Finland Times

A proposal in this regard has been placed before the parliament on Thursday keeping mandatory provision for the traders to provide their customers with receipts for all products and services, said a government press release.

The draft Act will also impose provision for the employers to pay salaries to the employees through a bank account.

 'A significant proportion of financial transactions relating to the grey economy are made in cash. Both proposals will increase supervision of the use of cash,' the Labour Minister, Lauri Ihalainen said while introducing the proposal.

He said the Act on the Obligation to Provide a Receipt will improve customers' possibilities to detect sales that are not entered in the cash register and bookkeeping. 

'Thus, customers will be better able to choose and do their shopping at businesses that comply with the law, ' said the minister.

An entrepreneur's obligation to provide a receipt would apply to shopping with cash and payment cards in all industries, such as restaurants and hotels, grocery stores and hairdressers.

The receipt should indicate the seller's contact details, the type and quantity of the goods or services as well as their price and value added tax. 

The proposal does not mean that customers are forced to take a receipt. The act would not apply to non-profit associations and leisure activities, outdoor sales at marketplaces and fairs or occasional and minor trade or business, said the draft Act.

The Act would be supervised by the police, the tax authorities and regional state administrative agencies. 

If an entrepreneur does not provide a receipt, the supervising authority could impose a negligence fee of between EUR 300 and EUR 1,000, said the proposed law.

Terming the proposed amendment to the Act as a move to reduce payment of undeclared salaries, the amendment to the Employment Contracts Act is subject to the precondition that the employer pays the salary to the bank account reported by the employee.

 An employer will only be permitted to pay the salary in cash for a compelling reason, such as in cases where the employee does not have a bank account. The employer should append a receipt or other account, signed by the employee, to its bookkeeping as proof that the salary has been paid in cash, said the proposed Act.