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Cash only in Berlin

thecritic.co.uk

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Re: Cash only in Berlin

#11

Post by Febra33 »

The author of this article seems to make some very obscure points here. First and foremost: "You have to work pretty hard to find a bar serving traditional Germanic beverages and food." What does the author define as "Germanic" beverages and food? As a german that has lived for some time in Berlin I'm quite sure that there are more than enough places to grab "Germanic" beverages and food at. They just don't stand out much. [EDIT: For those who don't know, Germanic doesn't mean German. Germanic means something different]

Then he continues to discuss how "fortunately, there seems to be a grassroots pushback against such globalising trends" which I find equally weird. He comments about the existence of burger joints and ramen bars as if these are literally destroying the city's economy. How are german restaurants (which definitely exist in Berlin) and foreign restaurants mutually exclusive?

I also like to mention that many places prefer cash only in Germany for tax evasion reasons, not because of some made-up "grassroots pushback" against the big, scary globalism of.. foreign restaurants. (???)

Another obscure point is that "eager-looking under 18s try to get in [beer breweries], only to be politely turned away without any fracas." which is again, a very stupid point to make, since you are allowed to buy beer at 16 in Germany already.

Then he quotes a person of supposedly Eritrean descent saying “But the people coming now, they don’t learn German and they don’t want to work.” which sounds pretty much like your average alt-right talking point, that has been disproven over and over again.

I'm really sorry, but this person seems to know literally absolutely nothing about Berlin, Germany, or life in Germany in general. This article is mediocre at most and a farce.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#12

Post by conanbatt »

numlock86 wrote: post #10

If a merchant, especially in Germany, asks for cash, it's for tax evasion. It's as simple as that. And no, I don't care about your anecdotes how that is not true for your particular case. A small number of exceptions exist of course.

That is the best reason to use cash. Isn't it scary that debit money guarantees you pay more taxes, and it is also used as evidence against you, and to violate your privacy?

Cash doesn't have any of those issues, its amazing. That's why governments hate it! (literally!)

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#13

Post by flohofwoe »

nibbleshifter wrote: post #8
KingOfCoders wrote: post #3

Often this is for tax evasion. There has been a discussion for over a decade now with ever new proposals from the IRS to halt cash only tax evasion in shops and restaurants. Recently a famous cook was sentenced to years in prison as he took $5M from the cash register over several years. One criminal organization alone sold cash register software that lead to an estimated $500M in tax losses.

In Germany its a cultural thing. People just prefer the option of privacy.

Then people should be free to use cash, but there's no need to lock out people who prefer card payment (I also prefer cash, but mainly because I'm old-fashioned).

But if a restaurant has a sign in the door "no card payment due to technical problems" for years, it's probably neither a technical nor a cultural/ideological issue ;)

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#14

Post by FinnKuhn »

w-m wrote: post #6

There is probably a majority support for keeping cash as a privacy-friendly method of paying in Germany, as an addition to card-paying. But at least in my little bubble in Berlin, everybody hates the cash-only places. When I go to lunch with my colleagues, we might be hitting one of the restaurants that are cash-only, and every time at least one person of the group won't have any cash on them, and have to borrow some…

At least many smaller businesses will probably continue to prefer cash as it is easier to commit tax evasion when there is no record of the transaction stored...

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#15

Post by ch4s3 »

numlock86 wrote: post #10

If a merchant, especially in Germany, asks for cash, it's for tax evasion. It's as simple as that. And no, I don't care about your anecdotes how that is not true for your particular case. A small number of exceptions exist of course.

Seems like avoiding credit card fees is a perfectly reasonable explanation, at least in the US where fees exceed 3%. It’s trivial for governments to catch businesses that hold a lot of inventory and are cheating on taxes by more than small amounts.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#16

Post by mullingitover »

KingOfCoders wrote: post #3

Often this is for tax evasion. There has been a discussion for over a decade now with ever new proposals from the IRS to halt cash only tax evasion in shops and restaurants. Recently a famous cook was sentenced to years in prison as he took $5M from the cash register over several years. One criminal organization alone sold cash register software that lead to an estimated $500M in tax losses.

The card-only stuff is also making it hard for honest, hard-working money launderers.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#17

Post by w-m »

wolframhempel wrote: post #9

Berlin is right now in this strange in-between state where countless places are cash-only while plenty of others are no-cash-at-all - both of which equally hipsterish.

Also fun when paying by card: the cheese seller on the market will only take credit cards (and using a Girocard/EC-Karte fails the transaction). And the restaurant around the corner only takes Girocards. They tell you with multiple signs and point it out again when you get your card, because if you try to pay with a credit card, their terminal will hang and have to be rebooted, which is a multi-minute ordeal.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#18

Post by Febra33 »

conanbatt wrote: post #12
numlock86 wrote: post #10

If a merchant, especially in Germany, asks for cash, it's for tax evasion. It's as simple as that. And no, I don't care about your anecdotes how that is not true for your particular case. A small number of exceptions exist of course.

That is the best reason to use cash. Isn't it scary that debit money guarantees you pay more taxes, and it is also used as evidence against you, and to violate your privacy? Cash doesn't have any of those issues, its amazing. That's why governments hate it! (literally!)

Paying your taxes is not an issue. It's called being responsible.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#20

Post by flohofwoe »

ch4s3 wrote: post #15
numlock86 wrote: post #10

If a merchant, especially in Germany, asks for cash, it's for tax evasion. It's as simple as that. And no, I don't care about your anecdotes how that is not true for your particular case. A small number of exceptions exist of course.

Seems like avoiding credit card fees is a perfectly reasonable explanation, at least in the US where fees exceed 3%. It’s trivial for governments to catch businesses that hold a lot of inventory and are cheating on taxes by more than small amounts.

Usually this then says "No card payment under 10 Euros", but still offer card payment for bigger amounts where the fee doesn't matter as much (which IMHO is completely ok).
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