As stated in a new set of preliminary guidelines, published on Australia’s Department of Treasury website, in the near future it’s proposed to introduce “payment limit of $10,000 for payments made or accepted by businesses for goods and services”. However, there are no restrictions on the use of cryptocurrencies in the document.
Such measures should help combat tax evasion and other financial crimes. No one talks about the absolute prohibition of payments exceeding $ 10,000, the bill says:
Transactions equal to, or in excess of this amount would need to be made using the electronic payment system or by cheque.
‘Green light’ for Crypto?
The document also has a list of payments for which the proposed limit doesn’t apply. One of the points is:
payments that only exceed the cash payment limit because payment is or includes an amount of digital currency; and
Cryptocurrencies, in general, have devoted a whole section (No. 9). It states that:
Unlike physical currency, it does not have a firmly established regulatory framework or industry structure. This makes it difficult to apply the cash payment limit in a way that would not largely prevent the use of digital currency in Australia or significantly stifle innovation in the sector.
The limits will be introduced from January 1, 2020, changes and suggestions to the draft will be accepted until August 12, 2019. In this thus, we see that Australia creates ideal conditions for the development of cryptocurrencies, and we will keep an eye on further developments.
