Tightening at customsfor those traveling within and outside the European Union. Tighter controls and limits are coming not only on cash, but also on prepaid cards and highly liquid assets such as gold. Italy is thus aligning itself with the European directive (EU no. 1672 of 2018) to combat money laundering and the financing of criminal activities. And sanctions for violations are being made more severe.
The Council of Ministers has approved a new legislative decree that tightens customs controls. The obligation to declare the transport of incoming and outgoing money is triggered when it reaches or exceeds 10 thousand euros. But the definition of money now includes not only coins and banknotes (even if out of circulation as long as they are still usable as a means of exchange), but also amounts loaded on non-nominative prepaid cards, goods usually used as reserves of value, so-called bearer negotiable instruments (such as cheques, traveller’s cheques, promissory notes and money orders issued to the bearer). And the obligation to inform customs also applies to unaccompanied money, which is sent via postal package or inside luggage and suitcases.
The new rules also affect gold. The definition of “investment gold” is revised, including gold intended for further processing, and the threshold value for transactions that must be declared to the Financial Information Unit is lowered from 12,500 euros to 10,000 euros. The obligation to declare also applies to repeated transactions with the same counterparty that reach the threshold of 10,000 euros in total during a calendar month.
In the event of failure to declare, Customs has the power to withhold the sum for a maximum of 30 days, extendable up to 90 days, and to block the money if there are suspicions that it may be linked to criminal activity. The new legislation also increases the sanctions for those who do not comply with the declaration obligations. For sums of money between 10 thousand and 40 thousand euros, the sanction has been increased from 15% to 30% of the undeclared amount. For higher sums, the seizure percentage can reach up to 100% for undeclared amounts over 100 thousand euros.
