On December 27, I took the family for a day to Gozo andhad lunch in one of the Marsal-forn restaurants.

The cost of the meal for a party of 10 (five children, five adults) totalled €314.15, which I paid for by credit card.

On returning home, we noticed that the printed bill presented stated ‘this is not a fiscal receipt’ – the name of the restaurant was not showing – nor the VAT number. In a nutshell the proprietor was not satisfied with the profit of the sales of food and beverages but pocketed an extra €47.92 from the VAT and around €35 from income tax.

We called the restaurant and asked why no receipt was given. Obviously no proper answer could be given. After some pressure the owner agreed to email a fiscal receipt.

The questions that arise are: why is that most Gozitans never issue proper receipts; how often does the VAT office carry out checks in Gozo; why was a fiscal receipt issued hand written – aren’t shops obliged to have cash registers; and is a receipt sent by email valid for the fiscal lottery?

Another restaurant in Buġibba also issues handwritten fiscal receipts, why?

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