Cyrus Engerer: ‘I’m tired of restaurants asking me whether I want a fiscal receipt’

There appears to be a growing trend among restaurants whereby patrons are asked whether they want the fiscal receipt when paying.

In some cases, patrons are given a non-fiscal receipt when asking for the bill and will not be handed the fiscal receipt unless they specifically ask for it.

The underlying reason for both these practices is to pocket the VAT that would have already been charged to customers rather than register it and pass it on to government.

This trend has now caught the eye of Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer, who vented his frustration on this form of attempted tax evasion in a Facebook post on Monday morning.

He wrote: “I’m tired of going to restaurants and after paying we are asked whether we want the fiscal receipt. Can somebody explain to them that this is a legal obligation?”

He also cast a spotlight on what he called a “growing custom” of restaurateurs their patrons whether they can pay by transferring money through Revolut or use cash instead of a bank card.

The reasons for this are also linked to tax evasion since payments made in this way are more difficult to trace.

“Let us reward those who abide by the law,” Engerer ended his post in what was purportedly an appeal to customers to give patronage to those who adhere to the rules.

Restaurants charge VAT at 18% and like any other commercial activity are obliged to pass on the tax collected to the government.

By law, they are obliged to provide customers with a fiscal receipt that is clearly marked as so. Even outlets and commercial activities that are exempt from charging VAT because their income falls below a certain threshold, are still obliged to provide customers with a fiscal receipt that indicates the business is VAT exempt.