I see contractors dressed in their work clothes pull out a wad of cash to pay for their groceries. They are effectively getting a 30% discount on the price I pay by not processing their income through the banking system and not paying their fair share of tax on it.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- outworlder 4y ago
  > The number of people who NEED to keep their transactions private for non-criminal purposes is miniscule compared to the number of tax evaders. In democracies. For as long as the government remains stable.
alexb_ 4y ago
It's very easy to say that "cash can be used outside of the law" is a strictly bad thing when you agree with most of the laws. But assuming that we will always be in a happy democracy is a grave mistake. We've lived in mostly peaceful times (at least domestically) for a long time, so I think people forget that. Cash can be used outside of the law. That's exactly WHY it's important to have in a free society. To say otherwise would be saying that morality and legality are one and the same.
monocasa 4y ago
Or something similar. There was a brewery in town that only took cash that everyone knew was acting as a bank for the marijuana dispensaries since they couldn't access traditional banking services and had to deal with large amounts of cash.
merely-unlikely 4y ago
> When I see a business that doesn't take credit, I think... tax evasion. Maybe but I default to, doesn't want to pay credit card fees.

If you're in a sketchy area it's possible that a lot of your customers are.... ahemm..... engaging in questionable activity with the cards they happen to have. This can skyrocket the premiums or even result in your processor dropping you.

MichaelCollins 4y ago

Uh huh. When I see somebody with a locked smartphone, I think criminal with something to hide.

deepspace 4y ago
Those two are not even remotely equivalent. Tax evasion through cash transactions is rampant, and there is very little actual reason for most law-abiding people to keep their transaction secret. Keeping a smartphone with your secrets locked is just good security.
- MichaelCollins 4y ago
  Only accepting cash and locking your phone are both perfectly legal decisions that nobody needs to account for. It is your right to do either.

deepspace 4y ago

Exactly. The number of people who NEED to keep their transactions private for non-criminal purposes is miniscule compared to the number of tax evaders. It pains me every time I go to Costco and I see contractors dressed in their work clothes pull out a wad of cash to pay for their groceries. They are effectively getting a 30% discount on the price I pay by not processing their income through the banking system and not paying their fair share of tax on it.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
outworlder 4y ago
> The number of people who NEED to keep their transactions private for non-criminal purposes is miniscule compared to the number of tax evaders. In democracies. For as long as the government remains stable.

alexb_ 4y ago

It's very easy to say that "cash can be used outside of the law" is a strictly bad thing when you agree with most of the laws. But assuming that we will always be in a happy democracy is a grave mistake. We've lived in mostly peaceful times (at least domestically) for a long time, so I think people forget that. Cash can be used outside of the law. That's exactly WHY it's important to have in a free society. To say otherwise would be saying that morality and legality are one and the same.

monocasa 4y ago

Or something similar. There was a brewery in town that only took cash that everyone knew was acting as a bank for the marijuana dispensaries since they couldn't access traditional banking services and had to deal with large amounts of cash.

merely-unlikely 4y ago

> When I see a business that doesn't take credit, I think... tax evasion. Maybe but I default to, doesn't want to pay credit card fees.