Meloni defends card-payment threshold and higher cash limit

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 7 - Premier Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday defended two flagship budget measures accused by the Bank of Italy and others of potentially favouring tax evasion: enabling retailers to refuse to accept card payments for amounts of up to 60 euros in order to stop them having to pay commissions on small payments that make the transactions less worthwhile to them; and raising the limit for cash payments from 2,000 euros to 5,000.
    Previously Meloni had said the controversial measure in the government's 2023 budget bill that would enable retailers to refuse to accept card payments for amounts up to 60 euros could be changed.
    She had also said there might be some wiggle room on the new 5,000 euro cash payment ceiling.
    But on Wednesday the premier reportedly told majority whips she was proud of the two measures, which she said "made sense".
    Meloni remarked that commission costs on card payments are borne by retailers and not by the citizens who use the service.
    If they were borne by citizens, she told the whips, "I think that no one would pay for a coffee with their card".
    The 60-euro threshold for electronic payments, she also explained, could be put to further debate at an EU level and not an Italian one. (ANSA).