Tax Inspectors Out In Force – Cafe Owners Reveal How To Beat The System

328 tax inspectors went knocking on cafe doors up and down Croatia yesterday inspecting whether cafe proprietors were adhering to new fiscalisation laws introduced on 1 January 2013.

Cafes are now required by law to have fiscal cash register systems, which are linked up to the state tax department. Out of 1,108 premises checked by the inspectors on Tuesday, they reported that 61 were breaking the law. Those places will be given 3 days to implement the fiscal cash register before facing closure.

Croatian daily newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija has revealed however that cafe owners are finding a way to beat the system and avoid paying the compulsory tax. A Zadar cafe owner says that to get around paying tax on all orders, he is giving customers old receipts. He says that coffee, beer and coca-cola are common purchases so he just produces the same receipt when the order is repeated throughout the day, unless the customer screws up the original. He says if he had to declare every coffee or beer he sold then he would be out of business within a month.