In many Italian small towns, each spring a policeman drops by your place of business and asks you, Girl Scout–cookie style, if you want to support them by buying their yearbook. But the consequences of not supporting your local police force is much more severe than blowing off that Girl Scout. If you look, most bars, cafes, and shops display the town police yearbook — they even come equipped with little loops for easy display. Locals say no one ever read one. You could say it’s just good for business.
Comments
First the organized crime families, now the police making the population pay for protection. But then again maybe it’s fitting. I’ve been in Italy for the past week and all of the places that I have slept at had either insisted on, or encouraged cash payments. I suppose they keep it off the books to evade taxes. Given all of the problems of storing and transporting cash I think that credit cards provide a nice service for honest merchants.
Italians, and most Europeans do not like credit. Italians do not want to pay the fees associated with credit cards. Some will actually charge you the fee to use it.
The cash has less to do with taxes than profit. As in Italy they are required to give you a receipt for every transaction for example.