Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1512115
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 NOVEMBER 2023 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The chit handed over by the waiter looks like a receipt, but it is not, and unsuspecting customers can easily be misled. If they leave the restaurant without the fiscal receipt, customers would be help- ing the establishment's owner pocket the VAT charged rather than passing it on to government. The practice to issue an itemised bill, or a pre-bill, is not illegal but the Tax Commissioner told MaltaToday it is obligatory for a fiscal receipt to be is- sued without the need for the customer to ask for it. "Restaurant operators are obliged to issue a fiscal receipt for every sale to their customers upon payment. If an Itemised bill/pre-bill is issued and a fiscal receipt is not, then this would be against the law," the Tax Commissioner said. In a recent complaint on Facebook, Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer said he was increasingly being asked at restaurants whether he wanted the fiscal receipt de- spite this being an obligation. But Engerer's story is not unique with many other diners not being given a fis- cal receipt unless they specifically ask for one. This is clearly illegal. The VAT Act states that business- es are to issue a fiscal receipt for the amount paid and do so "immediately after payment" is done. "Restaurant operators are not an ex- ception to this," the Tax Commission- er said, adding the obligation to issue a receipt remains even when customers state they do not want one. He insisted that asking a client wheth- er they want a fiscal receipt is futile. "Failure to issue a fiscal receipt is a criminal offence and the defaulting res- taurant operators may be fined between €700 and €3,500 by the Criminal Courts if they plead guilty or are found guilty," he said. Restaurants more often than not use computerised systems instead of tradi- tional cash registers in their operations. Nonetheless, the conditions set out by the tax authorities when authorising such computerised systems state that when an itemised bill or pre-bill is is- sued this must clearly show it is not a fiscal receipt. In this way, the client would know that a fiscal receipt is still to be provided upon payment. Whether this happens is a different matter altogether but the tax author- ities do carry out regular enforcement action, including spot-checks to ensure compliance with the rules. According to the Malta Tax and Cus- toms Administration between January and October of this year 1,233 inspec- tions were carried out on restaurants, kiosks, cafeterias and other food servic- es activities. From these 249 were reported as not conforming with VAT law. The Tax Commissioner said that infringements included not issuing fiscal receipts or is- suing incorrect receipts, such as charg- ing the wrong VAT rate and amounts on the receipt not corresponding to what was actually paid by customer; issuance of receipts from unapproved computerised systems; and operating with an inactive VAT number or not registered for VAT. "Such cases are then either issued with a compromise fine ranging from €50 to €200, or taken to the Criminal Court where, upon conviction, they become li- able to fines between €700 and €3,500," the Tax Commissioner said. He added that as part of the ongoing educational campaign to increase fiscal compliance, the tax authorities' will in the near future include the topic of fis- cal receipts. "We intend to educate both the public with regards to their rights and business operators with regards to their obligations." Restaurants obliged to give fiscal receipt says tax chief