Without cash

It will soon be possible to pay in cash in Russia not in all cases. The Ministry of Finance came up with the initiative to limit the turnover of cash. The head of the department, Anton Siluanov, motivated this idea as follows: “We have too much of a share of cash payments. It is two times higher than in European countries, and 1.5 times higher than in developing countries. As a result, transactions for the purchase and sale of goods and services are not transparent enough, and taxes are underpaid. This contributes to the development of the shadow sector, which is about 30-40% of GDP.”
It is worth recalling that for the first time the topic began to be actively discussed in July last year, after a letter from the head of Sberbank German Gref to Prime Minister Putin. In that message, the head of the country's largest state-owned bank assessed the losses of the Russian economy due to the too high share of cash in circulation at 1% of GDP per year (in particular, the payment of salaries in cash often accompanies "gray" schemes that allow underpaying taxes). Gref called for amendments to the Labor Code, which would fix the procedure for paying salaries, pensions and social benefits exclusively through bank cards, and in the future through a universal electronic card (UEC).
What is the interest of the country's largest bank, which received a mandate for the development and implementation of the aforementioned UEC, is obvious. But now the topic is taken up at the government level. Minister Siluanov considers the mandatory use of cashless payments in transactions such as large purchases, say, real estate or cars, to be relevant. With specific figures, the financial department, however, has not yet decided. According to Siluanov, the maximum amount that, after the introduction of restrictions, can be paid in cash is still being discussed: whether it will be 100,000 or 600,000 rubles.
The question is what it will result in for Russian citizens. Using a plastic card, of course, is more convenient and safer than carrying large amounts of money in your wallet. However, for sellers of goods, payment for acquiring services (processing of card payments) results in 1.5–2.5% of the payment amount. The services of collectors carrying cash are much cheaper - 0.1-0.5%. There is no doubt that the increase in costs associated with a non-cash form of payment will be passed on to buyers and will result in another price increase. „

The state is actively working to put under tight control the income and expenses of its own citizens.

” Another dubious point: banks have long ceased to guarantee the “secrecy of deposits”. They are required to report all major transactions of their clients (just in the amount of more than 600 thousand rubles) to Rosfinmonitoring. Moreover, in parallel with work on a law that should limit cash circulation, work is underway on another bill that will expand the powers of "financial intelligence" and tax authorities. This document, written by Rosfinmonitoring on behalf of First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, has already been prepared and sent to the concerned departments for approval. In accordance with it, banks will be able to terminate contracts with clients if transactions on them seem suspicious, and tax authorities will be able to charge additional taxes without a trial. In addition, the Ministry of Economic Development is developing a draft law that will oblige citizens who make large purchases to disclose the sources of their income.
In other words, the state is actively working to put under tight control the income and expenses of its own citizens. In a civilized state of law, where the official is a hired employee of the taxpayer, acting in the interests of society, this would probably not cause any serious concerns. However, in Russia, unfortunately, things are different. In conditions when every bureaucrat identifies himself with the state, and the citizen is absolutely defenseless against the executive branch, which has turned the judiciary into its rudimentary appendage, any additional information that an official receives about his taxpaying employer may ultimately backfire on this employer.