Knowing the French fondness for all things paperwork, there will be quite a lot ‘essential’
French fondness for all things paperwork
Another piece of evidence that French and Germans are siblings after all.
Nukular iS fReNChs contribution to stop climate change LOL
I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand receipts are probably nothing in the scale of pollution in general. On the other hand the paper receipts are printed on is non-recyclable whatsoever (due to the wax layer), so it can only end up in a landfill or burned. However forcing service providers and sellers to issue receipts ensures they pay tax on the goods and services sold. Perhaps secret shopper type of control by the tax bureau would make them do that anyway. Don’t know what to think
The paper commonly used for receipts is thermal paper, which doesn’t usually have any wax in it. But it’s still not recyclable due to the other chemicals in it.
In Sweden there are digital mailboxes that are considered just as bound to you as physical mail boxes (normal email is considered too flimsy for official mail etc).
If you have such a mailbox a lot of stores will send the receipt digitally instead of printing it at the POS. Although it only works if they know who you are (i.e you basically have to have a membership with the store).
Kivra and such are privately owned, and it seems foolish to trust them with all your data. One should use Min Myndighetspost as a digital mailbox for government-mails, and encourage places to have alternative options (Hemköp and Willys lets you see your receipts on their own websites for example)
Meanwhile in Germany: https://paymentandbanking.com/en/tag/bonpflicht-en/
Since January 1, 2020, the receipt requirement has been in force in Germany, and retailers and restaurateurs must issue a receipt for every transaction.
Well, it’s not mandatory to print a receipt in Germany. Only the purchase itself needs to be recorded and the receipt can be issued in a digital form as well. It’s up to the retailers how they want to implement this.
Let’s take the two local bakeries in my neighborhood as an example. One still issues paper receipts and complains since three years about this law with witty share pics that he has to raise prices because of all the paper he needs to buy and that the government does not trust family businesses. And the other one simply provides a QR code on the cash registry’s screen which I can scan within 60 seconds to download the receipt (if I want to) or he prints one if asked to do so.
In fact, I do not see big differences to the situation in France.
That works to combat tax fraud though. Cash payment is incredibly popular in Germany, partly because many stores or restaurants outright refuse card payments to avoid paying taxes.
Wait… are you saying some Germans doesn’t respect the law? Is it possible for a German?
Dont you worry, we are sure to blame the foreigners for it
How can the foreigners break the law? They are already busy stealing our jobs while also being too lazy to actually work! /s
Avoiding taxes can be a very well paying job
That works to combat tax fraud though
If there only was a way to do something like this electronically…
If there only was a way to do something like this electronically…
There is, the receipts don’t have to be paper-based, they can be an email - REWE does that for example, if you have a loyalty card.
What they didn’t manage to do is find a way to do it electronically without some sort of profile/registration.
I’m very sure that they would know a way, but there’s absolutely no incentive to do so.
The person talking about a QR code based system in another comment in this thread would suggest otherwise.
There’s no obligation to provide a paper “Bon,” stores can just offer digital receipts by default.
The bakeries I go to usually do this (even though bakeries where crying the loudest back then). Other stores don’t for some reason.
How is that supposed to combat tax fraud? Nobody keeps their receipts, and in the end if im not offered one when i dont want one, im not gonna ask for it
The receipt is printed by a certified cash register. It even has a digital signature at the bottom.
Sure, the receipt will be thrown away, but the register keeps a record. So store owners can check in their employees and tax authorities can check on the owners.
The receipt is irrelevant except for ensuring that the purchase is in record.
It’s much harder to run a tax-free cash-only side business if everyone expects a receipt and the receipt printer has an audit trail.
Not sure if there’s a scheme in place here in Scotland or UK, but I always get asked if I want a receipt or not for several years now. Receipts and plastic bags are only by request. The main exceptions seem to be restaurants and public transport.
However, my local supermarket has installed receipt scanning barriers at the self checkout - so those used to have optional receipts, but no longer. I guess profits before environment.
We have them at self checkouts here in Norway. Can’t get out of the store without them. I do not like it
In the Netherlands the terminals ask if you want a full receipt or a short one with just the barcode to exit.
What exactly does the bar code encode? I suppose it must be the unique identifier of the receipt. Can you look it up on the web? Or is it only useful to the employees of the store?
Assuming that the Norwegian system is in anyway similar to the Finnish system I use, they just print the system id and the n:th of you on a piece of receipt while the system just checks that no similar register/customer id’s have passed.
We tested this with friends where multiple friends bought stuff from the same register, but exited using only a single one and they were usable afterwards, but only once per.
