Hi Neil The cash economy in some euro countries is interesting. I'm having to take several thousand euro to Italy to pay the balance on a rental this summer which means I have to have it with me in Rome for a few days first which is a little uncomfortable. In France it's impossible to get more than a small amount of cash out of the bank in a weekly period (think it's 500 Euros or even less) due to the government trying to crack down on the cash economy. I think it's a great measure of how successful or otherwise a country's tax system is as if so many people are trying to avoid it it must be too high and the economy must be very inefficient. Not sure how that may impact on property investment - for example taxation in France is not particularly onerous in this respect (providing you can avoid the wealth tax) compared to the UK. Huw