The reasoning is not to restrict normal consumers,,,,,,its different,,,,,,I did hear from a friend who is a stock broker, that there is a lot of money laundering going on, and many companies refuse cash.
They want to know where the money is coming from, and who is using it.
And also they want your physical address, no PO boxes any more.
This Patriot Act is cumbersome, but it roots out the people who want to launder American dollars.
It perhaps is an inconvienience for regular people like us, but there is a purpose behind it.
I dont know any details, as I never got interested in this stuff, but I do know that there are a lot of people who need and want to launder their cash from perhaps illegal sources and foreigners who come in and want to load up on goods/securities/antiques/whatever, and go somewhere else, like dissappear.
The IRS needs to update their resources, as there is a lot of this going on. The money leaks out untaxed to other countries for one thing, but this is only the tip of the iceberg.
I heard this in a very quick conversation, but I would assume that there is a lot more to be aware of.
So thats the reason for not accepting cash, and not letting you give a PO box for your address for accounts at a brokerage and so forth.
And there is a LOT of this going on with our American citizens inside USA, big time laundering.
Jane