this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2023
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Sometimes I really question the real motives of the environemtalists pushing for such petty changes. just make them biodegradable. especialy for things like groceries where there isn't a big expectation for returns.
While I agree that we should focus heavily on the big stuff I really don't understand why people get so upset about this. Everything little thing helps and if people just said "yes of course we should stop that" and moved on to the nex thing, we could get so much further. It's just such a low hanging fruit to ban stupid receipts that are generally not wanted.
Other low hanging fruit examples: single use plastic bags, single use plastic plates and cups, unnesseary packaging for products, non biodegradable packaging, unnesseary lights in stores that are closed, the smallest coin size like the 1-50 cent etc etc etc. Literally everything helps so don't get upset.
If you can't handle the small changes how the hell do you handle the bigger changes that are to come.
Because there are side-effects. Receipts are an important tool against tax evasion. I.e. I would be very surprised if this change doesn't cost magnitudes more in lost revenue than in prevented environmental damage. If the benefits are small even a small cost can make your measure a bad idea.
Edit: Not exactly scientific but: I can find thermal paper that can be recycled as paper for about €0.07 per meter on amazon.de. I.e. a single environmentally friendly receipt costs about a cent. As a reference: Tax evasion in this area is around 10 billion euros per year in Germany alone.
Customer can still get a receipt, it just won't always be printed, you'll have to ask. So this wont change anything related to tax evasion, it just means that you won't have a garbage can full of newly printed receipt next to the exit door
Asking defeats the purpose.
The point is that receipts make it extremely easy for IRS agents/tax officers to check whether a till actually registers all sales. They just need to make a few purchases and then later check whether what’s on their receipt matches the till’s memory. But it doesn’t work if they have to ask for a receipt. A portion of turnover will be declared anyway and it’s going to be that with receipts if those are optional.
Sure, a tax dodger might end up going through the garbage to remove the transactions corresponding to receipts that were thrown away from their records, but that's at least quite a bit of effort.
The point is that an IRS agent wouldn't throw the receipt in the garbage. I.e. the garbage would be the easiest way to determine which receipts might end up being used as a reference by the authorities.
I know people who work in the tax office. Mandatory receipts being necessary is an undisputed fact for them.