Dodgy cash registers rigged for VAT fraud uncovered at Italian restaurants

Police in Germany have uncovered the supplier of dodgy cash registers rigged for VAT fraud and Italian restaurants across the country.

The German Tax Office for Investigation and Criminal Matters and the Italian Finance Corps, supported by Europol, dismantled an organised crime group involved in VAT fraud through the manipulation of cash registers.

The joint operation, supported by Europol, targeted a criminal network selling software solutions for cash registers enabling businesses to manipulate their daily sales records. Cash-intensive businesses such as restaurants were able to use these ‘tuned’ registers to manipulate their income and diminish their output VAT and corporate tax liability.

The customers, mainly Italians established in Germany, acquired both the hardware (cash registers and back offices) and the software from an Italian supplier, who had developed this product. This IT solution enabled the businesses to access the database of the cash register securely and decide how much of their daily income to hide and how much to declare to the tax authorities. More than 300 owners of Italian restaurants across Germany have allegedly bought this solution, which is priced significantly higher than an ordinary cash register that cannot manipulate financial records.

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