Here are a few 'astuces' concerning the cash in your pocket translated from L'Itinérant, a magazine sold by the Parisian homeless for a cover price of 2 Euros.
In France, shopkeepers can refuse payments of more than 50 coins. If you have six hundred 5 Euro banknotes, you can spend them all at once, but no more than that since payments in cash of more than 3000 Euros are outlawed in France. Infringement can result in a fine of 15000 Euros to be shared between buyer and seller. Business transactions in cash must not exceed 1100 Euros.
Refusal to accept a payment in cash can result in a fine of 150 Euros. However, if you offer a 10 Euro note for a baguette, the boulanger has the right to refuse it. If the boulanger thinks you have given him a fake banknote, he has the right to ask for your identity papers and contact details and later pursue you for making good his loss if the bank note proves fake.
If you are in possession of a fake note, you should take it to the Bank of France where it will be confiscated. You will not be reimboursed, but you will avoid the possibility of a 7500 Euro fine for making a payment with fake money. Franc notes can be changed at the Bank of France until 17 Feb 2012.
If you have a damaged bank note, you can replace it at the Bank of France. If the note is very badly damaged, it may be necessary to analyse the note, in which case you will be charged for the analysis.
From: L'Itinérant (Premier hebdomadaire de lutte contre la misère et la précarité.)
1 comment:
Dicey stuff to be handing around really. Far better to keep it under the mattress...
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