# How were taxes collected back in the cash days?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-taxes-collected-back-in-the-cash-days/987085>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 15, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-taxes-collected-back-in-the-cash-days/987085 "2023-07-15T23:39:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\
**Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-taxes-collected-back-in-the-cash-days/987085/41 "2023-07-19T16:47:50Z")

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I recall in Italy many years ago, the law required merchants to hand you a cash register receipt - supposedly to ensure there was a cash register, and it was actively tallying all sales, to ensure that sales tax (and I assume, income tax for business and owner) were being fully accounted for.

When Greece went through its economic implosion, there were plenty of articles about how tax evasion was a national sport - including a side note that property taxes went up if the home had a pool but less that a quarter of pools were on the tax rolls. Supposedly more enthusiatic tax collectors were now looking at aerial and satellite photos to count pools (so the logic was - paint the pool bottom grass-coloured).

As for contractors and cash - there was an article years ago that contractors in Quebec were comlaining that they could not compete with under-the-table types. Mariginal income tax would be in the low 40’s for a person with decent income, and contractors were services obliged to collect the Goods and Service Tax (at one time 7% now, 5%). Not sure if provincial tax applied. This put the tax portion of a contract at 50% or more for someone doing business honestly. If a job is primarily labour, an under-the-table cash deal could substantially undercut a legitimate contract.

(I note that all these government programs such as “we will pay for part of better insulating your house” tend to have the proviso “…if done by a licensed contractor…”)

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**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-taxes-collected-back-in-the-cash-days/987085/42 "2023-07-20T07:35:55Z")

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> [@md-2000](#):
>
> I recall in Italy many years ago, the law required merchants to hand you a cash register receipt - supposedly to ensure there was a cash register, and it was actively tallying all sales, to ensure that sales tax (and I assume, income tax for business and owner) were being fully accounted for.

Some building suppliers in Taiwan give you a discount if you will accept no receipt.

The government has introduced a lottery system of printing numbers onto reciepts to get consumers to insist more on getting receipts.

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