Es Legal El Billete De 500 Euros

The frequent relationship of these notes with criminal activities such as fraud, terrorism or money laundering motivated this decision. The total value of the €500 banknotes amounted to €7,450 million in the last month of 2021, compared to more than €7,750 million the previous month, a decrease of 3.8% month-on-month and 18.1% compared to the previous year (€9,100 million). Although cash is still part of any family economy, the truth is that telematic payments are gradually being imposed, so it is increasingly rare to take to the streets with notes or coins. and more if they are 500 euros, the note with the highest value of the countries of the euro zone. The Bank of Spain confirms this on its website: the €500 banknotes are legal tender, are not prohibited and retain their value indefinitely. “They can continue to circulate and be used as a means of payment and store of value (i.e. to buy and save),” the agency reports. According to the Bank of Spain, only professional sectors have the right to put the €500 notes back into circulation, i.e. to hand them over to customers who request them.

These include banks, cash-in-transit companies or bureaux de change. This means that the banknotes disappear. At the time of the announcement of the cessation of the issue of the €500 notes, the Bank of Spain had already communicated that they were still legal tender and that they could therefore circulate and be used to save and pay (“as a means of payment and store of value”). Although this does not concern the vast majority of citizens, the European Central Bank decided in 2016 to ban the issuance of €500 banknotes. The measure, which was taken at the time but came into effect in 2019, was justified by “concerns that banknotes of this denomination could facilitate the commission of illegal activities,” the agency itself said in a statement on its website. The number of €50 banknotes in circulation increased by €28 million to €1,471 million to around €73,550 million in December. The year 2020 ended with 1,371 million units. The €500 banknote ceased production at the end of 2018, although it remains a legal form of cash payment following the decision of the European Central Bank (ECB).

As confirmed by the Bank of Spain (BoE), these notes are still legal, so they can continue to be used as a means of payment and as a store of value, i.e. to buy and save. Although tickets can be used, not all establishments can offer them to their customers. Only a few centres can do so, always after appropriate checks to ensure the legality of these tickets. For the €10 and €20 banknotes, the net balance between banknotes distributed and yields was also negative in December. The difference in the first case was 1,575 million tickets, down from 1,577 million tickets in November 2021 and 2,193 million €20 notes, down three million from the previous month. Indeed, in Spain, the reduction of the limit for cash payments has been lowered from €2,500 to €1,000 for professionals. The number of €500 banknotes in circulation in Spain stood at 13.1 million in July, approaching the historic low reached 20 years ago when the euro entered circulation and the number of “purple” banknotes stood at 12.7 million.

The total amount of 500 euro banknotes in the seventh month of the year was 6,557 million euros, 2% less than in June and 19.9% less than the previous year (8,192 million), according to the latest preliminary data from the Bank of Spain. Similarly, professional sectors such as banks, cash-in-transit companies or bureaux de change can, among other things, put into circulation €500 banknotes. These banknotes retain their value indefinitely and can be exchanged at any time at the central and national banks of the euro area. In addition, the value of the €200 banknotes amounted to €212 million in December, down slightly from the previous month to 1.06 million units. As El Heraldo points out, the number of €500 banknotes in circulation continues to fall, reaching 13.9 million in April, approaching the lowest level of only 20 years ago, in January 2022, when the euro entered circulation and the figure was 12.7 million. The agency considered that the €500 notes were linked to money laundering. Therefore, nowadays it is very complicated to use them. This situation may be due to the fact that the country is a tourist destination and the possibility that tourists have brought many such tickets to Spain in recent years. A large part of tourists` money ends up in credit institutions, which return some of these notes to the Bank of Spain because they do not need as much to meet the liquidity needs of their customers. In the case of €100 banknotes, the gap between banknotes distributed in July and those withdrawn persisted after companies operating in Spain delivered more banknotes to the Bank of Spain than were put into circulation.

Specifically, the difference between banknotes distributed and withdrawn in the amount of €100 in the seventh month of 2022 was 139 million units, which is about three million more than the previous month. The European Central Bank agreed in early May 2016 to stop producing these “purple” notes, and the Bank of Spain has stopped issuing them since January 2019, although they are still legal tender. Have you noticed that there are fewer and fewer €500 notes? Well, maybe after reading this question, you laughed and thought a little. “I`ve never seen one like this,” you`re not alone. It`s quite complicated to have encountered these kinds of bills, and when you see them, it looks like you saw a unicorn, has that happened to you? The truth is that the use of these notes has been linked to criminal activities such as fraud or money laundering, so the European Central Bank has taken the firm decision to stop issuing them in 2019. However, some are still in circulation. “These notes retain their value indefinitely and can be exchanged at any time at the national central banks of the euro area,” the ECB said. However, you can only find them in three places (or at least they can circulate there without any problems): banks, cash-in-transit companies and exchange offices. The Bank of Spain`s data for July is significant: the number of banknotes of this volume, at 13.1 million, was very close to its historical low, compared to 12.7 million in 2002, when the euro came into force. The negative trend is clear: in just one year, the volume of euro banknotes was reduced by 19.9%, from a value of €8,192 million to €6,557 million.

All the banknotes that these entities put back into circulation do not lose their value (in fact, the Bank of Spain insists that they will keep them “indefinitely”), and in the event that the citizen wants to exchange them for others of lesser quantities, he can do so without fear, since these aforementioned entities can obtain them. The number of €50 banknotes in circulation increased by €9 million to €1,502 million to around €75,000 million in July compared to the previous month. On the other hand, the volume of €200 banknotes fell in July to around €704,000 for a value of around €140.8 million. In recent months, the government has paid particular attention to treasury operations. Indeed, this summer, the new cash payment limit for professionals was approved (which increased from 2,500 to 1,000 euros for transactions with domestic workers). The €500 banknotes are the ghosts of the vast majority of the population who have not been able to enjoy them. In Spain, they have not been issued since 2019, when the Bank of Spain stopped issuing them on the orders of the European Central Bank. Remember, of course, that in late 2020, the government passed new regulations to combat fraud and limited cash payments. In this way, Law 11/2021, of July 9, stipulates that the maximum amount for cash payment is 1,000 euros.

If you want to purchase a product or service for a higher value, the customer must use another electronic payment method. The €500 banknotes are in the sights of the tax authorities. Any movement of the bank or user with the highest invoice must be reported to the Ministry of Finance to avoid tax evasion. As for the €200 banknotes, they reached a total of €2.9 million in July, bringing this amount to €580 million in the seventh month of the year, slightly less than the previous month. Therefore, only those issued before 2019 are circulating: As of this year, the BoE stopped production and implemented an ECB recommendation.