I’ve worked in many EU countries and the feeling I often got is that in Italy, we are more advanced in fighting tax evasion and elusion.
Keep in mind that in switzerland for example there is no cap to cash transaction
In Germany and Austria often is difficult to pay with card because they don’t accept it
I’ve seen Russian in Vienna going to luxury stores with literally stacks of money
Important: never buy IKEA bulbs (lamps and all the aesthetic part OK, but not the light bulb itself)
I had dozens of those dying one by one in my apartment, I always substituted them with Philips bulbs and they never had issues