NEWS | SDC

February 25, 2016

INDIA: tax evasion and tax avoidance in Kerala

Random assessments conducted by the Comptroller and Auditor General in 443 units in the state during 2014-15 has revealed an under-collection of Rs 5,141 crore (=748,101,451,333.52 USD).

The principal accountant-general (economic and revenue sector audit), Mr Amar Patnaik, said that the incidence of evasion seen during the audit period was “the highest ever”. The short collection of VAT alone (after assessing only 169 offices of the Commercial Sales Tax Department) has been pegged at Rs 1,771.71 crore.

February 20, 2016

Greece tax evasion: New digital services to tackle the issue

Greek government is installing 400,000 ‘Point of Sale’ software systems – computerised cash registers that provide sophisticated financial, sales and inventory reports. These are designed to be compatible with the EU’s Digital Single Market (DSM) policy, and to minimise the opportunities for tax fraud. The government also plans to apply the new OECD Standard for Automatic Exchange of Information in Tax Matters during 2016: participant countries will cooperate online, notifying tax authorities of assets held or payments made connected with accounts exceeding USD$250,000.

February 12, 2016

Receipt lottery in SLOVENIA starts in 2016

Slovenian Financial Administration with introduction of the mandatory use of fiscal cash registers starts new fiscal lottery game to encourage consumers to ask for the fiscal receipts.

Mobile app “Verify Receipt”

For the participation in this game consumer must collect 10 different fiscal receipts issued by different goods or service providers.

This can be done in three ways:

February 11, 2016

Sales suppression pandemic

2013

The Vancouver Sun reported back in 2013 that the British Columbia Court of Appeal has tarnished a successful, high-profile Canada Revenue Agency investigation into restaurant tax cheats. Four years after a Richmond computer company was charged and a year after it was convicted of tax fraud, the province’s highest bench has ordered the company acquitted.
When a zapper is installed in conjunction with the firm’s Profitek point-of-sale record keeping system, a user can delete cash transactions from sales records and produce statements that under-report income.

The RCMP conducted an undercover operation in 2008 in which agents set up shop in a Vancouver restaurant and purchased the zapper software from InfoSpec.

The owners of four B.C. restaurants were charged with tax evasion and the CRA said more than $3 million in sales had been hidden and nearly $1 million in tax lost.

The owner of a North Vancouver sushi restaurant was handed 20 months house arrest and fined almost $143,000 after pleading guilty to tax evasion using the software.

A former InfoSpec salesman was sentenced to two years and six months in jail for fraud over $5,000 in relation to the sale of the software.

2016…

February 4, 2016

BELGIUM: what FDM has to do with the menu prices increase?

Hospitality sector in Belgium, with 25,000 Euros or more in revenue from the sale of food and drinks, starting January 1st must have a certified cash register/POS connected to the fiscal black box.

According to one survey of 528 restaurants, taverns and breweries, 45% of them have raised prices due to the introduction of the black box, in an average increase of 10% for meals and for drinks. One quarter of respondents also intend to increase their prices as the 45% who have already done it.