"David Gauke, exchequer secretary, has criticised cash-in-hand payments as morally wrong, but just how much of the UK's tax gap do they account for, and where is the rest of our unpaid tax lost? "
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check/2012/jul/24/tax-taxavoidancelet see, government officials on both sides of the pond think paying cash is immoral?!?
- i lament for the days of my youth raking leaves and cutting grass for pocket change.
- i once belonged to a barter club in Denver CO USA, it was shut down by tax collectors.
the digital printer and scanner has made paper money rather risky - easy to copy and print.
metallic coinage is too expensive, heavy and cumbersome for some uses.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/01/california-man-pays-off-13000-property-tax-bill-in-coins-dollar-bills/http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2015/02/03/texas-man-arrested-after-attempt-to-pay-taxes-with-dollar-bills/#b6f55fe65efci could see the government use monitored accounts to 'automatically' remove taxes from every transaction and then force a prohibitive process to clawback the tax paid if it doesn't apply.
very extractive and non-inclusive. it could further hinder the creative destruction that has underpinned growth in the USA.
it would further marginalize people on the lower rungs of the social/economic ladder. Especially if the method of use was a credit or debit card model.
no longer able to hedge inflation by diversifying into held commodities.
it would probably create another or enlarge the current underground economy/blackmarket.
- i wonder how the Amish might work with this?
greater loss of privacy/anonymity.
we already have problems in several markets with the velocity of money. You could have a financial crash at a speed that - at least for me - would be incomprehensible. Hyperinflation could advance so fast that you could loose your buying power while walking across the street.
loosing a dollar bill to a sudden wind gust is annoying. loosing my 'money token' would loose my financial identity for...? this could be a problem if you get robbed.
i see the opportunity for employers to pay their employees daily. - i don't think it would happen. The longer they hold your wages the more money they make. From the employers perspective, it would cost them more.
One power failure or computer glitch or hack away from loosing your financial identity.
i think a cashless society is inevitable with our current governmental, cultural and financial markets. It would have some huge benefits and some huge risks. i don't think our society is ready and i don't think the technology bullet-proof enough yet.
US Fed law.
Title 31 (Money and Finance), Subtitle IV (Money), Chapter 51 (Coins and Currency), Subchapter I (Monetary System), Section 5103 (Legal Tender) of the United States Code states:
United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.
