The Turnbull Government’s Black Economy Taskforce is expected to release its final report in October 2017. While its interim report estimated the cost of the cash economy to be about $25 billion, the head of the taskforce, Michael Andrew, now believes that the black economy is worth at least $35 billion and potentially even up to $50 billion when activities such as money laundering and drug trafficking are taken into account.
The cash economy alone is estimated to cost the Government up to $15 billion in forgone revenue, due to “illegal welfare payments” and foregone tax revenue. Therefore, putting an expiry date on $100 notes is one of the options that Michael Andrew is looking at in a bid to reduce the impact of the cash economy on government revenue, as well as making electronic transactions more attractive by reducing card fees and imposing a ban on all cash transactions over $10,000. From The Canberra Times:
