Will the 200-shekel bills be canceled and disappear from wallets?
After the Prime Minister instructed to promote the cancellation of the banknote as soon as possible, in accordance with the recommendation of a professional team, the Bank of Israel stated today (Monday) that the authority to cancel banknotes lies solely with the Governor.
A few days ago, it was reported that the Bank of Israel and the Ministry of Finance are examining a proposal they received from a group of experts, who recommend taking the exceptional step in order to combat black money and criminal organizations in Israel.
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However, the Bank of Israel announced today: "The Bank of Israel will present its professional position regarding such a move, should it come up for discussion. The authority to cancel banknotes by law belongs to the Governor. So far, no solidly based professional justification has been presented for canceling one or another banknote.".
The proposal to abolish the 200-shekel note was born because the 200-shekel note is the main way for tax evaders to accumulate black money - and therefore a special team of nine economists, who submitted various recommendations as part of the war on black money, came up with the idea to abolish the note.
The Ministry of Finance, and especially the Tax Authority, claim that a significant portion of the more than half a billion 200-shekel bills are used by criminal organizations to evade taxes, and constitute a significant portion of black money in Israel.
The Ministry of Finance recommends canceling the banknotes and thereby making it more difficult for tax evaders, alongside a step that has already been taken to reduce the amount allowed for payment in a cash transaction from 11,000 shekels to 6,000 shekels and towards activating a program for the voluntary disclosure of tax evaders, whose confession on their own initiative will prevent criminal proceedings from being taken against them.
If it is indeed decided to cancel the note, citizens will be forced to go to the bank to exchange the notes in their possession, or to deposit them into an account.
According to estimates, within the next decade, cash will disappear from the Israeli economy and payments will be made by credit or through mobile payment applications.
It should be noted that in China, the use of cash has already been almost completely eliminated among locals.
