A planed three-fold rise in the cash payment limit contained in the government's budget could worsen tax evasion and graft, the president of Italy's anti-corruption authority warned on Thursday.
"Altering the cash payment limit, already revised in recent times, could contribute to increasing regulatory uncertainty," Raffaele Cantone told a legal conference in Naples.
"Regulatory stability in fiscal matters is a deterrent to tax evasion," Cantone said, noting that tax dodging was closely linked to corruption.
Cantone's remarks came as the Italian cabinet on Thursday approved a tax-cutting budget for 2016 aimed at boosting economic recovery which includes plans to raise from 1,000 euros to 3,000 euros the amount that can be paid in cash.
The Italian parliament's anti-mafia commission chief Rosy Bindi on Wednesday voiced concern that tripling the cash ceiling could help local mafias by making payments to their henchmen harder to trace.
Renzi announced the new cash transaction limit on Tuesday, saying: "It's a way to help consumer spending and say 'no more terror' (from the State). That money is traced anyway".
The government argues that its planned new cash limit is still lower than in many other European countries.
