A pizzeria owner in Verdun says he's been slapped with a $2,500 fine for not having the new Quebec cash registers, even though he'd signed a contract to receive one well before the Nov. 1 deadline.
John Xenos, who has been running Woodland Pizza on Wellington St. for 40 years, said he supports the new cash registers, which force restaurant owners to provide customers with a receipt including a bar code for all purchases in a bid to reduce tax fraud.
The sales-recording modules were required to be installed in all Quebec restaurants by Nov. 1; the government hopes it will help recuperate some $300 million per year in unclaimed taxes to the province's coffers.
Xenos said Revenue Quebec fined him $2,500 on Nov. 2 for not having the software in the pizzeria, despite booking the installers in August to set up the new machinery.
"For the last two weeks I call them every day to come to put it in, and they always say, ‘We try our best, we try our best, we try our best,' but their best is not good enough because the expiry day was over," he said.
Revenue Quebec said they are currently reviewing the case.
Xenos said he was prepared to pay the $21,000 – before taxes – for the device, and is prepared to contest the ticket.
"I showed them I have a contract, and they never came to do it. What do you want me to do, say you should do it before that?" he said.
Xenos said the installers have promised to put the registers in place by Sunday. If not, Xenos may be facing thousands of dollars more in fines, at which point Xenos said he may be forced to close his restaurant.
