Is it legal for businesses to accept only cash?
Have you ever walked into a shop and seen a “cash only” sign and thought “bugger, I don’t have any cash on me?”
Is it even legal for shops to only accept cash?
In a society where people predominantly use their cards to pay for items, it’s a bit rare.
But the short answer is yes. It is legal for shops to accept only cash.
According to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), businesses are “at liberty to set the commercial terms upon which payment will take place before the 'contract' for supply of the goods or services is entered into".
So when you walk into a shop and see “cash only”, the business providing the goods has already set the terms of which payment will take place.
Further to this is the possibility of providers who accept only cash are getting away with not paying their taxes.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) knows this often happens and that if you report everything, then you have nothing to worry about.
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